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.
What then are we to make of those gods who delight in theatrical spectacles, demanding that such displays be instituted in their honor? Their power proves they exist, but their taste for such things proves they are not good. Plato himself held that poets who composed songs unworthy of divine majesty should be banished from the city. What then of gods who contend with Plato about those very spectacles? He refuses to let the gods be slandered with false crimes; they command those same crimes to be celebrated in their honor. When they demanded the inauguration of scenic games, they not only required base things but inflicted cruel punishments—taking the son of Titus Latinius and afflicting him with disease because he delayed obedience, removing the affliction only when he complied. Plato, by contrast, refused to fear such powers, holding firm to his conviction that a well-ordered state must purge the sacrilegious follies of poets. These gods delight in impurity, which proves they are impure themselves. Here stands the contradiction at the heart of Platonic theology: if the gods are good as Plato defined them, they cannot take pleasure in what wise and virtuous men condemn; yet the gods who demand theatrical honors plainly delight in obscenity and cruelty. Either Plato’s definition fails, or the beings who require such worship are not gods at all.
Augustine begins his examination of the nature and worship of demons by addressing the inconsistencies found within the Platonic tradition, particularly regarding the theatrical pleasures attributed to spiritual beings. He notes that Labeo, a certain interpreter of religious rites, claimed that good deities are to be propitiated with plays and things associated with joyfulness, while bad deities require bloody victims and fasts. Augustine immediately points out the contradiction this poses with the philosophy of Plato, who persistently dared to take away these pleasures from the gods—not because he deemed the gods bad, but because he deemed the plays base. If the Platonists hold that all gods are good, friendly to the virtues of the wise, and that it is unlawful to think otherwise, they must explain why Plato would deprive these good gods of the pleasure they supposedly enjoy. Furthermore, the gods themselves refute Labeo’s opinion, as they demonstrated in the case of Latinius by appearing not merely sportive but cruel and terrible. Augustine demands that the Platonists explain these discrepancies, as they claim to follow the opinion of their master.
The original text of this work is in the public domain. This page focuses on a guided summary article, reading notes, selected quotes, and visual learning materials for educational purposes.