The City of God stands as Augustine's masterwork of theological defense and construction, written over thirteen years in response to accusations that Christianity brought ruin upon Rome. This first volume contains the first ten books of sustained refutation—demolishing pagan claims that traditional worship secured either temporal prosperity or eternal happiness—followed by the beginning of his positive vision in Books Eleven through Thirteen, where he traces the origin of two societal orders to the primordial division among the angels. What emerges is not merely an apology for Christianity but a philosophy of history that subordinate the fate of empires to the hidden providence of the one true God, whose sovereignty extends from creation through the fall to the final judgment.
To substantiate his critique, Augustine introduces the authority of Marcus Varro, the most learned and esteemed Roman scholar on heathen theology. He praises Varro’s erudition and acumen, noting that even Cicero regarded him as the most acute and learned of men, yet he identifies a critical dilemma in Varro’s work. Despite his vast knowledge, Varro upheld the worship of gods he likely knew to be ridiculous, fearing the neglect of state religion more than the defense of truth. Augustine examines the structure of Varro’s Divine Antiquities in detail to demonstrate the artificial nature of these pagan institutions. Varro composed forty-one books of antiquities, which he divided into two main sections: human things and divine things. He devoted twenty-five books to human affairs and sixteen to divine matters. In the section on human things, Varro followed a systematic plan, allocating six books to each of four categories: men, places, times, and things. To these twenty-four books he added one introductory book that spoke of all these topics conjointly. In the section on divine things, Varro preserved a similar order, focusing on the performance of sacred rites by men in places and times. He embraced these four elements in twelve books, allotting three books to each category: three for the men who perform rites, three for the places where they are performed, three for the times at which they are performed, and three for the rites themselves. However, because it was necessary to specify to whom these rites were performed, he added three final books concerning the gods themselves, bringing the total to fifteen. With the inclusion of an introductory book, the divine section totals sixteen books. Varro further subdivided these books with meticulous precision: the first three books on men treat of high priests, augurs, and the fifteen men presiding over sacred ceremonies; the three books on places cover chapels, temples, and religious locations; the three books on times discuss holidays, circus games, and scenic plays; and the three books on rites address consecrations, private sacred rites, and public sacred rites. The remaining three books enumerate the gods themselves, divided into certain gods, uncertain gods, and the select gods.
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