Christian Anthropology and the Theology of History in Augustine

Christian Anthropology and Human Nature

Man is created in the image and likeness of God. The soul is immortal, and bodies will be resurrected at the end of time. The Christian conception of human life brings an important novelty to moral doctrine.

Moral Intellectualism vs. Christian Morality

Greek philosophy is based on moral intellectualism, whereas Christian morality is not. In moral intellectualism, evil is merely ignorance. In Christianity, evil is not ignorance but sin, which results from two factors:

• Human wickedness: The inclination toward sin.
• Human liberty: The freedom to yield to such inclinations.

The City of God: Augustine of Hippo

The City of God, written by Augustine of Hippo between 413 and 427 AD, arose from pagan allegations against Christians following the sack of Rome by Alaric in 410. Pagans reproached Christians for the perceived lack of protection from an omnipotent and good God.

Society and History as a Divine Drama

The work presents a concept of society and history where Christianity is the scenario in which God reveals Himself to man and the drama of salvation takes place. Christians rejected imperial society as the civitas diaboli (the earthly city of the impious), contrasting it with the City of God, which remains spiritual and invisible to the unbeliever.

The Two Spiritual Communities

Augustine describes two spiritual communities—representing order versus chaos or the ideal versus the institutional—with man caught in the middle:

• The Earthly City: Governed by temporal laws, it is an imperfect place where individuals seek salvation. It is characterized by those who love themselves to the contempt of God.
• The City of God: A communion of all men in grace, chosen by the will of God, where everything is perfection.

Since the Fall, there has been a constant tension between these two cities, symbolized by the conflict between Cain and Abel. Ultimately, Augustine's work is not merely a philosophy of history but a theology of history, as the temporal is judged from the perspective of divine eternity. This work also established the foundation for the theory of the two powers—the temporal and the spiritual—arguing that the perfect ruler is the Christian ruler.