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City of God (Penguin Classics) Review
User Submitted City of God (Penguin Classics) ReviewsMay 14, 2008 Tough going, but worth it It took me about five months of off-and-on reading to slog through City of God--it was time well-spent. Here is one of the rare 1000-page books that not only deserved its length, but could have been longer. What astounded me about reading St. Augustine was how relevant he is, even after 1600 years. The vast majority of what he discusses throughout this monumental book still matters--only the particulars have changed. In his day, pagans blamed Christians for wars and the collapse of civilization. Rationalists and materialists denied the supernatural, insisting that all religions were the same, and mocked those that believed in it. And Christians themselves, under pressure and guilt from what seemed to be the entire known world, expressed doubts about their faith. Sound familiar? Only the particulars of all these situations have changed--in the broadstrokes, Christianity is still fighting many of the same battles in which Augustine saw combat. This edition from Penguin Classics (I fully realize that Amazon will post this review on the Modern Library edition and other places that it doesn't belong) is very good. Henry Bettenson's translation is smooth, fast-moving, and heavily footnoted. While I found the footnotes very helpful--especially in the hundreds of places in which Augustine quotes from scripture and other authors, like Virgil and Plotinus--some of them struck me as unnecessary, particularly those criticizing Augustine's etymologies and those pointing out which gods or goddesses are or are not found outside Augustine's work. The most helpful notes were those describing puns or other untranslatable portions of the book. Like I said, City of God is very heavy reading and a great deal of work to get through, but the reward should outweigh the time it takes to read the book. Highly recommended. March 21, 2008 The Best Kindle Edition of This Work For those without a Kindle this review will have little to offer except to say that this edition comes with a preface by Thomas Merton which for me was a welcome surprise. I usually don't bother with introductions. Kindle users, I looked at every Kindle edition of this work and this is without question the best formatted version. The only drawback is the lack of titles for each "book" in the table of contents. Instead they are just numbered; I, II, III, IV, and so on. There are also hyperlinked "footnotes," which I did not notice in other editions. I apologize to Kindle non-owners, but Amazon has not yet presented away to comment specifically on electronic editions, and many public domain books--classics--are not yet properly formatted for the Kindle (which despite a few hitches is a five star device). November 2, 2007 Unworthy printing of a most worthy version This is not the most attractive edition of St. Augustine's monumental City of God but it is worth getting anyway for the introduction by Etienne Gilson. The translation is quite good and, though it is somewhat abridged, this doesn't pose too great a problem as Bourke has inserted into the text a brief description of the material that he cut out so you can go to an unabridged edition if you choose. August 31, 2007 City of God This is an apologetic text in defence of the Chritian faith. In this book, Augustine persuasively informed his audience (readers) regarding the history of creation from the fall of humanity to their redemption provided they recognized him as God of their lives. This is possible only as they abandon all forms of idolatries lest they experience a catatrosphe similar to what led to the fall of Rome. Augustine's concept of the two cities are in contrast to each other, viz, the city of God versus the city of Satan. The former is governed by God, and the later by the Devil that also governs the minds of many un-regenerated. Thus, Augustine appealed, in his 22 volumes that are now in a single volume, to join him "in rendering thanks to God" through this great work! Pastor Moses Oladele Taiwo, Ph.D. Professor of New Testament and Head of the Department of Urban Christian Ministry, New Life Theological Seminary, Charlotte, NC 28203. Tel: (704) 334 6884 Ext.106. August 16, 2007 Some things are better read about than read I read this for a book group I was in, and was rather peeved at being forced to blow so much time on what is essentially useful only to the Classical historian or Scholasticism buff. Realistically, Augustine is just a particularly eloquent proponent of a religious argument we all get in Sunday School at age 10: The things of this world are transitory and passing, but the things of the next world are eternal and more valuable. You can almost hear the monotonous cadence. If what you want is to add to your already-considerable knowledge of the particulars of late Roman civilization, then this is the book for you. If you're in seminary and reading Aquinas, and you're thinking, "I'd certainly like to know more about his major intellectual influences," then this is the book for you. But if what you want is an increased familiarity with the major ideas of Western civilization, then do yourself a favor and go pick up a pair of textbooks: one on ancient history, the other on classical philosophy. Augustine of Hippo will get a few pages in each one, and that's honestly all he's worth. Plowing through the entirety of The City of God for simple philosophical or theological curiosity would be like reading the complete works of Louis Agassiz just to see what scientific racism was like. Both efforts would be fruitful, in one sense, but in another sense you'd have spent an awful lot of time learning about antiquated theories. June 7, 2007 Important Doctrine This is one of the more important doctrines in the history of Christianity. Much of the structure of the Catholic church is based on the ideas of St. Augustine. However, one need not be a Catholic to believe or be influenced by his writings as they as universal to all Christians. The first sections of the book draw into question the abandonment of the worship of pagan gods for the one true God as the reason for the fall of the Rome. Some of the more eloquent arguments against this idea follow. If Christianity is to blame for the fall of Rome, what caused all of the previous wars? Why would the gods not prevent these wars? The remainder of the book is a somewhat condensed history of Christianity as told in the Bible. Some of this is dry reading as even St. Augustine is willing to admit that he carries on too long occasionally. If one has difficulty reading philosophers such