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City Of God

Abridged

Item Number: 1963

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Product Details
Author: Format: ISBN: H x W x D: Manufacturer: Date:	St. Augustine of Hippo Soft Cover 0385029101 8" (20.3 cm) x 5 1/2" (13.9 cm) x 1 1/4" (3.17 cm) Image Books 1958

General Description:

No book except the Bible had a greater influence on the Middle Ages than City of God. Since medieval Europe was the cradle of today's Western civilization, this work by consequence is vital for an understanding of our world and how it came into being.

St. Augustine is often regarded as the most influential Christian thinker after St. Paul, and this book is his masterpiece, a vast synthesis of religious and secular knowledge. It began as a reply to the charge that Christian otherworldliness was causing the decline of the Roman Empire. Augustine produced a wealth of evidence to prove that paganism bore within itself the seeds of its own destruction. Then he proceeded to his larger theme, a cosmic interpretation of history in terms of the struggle betwen good and evil: the City of God in conflict with the Earthly City or the City of the Devil. This, the first serious attempt at a philosophy of history, was to have incalculable influence in forming the Western mind of the relations of church and state, and on the Christian's place in the temporal order.

The original City of God contained twenty-two books and fills three regular-sized volumes. This edition has been skillfully abridged for the intelligent general reader by Vernon J. Bourke, author of Augustine's Quest of Wisdom. The heart of this monumental work is now available to a much wider audience.

St. Augustine

Feast Day:
Roman Rite Calendar - 08/28
Tridentine Calendar - 08/28

Patron Of: Brewers, Eyes, Printers, Theologians

Also Known As
Aurelius Augustinus
Doctor of Grace

Memorial
28 August

Profile
    His father was a pagan who converted on his death bed; his mother was Saint Monica, a devout Christian. Trained in Christianity, he lost his faith in youth and led a wild life. Lived with a Carthaginian woman from the age of 15 through 30. Fathered a son whom he named Adeotadus, which means the gift of God. Taught rhetoric at Carthage and Milan. After investigating and experimenting with several philosophies, he became a Manichaean for several years; it taught of a great struggle between good and evil, and featured a lax moral code. A summation of his thinking at the time comes from his Confessions: "God, give me chastity and continence - but not just now."

    Augustine finally broke with the Manichaeans and was converted by the prayers of his mother and the help of Saint Ambrose of Milan, who baptized him. On the death of his mother he returned to Africa, sold his property, gave the proceeds to the poor, and founded a monastery. Monk. Priest. Preacher. Bishop of Hippo in 396. Founded religious communities. Fought Manichaeism, Donatism, Pelagianism and other heresies. Oversaw his church and his see during the fall of the Roman Empire to the Vandals. Doctor of the Church. His later thinking can also be summed up in a line from his writings:

        Our hearts were made for You, O Lord, and they are restless until they rest in you.

Born
13 November 354 at Tagaste, Numidia, North Africa (Souk-Ahras, Algeria) as Aurelius Augustinus

Died
28 August 430 at Hippo

Canonized
Pre-Congregation

Patronage
    brewers
    Bridgeport, Connecticut, diocese of
    Cagayan de Oro, Philippines
    Ida, Philippines, diocese of
    Isleta Indian Pueblo
    Kalamazoo Michigan, diocese of
    printers
    Saint Augustine, Florida, city of
    Saint Augustine, Florida, diocese of
    sore eyes
    Superior, Wisconsin, diocese of
    theologians
    Tucson, Arizona, diocese of
    Valletta, Malta

All information used with permission of the Patron Saint Index.

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