Here is a monumental theology of history, a book written by St.

Augustine as a profound theological dispute defending Christianity against the charges of pagans and their beliefs after the fall of the Roman Empire in 410 A.D. and, as an in depth discussion to the relations of political institutions to Christian principles. The City of God unearths a comprehensive rationalization of history that begins with the creation itself through the disorder and upheaval of synthetic states to the actual realization of the Kingdom of God. Along with a theology of history, Augustine also seeks to explore the various areas of philosophical inquiry such as ethics and politics in order to unite it with the universality of divine revelation. In this book, the first great theory of time and of the historical processes is advocated, rebuffing the Greek belief of inevitable degeneration. The City of God illustrates the four essential elements of St. Augustines philosophy which are the church, the state, the City of Heaven and the City of the World. These four elements further elaborates St. Augustines own concept of justice. This text argues that true happiness can be achieved by living in accordance to the scriptures and by aspiring for eternal peace which cannot be achieved in secular societies. The City of God poses as a challenge as to which city humankind should prefer to live in. This book exemplifies the most perfect society the world would know. The fall of the Roman Empire, a city that was thought to stand forever, shook the underpinning of beliefs of the many pagans then and at the event, they found Christianity as a scapegoat wherein they can put the culpability for all the catastrophe that fell upon the said Eternal City. Pagans claimed that their gods abandoned them for embracing the new faith. Another was that Christians were not patriotic enough because they asked people to put God first rather than the welfare of the state and that they

advocate the pardoning of adversaries. Their last charge was that the Christian God fell short to shielding Rome from the invaders despite Constantines declaration of Him as the one true God. The first ten books of the City of God are dedicated to contest all the pagan accusations that Christians brought about the downfall of Rome. It deals with the belief that people must worship the old gods so as to gain material advantage in the physical world. The author highlights the fact that misfortune happens to everyone and that the collapse of the Roman Empire is not a exceptional event in human history. He shifted the responsibility by stating that the Romans gave themselves up to moral and spiritual corruption and that they never regarded their gods in high pedestals thus, all their old ways, old myths and old laws are useless in ensuring the viable force that held the empire together and their want for eternal happiness. St. Augustines contribution to political theory was his analysis of the two cities which constructs the second part of the book, one earthly and one heavenly which is based in the scriptures of the Bible. The City of God is concerned with faith, obedience and love of God while the City of the World is a manifestation of self-love which is the root of all evil. These two cities mirror two other elements; the church which leads humankind to eternal goodness of God and the state which applies the virtues of politics and of reason thus formulating a political community. These societies are visible and endeavors to do good. According to the author, The City of God is for those predestined for salvation while the other one is intended for those who are eternally damned. This concept of two cities explicates the writers theory of justice. For St. Augustine, the role of the civil society and the government is to maintain order, protect properties and

prevent social strife. He sees social institutions, slavery, and coercion as both a punishment and a remedy to mans sin. He also agrees with the use of temporal rule which is not wrong in itself but, important in preparing mankind for the City of God. The author also believed that God chose the ruler that human race deserves. Humankind must therefore pursue for the City of God to maintain order here on earth which in turn will lead to true peace because whatever peace and happiness found in the heavenly city can also be experienced here on earth by living according to the Bible. St. Augustine, in his book entitled City of God, aims to present a perfect society based in Christian philosophy. He also enlightened old beliefs and concepts using Christian doctrines with emphasis on the argument that only the scriptures can give instructions to man about the highest form of good and evil. He also pointed out that any human endeavor done without the guidance of the Bible is of no purpose. The author attempts to justify the fall of Rome in opposition to the charges of the pagans. He wrote this book in defense to Christianity which was blamed for the catastrophe that befell upon Rome. He argues that everything is in accordance to Gods plan and that the purpose of history is to show the unfolding of Gods plan which includes cultivating the City of God and filling it with only the worthy citizens. The author also seeks to do away with old convictions of cyclical recurrence arguing that, Christ is the straight way..turn away from the unreal and futile cycles of the godless. He emphasize that obedience is necessary to be able to maintain peace and order in the society. The writer also specified his exclusion of justice as essential to the existence of the state. Again, the author believes that God decides and chooses everything therefore everything can be justified through Him. The author presented two

means of living, one is according to God and the other is according to man thus, as humans, we also have only two destinations at the end, either eternal peace with God or eternal punishment. In the City of God, St. Augustine presented another approach towards the concept of the best state. He provided an extensive explanation and justification to the various happenings down the history especially about the destruction of the Roman Empire but, he banked on his arguments according to the scriptures. His discussion was not confined to only political philosophies; he explored other streaks of the society which also needs attention which is the impact of the church or specifically moral and spiritual values. These essential factors were profoundly explained by St. Augustine to go along with his notion of the two cities. The author demonstrated careful analysis on the City of God and the City of the World but he somehow presented a very broad view on the subject and his move toward on the theme was somewhat dawdling. He had many pauses in order to address many questions of detail though his use of lines from both the Old and New Testament did help in elucidating the subject. The City of God is indeed a challenge to the moral and spiritual stand of human society. The author wrote a book wherein the moral standards of our current society can be based upon including the laws and our reaction and perspective to these and the events taking place nowadays. This text is significant then, until now for it responds to the beliefs of the people about mortal and life after death whether Christian or not. The City of God is the city that everyone will wish to live in for it is unchallenged for its perfection.