Commentary

I The part of the work in which the origins and the outcome of the two cities, the heavenly and the earthly, begin to be indicated 1Ciuitatem dei: Augustine now turns from the rebuttal of the claims that observance of the pagan deities brings success in this life (Books 1–5) and blessedness in the hereafter (Books 6–10) to the positive recommendation of the Christian Church. See the citation from the ...

Commentary

I The individual natures of the good and the bad angels 1sicut superiore libro apparuisse in angelis iam uidetur: See chs. 9 and 33–34 of Book XI. prius mihi quaedam de ipsis angelis uideo esse dicenda: As O’Daly 146 remarks, Augustine at the close of Book XI states that he will now discuss the creation of human beings, but the first part of Book XII (1–9) continues the discussion of angels....

Introduction

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.

De Civitate Dei

(Translations of these headings, which do not belong to Augustine’s text, are provided at the head of each chapter in the Commentary)

Book XII

(Translations of these headings, which do not belong to Augustine’s text, are provided at the head of each chapter in the Commentary)