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This chapter provides the text and translation of Book X of St. Augustine's The City of God. It discusses how Christ offers himself as both celebrant and sacrifice and how the holy angels of Christianity demand worship not for themselves but for the one true God. It also mentions the miracles enacted by the angels to liberate the Israelites from the tyranny of the Egyptian Pharaoh and to safeguard their journey to the promised land, which is proof of God's design for the emergence of his chosen race. The chapter introduces the fraudulent practices of the theurgists, which was described by Porphyry, who is considered the spokesman for Platonism. It records Augustine's disgust at the theurgists' claim to persuade their deities to grant the purification of human souls, or on occasion even to obstruct it.

This chapter provides the text and translation of Book XI of St. Augustine's The City of God. It highlights how Augustine argued against those who follow Aristotle in maintaining that the universe has always existed and against the followers of Plato who admitted that the universe was created, but in the remote mists of eternity. It also considers the levels of creation, wherein angels are naturally higher than men, but by the law of righteousness (iustitia) good men rank above wicked angels. The chapter covers the conflict between the goodness of nature and the malice of will. God's unchangeable knowledge of the future foresaw the division between light and darkness, as well as the good which was to accrue from the light.

This chapter provides the text and translation of Book XII of St. Augustine's The City of God, which resumes the discussion of the Creation and focuses on refuting standard objections to the Christian tradition. The natural goodness of all creation merits praise, and the reason why the good angels enjoy blessedness while the wicked angels experience misery lies in their varying attitudes to that praise. It seeks the possible reason for the perverse will that led to the secession of the wicked angels. It also mentions how Augustine first rejects the belief that the human race has always existed, citing the Platonist Apuleius as the spokesman for the mistaken belief. The chapter addresses questions about how God promised the gift of everlasting life before time began and how the theory of periodic cycles square with God's unchanging purpose.

This chapter analyses the early Salamanca theologian-jurists’ turn to Augustine of Hippo’s analysis of religion, empire, and laws amongst nations in his magnum opus The City of God (De civitate dei). The first section surveys the import of and access to Augustine’s City of God in the late Middle Ages and Renaissance. The second section interprets and assesses Augustine’s place in the early Salamanca School, according special attention to the writings of Francisco de Vitoria, Melchior Cano, and Domingo de Soto. The third section continues Soto’s fruitful project of relectio, rereading The City of God afresh with a focus on Augustine’s commentaries on right (ius) and law (lex) among nations under Rome’s imperial sway. The chapter’s conclusion argues that rereading The City of God in this way deepens our awareness of Augustine’s alliance with the Salamanca School, even as it highlights a certain tension between Augustine’s legal thought and Vitoria’s.

This chapter covers the commentary on Book X of St. Augustine's The City of God. It explains how Platonists have confined to the one God the conferment of true blessedness, whether on angels or on men. The point at issue is whether those who Platonists believe should be worshipped for men to attain that blessedness, should have men sacrifice only to the one God or to themselves as well. It mentions the Platonist Plotinus' notion of heavenly illumination and the true worship of God. The Platonists diverged from worship in spite of recognising God as the creator of the universe, by worshipping angels, good or bad, with the honour owed to Him.

This chapter provides the text and translation for Book VII of St. Augustine's The City of God, which resumes his analysis of Terentius Varro's Res Diuinae with a systematic scrutiny of his choice of the select gods, since worship of them occupies the preponderant part of the Roman religion. It records the catalogue of the twenty most important deities and challenges the appropriateness of the selection, suggesting that Vitumnus (life-giver) and Sentinus (sensation-giver) play more important roles than many of the twenty. Statues of the gods in human form, Varro argues, indicate the close relationship between the human and the divine mind. Augustine argues strongly against this view, claiming that such portrayals in human shape convey an unworthy notion of the gods. It also offers further detail of Varro's theology, in which the world is composed of mind and body, and the mind is God.

