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De civitate Dei (CCSL)

Caput I: De ea parte operis, qua duarum ciuitatum, id est caelestis atque terrenae, initia et fines incipient demonstrari.

Ciuitatem dei dicimus, cuius ea scriptura testis est, quae non fortuitis motibus animorum, sed plane summae dispositione prouidentiae super omnes omnium gentium litteras omnia sibi genera ingeniorum humanorum diuina excellens auctoritate subiecit. ibi quippe scriptum est: gloriosa dicta sunt de te, ciuitas dei; et in alio psalmo legitur: magnus dominus et laudabilis nimis in ciuitate dei nostri, in monte sancto eius, dilatans exultationes uniuersae terrae; et paulo post in eodem psalmo: sicut audiuimus, ita et uidimus, in ciuitate domini uirtutum, in ciuitate dei nostri; deus fundauit eam in aeternum; item in alio: fluminis inpetus laetificat ciuitatem dei, sanctificauit tabernaculum suum altissimus; deus in medio eius non commouebitur. his atque huiusmodi testimoniis, quae omnia commemorare nimis longum est, didicimus esse quandam ciuitatem dei, cuius ciues esse concupiscimus illo amore, quem nobis illius conditor inspirauit. huic conditori sanctae ciuitatis ciues terrenae ciuitatis deos suos praeferunt ignorantes eum esse deum deorum, non deorum falsorum, hoc est inpiorum et superborum, qui eius incommutabili omnibusque communi luce priuati et ob hoc ad quandam egenam potestatem redacti suas quodammodo priuatas potentias consectantur honoresque diuinos a deceptis subditis quaerunt; sed deorum piorum atque sanctorum, qui potius se ipsos uni subdere quam multos sibi, potiusque deum colere quam pro deo coli delectantur. sed huius sanctae ciuitatis inimicis decem superioribus libris, quantum potuimus, domino et rege nostro adiuuante respondimus. nunc uero quid a me iam expectetur agnoscens meique non inmemor debiti de duarum ciuitatum, terrenae scilicet et caelestis, quas in hoc interim saeculo perplexas quodammodo diximus inuicemque permixtas, exortu et excursu et debitis finibus, quantum ualuero, disputare eius ipsius domini et regis nostri ubique opitulatione fretus adgrediar, primumque dicam, quemadmodum exordia duarum istarum ciuitatum in angelorum diuersitate praecesserint.

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The City of God

Chapter 1.--Of This Part of the Work, Wherein We Begin to Explain the Origin and End of the Two Cities.

The city of God we speak of is the same to which testimony is borne by that Scripture, which excels all the writings of all nations by its divine authority, and has brought under its influence all kinds of minds, and this not by a casual intellectual movement, but obviously by an express providential arrangement. For there it is written, "Glorious things are spoken of thee, O city of God." ¹ And in another psalm we read, "Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, in the mountain of His holiness, increasing the joy of the whole earth." ² And, a little after, in the same psalm, "As we have heard, so have we seen in the city of the Lord of hosts, in the city of our God. God has established it for ever." And in another, "There is a river the streams whereof shall make glad the city of our God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the Most High. God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved." ³ From these and similar testimonies, all of which it were tedious to cite, we have learned that there is a city of God, and its Founder has inspired us with a love which makes us covet its citizenship. To this Founder of the holy city the citizens of the earthly city prefer their own gods, not knowing that He is the God of gods, not of false, i.e., of impious and proud gods, who, being deprived of His unchangeable and freely communicated light, and so reduced to a kind of poverty-stricken power, eagerly grasp at their own private privileges, and seek divine honors from their deluded subjects; but of the pious and holy gods, who are better pleased to submit themselves to one, than to subject many to themselves, and who would rather worship God than be worshipped as God. But to the enemies of this city we have replied in the ten preceding books, according to our ability and the help afforded by our Lord and King. Now, recognizing what is expected of me, and not unmindful of my promise, and relying, too, on the same succor, I will endeavor to treat of the origin, and progress, and deserved destinies of the two cities (the earthly and the heavenly, to wit), which, as we said, are in this present world commingled, and as it were entangled together. And, first, I will explain how the foundations of these two cities were originally laid, in the difference that arose among the angels.