Brief Notes on City of God - Book 1

(Originally Written June 4, 2008 in the Journal)

Notes on City of God by Augustine

Introduction

"The great lesson of the City of God is that out of all things come good" (Augustine, ix)

Book I

Great effort is needed to convince the proud of the power of humility.

The city of this world seeks to dominate but is dominated by its lust for domination.

"God's providence constantly uses war to correct and chasten the corrupt morals of mankind, as it also uses such afflictions to train men in a righteous and laudable way of life, removing to a better state those whose life is approved, or else keeping them in this world for further service" (Augustine, 6).

It is foolish to trust in gods who can be conquered and yet saved by man's hands. A god ought to be unconquerable and capable of saving man, not the other way around.

The god of Rome would have perished long ago if the Romans had not so painstakingly preserved them.

It is foolishness for men to blame the collapse of Rome on Christ when they invoked his name to save their very lives! The fall of Rome was brought about by their corrupt morals.

In the sack of Rome, the savagery of war was tempered by something new: Christianity. Pagan and Christian alike were spared in the temples of Christ. How then can Christ be blamed for the fall of Rome?

The mercy of the Lord extends to both the good and the bad. This is so the wicked can repent and come to the Lord, for God waits for all men to come. Some choose to harden their hearts, but that is their own task for destruction.

The mercy God extends will someday in the future only extend to those who accept Him.

God has willed that temporal goods and temporal evils will befall good and bad alike.

"The good man is not exalted by this world's goods; nor is he overwhelmed by this world's ills" (Augustine, 13-14).

Not all evil doing is punished in this world. Some punishment is stored up for the final judgment.

God punishes some sin in this world so that the belief in providence never ceases.

God rewards some good deeds here so that we do not believe God has no concern for temporal blessings, but other good deeds have blessings that are bestowed after this temporal life is done.

Though the suffering of the good and evil are alike, the sufferers are different. The wicked curse God under affliction; the good offer prayers to Him.

"Stir a cesspit, and a foul stench arises; stir a perfume, and a delightful fragrance ascends. But the movement is identical" (Augustine, 14).

The suffering of Christians have caused their moral improvement because they viewed them with eyes of faith.

Christians suffer justly when they do not admonish sins, for not to admonish sin is a sin itself.

The good and bad suffer because though they do not live equal lives, they both love this temporal world too much.

The worldly advantages of life are not discreditable in themselves. What is discreditable is when the Christian is unduly attached to those advantages.

The Christian loses nothing in the deprivation of temporal goods. A man can be poor in life, yet rich in spirit. A Christian ought to be content with that they have and bless the Lord for it.

Those Christians who grieve the loss of their temporal goods, though they do not love them as much as they love Christ, can learn how much sin they have committed in losing those temporal things. These Christians refused to be taught by words and so God taught them by experience.

Christ condemns the desire for riches, not the opportunity riches afford.

Those who suffer torture who have no wealth on account of wealth confess Christ. If the torturer is not swayed the tortured will still be justly rewarded in heaven.

The only thing that makes death an evil is what comes after death. We ought not worry about death because all die; we should instead focus on our destination after death.

We need not worry over the body of a man who has died. Those who can kill the body have no power over the soul. The saints who have fallen but not been given a proper burial will still be resurrected.

Suicide is never justifiable.

Purity is a virtue of the mind, not the body.

Courage endures evil, but does not condone it.

We cannot commit suicide for the Bible says we cannot kill (which implies a human being) and to kill one's self is to kill a human being.

Not all homicide is murder. God orders killing, but when He does so the man does not do the killing. He is just an instrument of God. He is like the sword that God is wielding.

Though gods may be false, worship of those gods can be sincere.

The judgment of God is inscrutable and His ways are mysterious. Sometimes we cannot comprehend why we suffer, but we can take consolation in the fact that Divine Providence is at work.

God always works suffering to result in our justification or our correction.

The saints ought not to regret this temporal life for it is their schooling for eternity.

Those who rebel against the Christian era do so that they may indulge themselves in extravagant sin.

The Church has members hidden amongst the world as the Church has ungodly hidden in its midst. But, God knows these men.

The city of God and the city of man stand interwoven and intermixed, awaiting separation on the Judgment Day.

Euthyphro, Apology, Crito (E)

(Originally written December 26, 2006 in Book 7)

I can't catch a break on this vacation.

I'm not feeling that great; my throat is a little sore. But, that is the minor problem in this house. She was sick all day yesterday. I was trying to watch some TV, but the four kids here would have none of that. They are truly unbelievable. Wild kids. So I went and laid down about 8:00. But, I fell asleep and woke at 2:00 am. I was just wide awake. I went upstairs to get some food. Kathi was sick and Bob wasn't sure if she wasn't going into early labor, so he took her to the hospital. So, the madness continues. But we must focus on Plato... Maybe.


Euthyphro, Apology, Crito
Plato
Translation F. J. Church
Bobby-Merrill Co., Inc. Indianapolis, 1956

Apology Continued...

"Wherever a man's station is, whether he has chosen in of his own will, or whether he has been placed at it by his commander, there it is his duty to remain and face the danger without thinking of death or of any other thing except disgrace" (Plato, 34).

To fear death is to believe one wise when one is not. No one knows if death is the greatest thing that can happen to a man.

Socrates seems to take an ascetic pride in his poverty.

He speaks about an inner voice (a consciousness) that tells him not to do something if he sets out to do it; but, that consciousness never tells him to act or to do something.

He holds that justice is fought for best by private citizens, not politicians.

Socrates is more concerned with not acting unjustly or impiously than with death.

After being condemned to death Socrates explains that his accusers have been condemned to wickedness, a far worse fate.

Death is not necessary an evil.

Death is one of two things:
1) Annihilation
2) the migration of the soul to another place

Annihilation will be like an uninterrupted sleep and good or a "wonderful gain"

The migration of a soul to another place would be an opportunity to continue the search for wisdom.

Face death hopefully.

Believe that no evil can happen to a good man in life or death.

What happens does not do so by chance.

The end times notes

(Originally written May 10, 2006 in 3 Subject Book)

Historic Christian Belief

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

True, Origen

Between Death & Resurrection

Purgatory
-Roman Catholic Doctrine (2 Maccabees 12:45)

Protestant objections
-Luke 16:26
-Hebrews 9:27

Paradise
-Jesus: Luke 23:43
-Paul: 2 Corinthians 12:4, Philippians 1:23
-Revelation 2:7, 6:9-11

The Return of Christ & the millennium

Historic pre-millennialism (2nd century)
-post apostolic fathers

Amillennialism (4th century)
-Augustine of Hippo

Post-Millennialism (16th century)
-Jonathan Edwards

Dispensational Pre-Millennialism (19th century)
-Darby, LaHaye/Jenkins: Left Behind

Eschatology Notes

(Originally written May 8, 2006 in 3 Subject Book)

Historic Christian Belief

Eschatology

Physical Death

Death - body-soul separation
-not merely 'natural'
-an enemy: sin's penalty
(Genesis 2 & 3, Romans 5:12, 6:23)

For unbelievers: prelude to the final judgment (Revelation 20:6)

For believers: final step in sanctification (1 Corinthians 15:26)

Between Death & Resurrection:

Hades (Hebrew Sheol, Hell)
OT - The Graves
NT - For the wicked dead only

Purgatory

Roman Catholic Doctrine (2 Maccabees 12:45)

Protestant objection to purgatory (Luke 16:26, Hebrews 9:27)