This chapter includes the commentary on Book XI of St. Augustine's The City of God. It mentions how Augustine turned from the rebuttal of the claims that observance of the pagan deities brings success in this life and blessedness in the hereafter to the positive recommendation of the Christian Church. In Gloriosa dicta sunt, Augustine exploited which part in psalm praised Jerusalem as the city of God in Jewish eyes. It also cites Fluminis impetus, which describes the theme of the psalm about the city of Jerusalem being inviolable. Sic enim deus cum homine non per aliquam creaturam loquitur describes Augustine's discussion of God's means of communication with men at De Genesi ad litteram.

This chapter provides the original text and translation of Book IV of Augustine's The City of God. It investigates the nature and the roles of the gods that the demons impersonate and demonstrate how the pagan religion is riddled with illogicalities and improbabilities. It also discusses the deities to whom the Romans ascribe the prosperity of their empire, the prominence of abstract deities, and the attitudes of Roman intellectuals towards their gods. The chapter describes how Augustine roundly condemns rampant imperialism and describes how the Roman gods had no care for the welfare of the state. It cites the evidence of Pompeius Trogus on the claim that Ninus, king of the Assyrians, was the first ruler in history to launch aggressive wars.

This chapter includes the commentary on Book VII of St. Augustine's The City of God. It mentions superiores libri...sufficient, in which Augustine argues that the Roman gods can afford no help in the attainment of happiness in the future life and reverts to their inadequacy in aiding the present existence. It also discusses the identification of the select gods and clarifies whether they are to be regarded as exempted from the duties of the lesser deities. Since the gods of lower rank incur no disgrace through any scandals, they have fared better than the select gods, whose monstrous indecencies are widely publicised. The chapter looks at Terentius Varro's belief, which made him regard the world-soul as God, though it contains within its different parts many souls whose nature is divine.

This chapter provides the text and translation for Book V of Augustine's The City of God, which begins with a discussion of fate that condemns the predictions of the astrologers, particularly their claim to foretell the future from the position of the stars. It looks at Augustine's ultimate purpose on rejecting the thesis that the expansion and continuing existence of the Roman empire are to be the mere process of impersonal fate. It also demonstrates how Augustine narrowed the issue of fate down to the destiny of individuals, in relation to which the claims of the astrologers can be more effectively refuted. The chapter analyzes the cult of astrology that had spread from Babylon to Alexandria in Hellenistic times, attracting increasing respect in the later empire. It elaborates Augustine's rejection of the doctrine root and branch of astrology due to his study of Cicero's De diuinatione and De fato.

This chapter provides the commentary for Book V of Augustine's The City of God, which covers the discussion of fate, free will, and Providence. It includes Roman virtues or good in themselves that were motivated by the desire for glory, honour, and dominion, which are in contrast with Christian attitudes. It also examines the Roman Empire that was ordained by God and is governed by his providence, and explores the virtues of Christian emperors, specifically Constantine the Great and Theodosius. Augustine has offered a positive view of the Roman imperial achievement as he refuted the claim of his opponents that the Roman success was attributable to pagan deities. The chapter reviews Augustine's alternative explanations offered against his conviction that the empire flourished through God's dispensation.

This chapter gives the commentary on Book III of Augustine's The City of God. It examines Augustine's View, which he has inherited from earlier Christian apologists, about the malignant demons that pose as the Roman gods. It also looks at Augustine's thesis on how Rome has suffered misfortunes throughout history, which the pagan deities did not or could not prevent. The chapter discusses how Augustine insists that God allots grace to all who are worthy of it, stating that the salvation provided by religion was never wanting to anyone who was worthy of it. It looks into Augustine's acceptance of the authorized version that Rome was founded from Troy, although it was more of a legend than history.

This chapter gives the commentary on Book IV of Augustine's The City of God. It discusses the morality of military conquest, the gods to whom Roman successes are ascribed, and the prominence of abstract deities. It also analyses the role and traditional theme of suffering as a testing-ground for Christian commitment and explores the theme of the happiness of the person of modest means contrasted with the miseries of the man of power or great wealth. The chapter talks about Augustine's accusations against the educated pagans on how that they deliberately conceal their knowledge of history in the interests of anti-Christian polemic. It mentions Augustine's protégé, Orosius, who describes the sufferings and calamities of other civilisations before the Christian era.