as Plato, the author argues against them to support his argument. So reading these sections may be problematic to some. The discussion of the last judgment is among those that caught my attention, stating that the separation it caused from God is like dying a second death. Some of the discussion in the book one may find disagreeable. For example, St. Augustine states that intercourse should be limited to procreative purposes. Believing there to be shame in the act, he can see no other purpose. As another reviewer stated, this is a heavy read for which one may need some background in the customs and life of the Romans. Familiarlity with some of St. Augustine's other works was also an asset to me in reading this book. It is an enlightening journey in faith. April 13, 2007 An Illuminating Classic First of all, I am writing this review for the 1958 abridged edition by Image Books (City of God), but I know that this review will be posted on the product pages for the other editions, most of which are unabridged. So, I want to make one quick comment that is specific to the abridged version: I think this was a great copy to read. The editor cut out some of the digressions, which made the book about 300 pages shorter than the normal length (over 800 pages). I was reading this for a research project, so I was thankful for an edition that got rid of some of the less central points so that I could quickly get through the work and still get exposed to Augustine's main points. That being said, whether you read the abridged or the unabridged version, this book is an absolute classic. Most people don't know this about Augustine, but he lived in Northern Africa (today's Tunisia) while that area was part of the Roman Empire. He started writing "City of God" shortly after the city of Rome had be sacked by the Goths in 410 A.D., and this book is a response to the claims being made by the pagan population of the time that Rome had been sacked because as the official religion of the Empire had been Christianity people had stopped worshiping the pagan gods. Thus, they claimed, the pagan gods allowed Rome to be sacked; they withdrew their blessing from Rome, as it were. Of course, Augustine thinks this notion is ridiculous and he spent the next 14 years of his life writing "City of God" to refute the pagan view. This work is a great exposition of classical Christianity. The influence of the book was (and is) beyond measure; it remained an important work in terms of influence at least until the end of the Middle Ages. One of the things I really liked about the book is that the translation was really good; you really get an insight into Augustine's character. Furthermore, since Augustine wrote about previous philosophers (Plato, Varro, etc.), you get a great idea of how this work fits into that context. A thick read, a read that makes you think, but a very enjoyable one nonetheless. I would recommend this book to anyone curious for some exposure to classical Christianity at its best. April 10, 2007 Augustine Created "The West" Augustine's name is not tossed around as much as that of Plato or Caesar or many other famous men and women of antiquity, but there is no doubt that he is one of the most important thinkers in all of Western history, and he in fact created the theory of "The West" that has over time become our identity. Augustine, classically educated, a religious experimenter, Rome's top university professor and greatest scholar, and the premier thinker of the contemporary church, reacted to the fall of Rome by creating a whole new approach to what it is citizens are to look to for their citizenship and community. He postulates a new world order centred on the Christian revelation, but including all that is good from Roman and Greek civilization. Since Rome fell, the kind of fantasy world of Roman myth and lore kept in the popular imagination by Virgil's Aeneid and related art and literature could no longer hold water. It was time for a stronger focal point for patriotism and self-definition. That would be a Christian one, including Rome and Greece, to be sure, but the major element would be Christ. The Bible would gently nudge aside Virgil, and perhaps Augustine, aware of his own extraordinary literary prowess, saw his own monumental works edging aside the other great Latin writers such as Cicero and Sallust. This would all be quite some bit of bombastic or farsighted folly were it not to prove true. Augustine's work was indeed adopted as the 'mind' of Christendom, his City of God being read to emperors and kings, and leading the thoughts of the leaders of Christian Europe for over a thousand years. His 'grand unifying theory' of Western civilization, uniting the organization of Rome with the thought of Greece and the revelation of the Bible, has been accepted as the de facto definition of what it means to be Western until only the very last few decades of our time. Augustine, apparently aware of his talents, must have been aware that his epic work outshone anything written before, and is itself a testament to the civilization that he advocates: a fully coherent combination of Greek philosophy, Roman civilization and Biblical wisdom. This seamless blend of literary prowess from Rome's greatest scholar and highest ranking professor generates for the reader a powerful education in philosophy, history and theology, tied together with awesome rhetoric, that is uniquely powerful, erudite, insightful and useful all at once. From a historical and literary perspective, this may have been the very most important book ever written by reputedly human hands. As it is written for the leaders of society and not for the average citizen, be ready to be intrigued, challenged to thought, and impressed with every line. By no means must the reader have any kind of religious belief to benefit from this book, nor must the reader agree with all that Augustine postulates, nor can the reader, due to the great distance of time seperating him from us and improvements in scientific knowledge since his time. The importance, greatness and power of the writing itself commend it to us. January 18, 2007 City of God This is a great little copy of the city of God. It is penguin and that somehow matters to me. But the City of God is pretty intense. Historically is is really interesting. They thought differently back then you know. Not real relevant to this generation. But there are pieces of little truth that can be pulled from it that are timeless and life changing. January 4, 2007 Great The item was shipped on schedule, and I recieved it within a few days. For more City of God (Penguin Classics) reviews click here.
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