The City of God, Books VIII–XVI (The Fathers of the Church, Volume 14)

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Title Page, Copyright

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Contents

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Book Eight

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pp. 21-76

I may add that, since divine truth and scripture dearly teach us that God, the Creator of all things, is Wisdom, a true philosopher will be a lover of God. That does not mean that all who answer to the name are really in love with genuine wisdom, for it is one thing to be and another to be called a...

Book Nine

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pp. 77-114

Persuaded, moreover, that no god mingles with man, they believe that demons have been designated as mediators between men and deities, presenting the petitions of mortals and returning with gifts from the gods. This opinion is held by the Platonists, the best and best known of all philosophers...

Book Ten

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pp. 115-186

It will be recalled that I selected the Platonists, who are deservedly considered the outstanding philosophers, first, because they could see that not even the soul of man, immortal and rational (or intellectual) as it is, can attain happiness apart from the Light of that God by whom both itself and...

Book Eleven

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pp. 187-244

Through these and similar passages too numerous to quote, we learn of the existence of a City of God whose Founder has inspired us with a love and longing to become its citizens. The inhabitants of the earthly city who prefer their own gods to the Founder of the holy City do not realize that He is the...

Book Twelve

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pp. 245-297

There is no reason to doubt that the contrary dispositions which have developed among these good and bad angels are due, not to different natures and origins, for God the Author and Creator of all substances has created them both, but to the dissimilar choices and desires of these angels...

Book Thirteen

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pp. 299-346

It seems to me that I ought to examine more carefully the nature of death. For, although the human soul is, in a true sense, immortal, nonetheless it, too, can suffer its own sort of death. It is said to be immortal because it can never, in the least degree, cease to live and perceive. The body, on the...

Book Fourteen

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pp. 347-411

Our immediate task, then, must be to see what it means to live, first, according to the flesh and, second, according to the spirit. It would be a mistake for anyone to take what I have said at face value and without recalling or sufficiently considering the manner of speech used in Holy Scripture, imagining...

Book Fifteen

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pp. 413-484

Actually, I think I have said enough on the really great and difficult problems concerning the origin of the world, the soul, and the human race. In regard to mankind I have made a division. On the one side are those who live according to man; on the other, those who live according to God. And...

Book Sixteen

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pp. 485-567

What was then veiled has been sufficiently revealed by subsequent events in connection with Noe's posterity. For, no one who has studied the matter with care and understanding can fail to see the fulfillment in Christ. Take Sem, of whom Christ, in His human nature, was a descendant. Sem, in...