This chapter analyses Augustine's Books XI and XII of The City of God, which document the initial phase of the rise of city of God and the city of this world, beginning with the creation of the world and the human race. It examines the claim of the inerracy of scripture, in which God had spoken to the minds of the Old Testament prophets through His Son the Mediator, Jesus Christ. It also talks about Augustine's concern about the historicity of his initial account of the Creation. The chapter turns to the topic of the angels and the city of God that exists in heaven, where the righteous angels dwell with the holy Trinity. It confronts the taxing problem of the revolt of the wicked angels and the foreknowledge of God.

This chapter provides the commentary on Book VIII of St. Augustine's The City of God. It reviews the main thrust of Augustine's criticism that has been directed at the civic rituals that were based on the mythological accounts of the Graeco-Roman deities. The myths were enacted in the stage shows mounted at the religious festivals, which Augustine repeatedly emphasized are important in the pagan religious traditions. Augustine cites and condemns the portrayal of the deities as thieves, adulterers, and slaves for the demons impersonate the gods and portray them unworthily. Augustine gives notice that he will exclude from his discussion the Epicureans, who believed that gods exist but live a life of self-absorption, with no interest in the affairs of men.

This chapter includes the commentary on Book XII of St. Augustine's The City of God, which mentions the part of the work where the origins and the outcome of the two cities, the heavenly and the earthly, begin to be indicated. It talks about obtaining the knowledge of God, wherein no man can acquire knowledge of Him except through Jesus Christ, mediator between God and men. The creation of the universe, which is neither independent of time nor established by a new plan of God, suggested a later purpose which earlier God had been unwilling to carry out. It also considers the boundless extent of time before the universe existed as nothing more than the boundless extent of regions beyond the universe. The reason for this is that just as there is no time before it was established, so also there is no spatial region beyond it.

This chapter focuses on Book X of Augustine's The City of God, which talks about demons that are in part identical with the lesser gods or 'good angels'. It argues that to achieve the blessed life an individual must worship the one true God alone. It also introduces the Neoplatonist Plotinus and his doctrine of 'illumination', which symbolizes the Creator. The chapter analyzes the importance of sacrifice as a cardinal feature of worship and the concept of sacrifice directed towards the true God. It explains true sacrifice as a work of mercy undertaken for God's sake, of which by such works sacrifice is offered in individuals or in a community.

This chapter provides the text and translation for Book VI of St. Augustine's The City of God, which adverts to the topic of life after death and changes tack to devote close attention to Terentius Varro's distinguished research on Roman religion. Augustine pays lip-service to his proclaimed theme of the pentad, the rebuttal of the claim that the Roman religion had been efficacious for the conferment of eternal happiness after death. It talks about Augustine's discussion with Varro and praise of his learning, appending Cicero's celebrated tribute in the Academica. It also gives a resumé of the content of Varro's Antiquitates, with the subdivisions of Res Humanae and Res Diuinae. Augustine exploits Varro's learning to condemn the illogicalities of the religious system in general and in particular of worship of the select deities.

This chapter includes the commentary on Book VI of St. Augustine's The City of God. Quinque superioribus libris refutes the claim that the pagan deities ensured for the Romans both prosperity in this world and a blessed life in the hereafter. It refutes the argument that men's success depends on the faithful observance of the numerous deities which they customarily worship. Augustine condemns the false gods which he claims are demons impersonating the Roman deities and inhabit their statues. These demons, which Augustine later identifies with the fallen angels of Hebraic and Christian thought, are visualized in the context of Middle Platonist thought as depicted chiefly by Apuleius.

This chapter provides an overview of Book V of Augustine's The City of God. It analyzes how Rome has extended her imperial sway throughout Europe and the Near East in spite of the moral bankruptcy of the Roman state. It also reviews the solution offered by some philosophers about the expansion and consolidation of empire as the outcome of chance or fate. The chapter discusses how providence has endowed Roman leaders with traditional virtues that the aims of glory and honour for the individual, and dominion for the state that are at odds with Christianity's application of the virtues. It reviews the key to Augustine's philosophy of history, in which the Roman empire has spread and is maintained in existence by divine providence.