City of God (book)

De Civitate Dei (Latin for " City of God ") is a in the period 413-426 authored writing of Augustine ( 354-430 AD ).

Background for the development was the conquest of Rome by the Visigoths in 410 The widespread at this time among Christians equating the Christianized Roman Empire with that of God's rule, had spoken of Jesus, was provided by the event in question and gave pagan views buoyancy, as she had 30 years previously formulated Quintus Aurelius Symmachus in the dispute over the Victoria altar.

In 22 books Augustine developed the idea of ​​theocracy ( civitas dei / caelestis ), which stand for earthly state ( civitas terrene ) in a constant contrast. The ground state appears in the Augustinian representation partly as a God-given temporal order of power, partly as a dominated by anti-divine forces evil empire. The City of God on the other hand manifests itself in the individual living according to the religious commandments Christians themselves from this dialectical basic idea here Augustine designs a comprehensive world and salvation history. This design was the Middle Ages on, to Martin Luther, extremely influential.

Augustine also refers to Greek philosophy. He also writes about the contrast between Stoicism, Epicureanism and the doctrine of metempsychosis of Plato. He also says that the philosophers did not find the way to happiness despite their dispute for the truth. Thus, it is considered by some as something of a founder of existentialism.

By Augustine also emphasizes that the Church and the Christian faith are independent of the existence of the Roman Empire, his thinking is no longer dependent on the ideas of the ancient world; Augustine is therefore regarded as one of the first thinkers of the post-antique, the Christianity the way to the Middle Ages, so in the new era paved.