The City of God, Volume I

Of the following Work, Books IV. XVII. and XVIII. have been translated by the Rev. George Wilson , Glenluce; Books V. VI. VII. and VIII. by the Rev. J. J. Smith . CONTENTS. page Augustine censures the pagans, who attributed the calamities of the world, and especially the sack of Rome by the Goths, to the Christian religion and its prohibition of the worship of the gods, 1 A review of the calamities suffered by the Romans before the time of Christ, showing that their gods had plunged them into corruption and vice, 48 The external calamities of Rome, 91 That empire was given to Rome not by the gods, but by the One True God, 135 Of fate, freewill, and God's prescience, and of the source of the virtues of the ancient Romans, 177 Of Varro's threefold division of theology, and of the inability of the gods to contribute anything to the happiness of the future life, 228 Of the "select gods" of the civil theology, and that eternal life is not obtained by worshipping them, 258 Some account of the Socratic and Platonic philosophy, and a refutation of the doctrine of Apuleius that the demons should be worshipped as mediators between gods and men, 305 Of those who allege a distinction among demons, some being good and others evil, 353 Porphyry's doctrine of redemption, 382 Augustine passes to the second part of the work, in which the origin, progress, and destinies of the earthly and heavenly cities are discussed.—Speculations regarding the creation of the world, 436 Of the creation of angels and men, and of the origin of evil, 481 That death is penal, and had its origin in Adam's sin, 521 EDITOR'S PREFACE. "Rome having been stormed and sacked by the Goths under Alaric their king, [1] the worshippers of false gods, or pagans, as we commonly call them, made an attempt to attribute this calamity to the Christian religion, and began to blaspheme the true God with even more than their wonted bitterness and acerbity. It was this which kindled my zeal for the house of God, and prompted me to undertake the defence of the city of God against the charges and misrepresentations of its assailants. This work was in my hands for several years, owing to the interruptions occasioned by many other affairs which had a prior claim on my attention, and which I…