Augustine's City of God

This course offers a close reading of Augustines City of God. While the immediateoccasion was the sack of Rome by Alaric (410), Augustines thought on the two cities had been germinating for several years. Partly an apology for Christianity, the book offers a sweeping survey of human history from Adam to the eschaton, as well as searching reflections on Christian existence in the present age (saeculum). He treats topics such as the nature of bodily existence, Christian participation in the political order, the value of ancient philosophy, the role of the emotions, divine providence, and the interpretation of Scripture.