Day 8 of 12
The City of God and City of Man — Augustine
Living Between Two Worlds
Scripture Readings
Today's Reading
On August 24, AD 410, the unthinkable happened: the Visigoths, led by Alaric, breached the walls of Rome and sacked the Eternal City. For three days, soldiers looted temples, palaces, and homes. Refugees flooded into North Africa, bringing with them a crisis of faith. Rome had stood for over eight hundred years. If Rome could fall, what was left?
Pagans blamed Christianity: the old gods had been abandoned, and now they had their revenge. Christians were shaken too. Many had come to identify the Roman Empire with God's kingdom on earth. If Rome was God's instrument, what did its collapse mean?
Into this crisis stepped Augustine, the bishop of Hippo in North Africa — arguably the most influential Christian thinker who ever lived. His response was The City of God, a massive work written over thirteen years, which reframed the entire question.
Reflection
Augustine argued that there have always been two cities, intertwined but fundamentally different. The earthly city — whether Rome, Babylon, or any other — is built on the love of self. The heavenly city — the community of those who love God — passes through every earthly city but belongs to none of them. "Two loves built two cities: the love of self, carried even to the contempt of God, built the earthly city; the love of God, carried even to the contempt of self, built the heavenly city" (The City of God, Book 14, Chapter 28).
This was not escapism. Augustine was not telling Christians to abandon Rome. He was telling them to stop worshipping it. The fall of Rome was devastating, but it was not the fall of the kingdom of God. That kingdom, unlike every empire before and since, cannot be sacked.
Biblical Connection
The author of Hebrews had said it plainly: "For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come" (Hebrews 13:14). And Paul wrote to the Philippians: "But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ" (Philippians 3:20).
Augustine gave these texts their fullest political and theological expression. Christians are always dual citizens — invested in the welfare of whatever city they inhabit, but never confusing that city with their true home.
Going Deeper
Augustine's own restlessness had driven him through Manicheism, Neoplatonism, and a dissolute youth before he found rest in Christ: "You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you" (Confessions, Book 1, Chapter 1). That personal experience of misdirected love undergirds his political theology. Every empire, every ideology, every human project that demands ultimate loyalty will eventually disappoint — because only God can bear the weight of our worship.
The City of God is still being built. And no sacking, no collapse, no revolution can touch it.
Key Quotes
“You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you.”
“Two loves built two cities: the love of self, carried even to the contempt of God, built the earthly city; the love of God, carried even to the contempt of self, built the heavenly city.”
Prayer Focus
Asking God to fix our hearts on the city that endures, while faithfully serving the city in which He has placed us
Meditation
Augustine said our hearts are 'restless' until they rest in God. Where do you feel that restlessness most acutely in your own life — and what are you tempted to use to quiet it?
Question for Discussion
Augustine argued that Christians are citizens of two cities simultaneously. How do you navigate the tension between investing deeply in this world and remembering that it is not your final home?