TweetDid not have the time to write as much as I would have liked (It was a busy year.). But here are some final thoughts on reading Confessions and City of God by Augustine: 1. The depth and breadth of Augustine’s knowledge (including philosophy, history, politics, and the arts) is impressive. 2. Augustine’s reliance on […]

TweetThe basic idea behind Augustine’s City of God is this: There is the city of this world that is focused on self and there is the city of God that is focused on God. The difference between these two cities is summed up in one sentence from Book XV: “The good make use of this […]

TweetThere are many Christian authors who say the emotions are spontaneous and cannot be controlled. Most recently, Timothy Keller wrote, “Our emotions are not under our control.” But Augustine says otherwise. Augustine understood that emotions are a training ground for righteousness and virtue. He says that our emotions come under the control of our mind […]

TweetWhen Things go bad, who is to blame? Because, when something bad happens we want accountability and we want to know how to prevent it the next time. When Rome fell, one of the more popular answers to the blame question was that the gods were angry. Many blamed Roman citizens for turning their backs […]

TweetIn Book I, of the City of God Augustine begins dealing with the questions that arise because of the fall of Rome. The number one question is simple: Why? Why did this happen? We all face this question when things go wrong. One of the common responses to the question was that Rome fell because […]