Augustine's Two Cities

Abstract

This chapter distinguishes between Augustine's theological concept of the “earthly city” (the civitas terrena) which is the realm of sin, and the realm of the “secular” the social and political realities of everyday human city. As Augustine comments in his City of God, the two cities are interwoven and intermixed in this era, and await separation at the last judgment. The theme of mingling two theological cities in human society is presented in other works, for example De Catechizandis Rudibus, Augustine's sermons between the years 405 and 408 and his commentary on the Book of Genesis, De Genesi ad Litteram. In Augustine's Praeceptum the monastery is intended to be a mirror for wider society. It models a social way of life where certain virtues are highlighted. Underlying Augustine's various approaches to the human city is a theology of human identity which in turn relates to his theological understanding of God.