The City of God (Librovox)
Saint Augustine
Rome having been stormed and sacked by the Goths under Alaric their king, the worshippers of false gods, or pagans, as we commonly call them, made an attempt to attribute this calamity to the Christian religion, and began to blaspheme the true God with even more than their wonted bitterness and acerbity. It was this which kindled my zeal for the house of God, and prompted me to undertake the defence of the city of God against the charges and misrepresentations of its assailants. This work was in my hands for several years, owing to the interruptions occasioned by many other affairs which had a prior claim on my attention, and which I could not defer.
However, this great undertaking was at last completed in twenty-two books. Of these, the first five refute those who fancy that the polytheistic worship is necessary in order to secure worldly prosperity, and that all these overwhelming calamities have befallen us in consequence of its prohibition. In the following five books I address myself to those who admit that such calamities have at all times attended, and will at all times attend, the human race, and that they constantly recur in forms more or less disastrous, varying only in the scenes, occasions, and persons on whom they light, but, while admitting this, maintain that the worship of the gods is advantageous for the life to come. In these ten books, then, I refute these two opinions, which are as groundless as they are antagonistic to the Christian religion.
But that no one might have occasion to say, that though I had refuted the tenets of other men, I had omitted to establish my own, I devote to this object the second part of this work, which comprises twelve books, although I have not scrupled, as occasion offered, either to advance my own opinions in the first ten books, or to demolish the arguments of my opponents in the last twelve. Of these twelve books, the first four contain an account of the origin of these two cities-the city of God, and the city of the world. The second four treat of their history or progress; the third and last four, of their deserved destinies. And so, though all these twenty-two books refer to both cities, yet I have named them after the better city, and called them The City of God. (Summary by the author in his Retractationes (ii. 43) as translated by Marcus Dods)
Author - Saint Augustine.
Narrator - LibriVox Community.
Published Date - Thursday, 19 January 2023.
Location:
United States
Description:
Rome having been stormed and sacked by the Goths under Alaric their king, the worshippers of false gods, or pagans, as we commonly call them, made an attempt to attribute this calamity to the Christian religion, and began to blaspheme the true God with even more than their wonted bitterness and acerbity. It was this which kindled my zeal for the house of God, and prompted me to undertake the defence of the city of God against the charges and misrepresentations of its assailants. This work was in my hands for several years, owing to the interruptions occasioned by many other affairs which had a prior claim on my attention, and which I could not defer. However, this great undertaking was at last completed in twenty-two books. Of these, the first five refute those who fancy that the polytheistic worship is necessary in order to secure worldly prosperity, and that all these overwhelming calamities have befallen us in consequence of its prohibition. In the following five books I address myself to those who admit that such calamities have at all times attended, and will at all times attend, the human race, and that they constantly recur in forms more or less disastrous, varying only in the scenes, occasions, and persons on whom they light, but, while admitting this, maintain that the worship of the gods is advantageous for the life to come. In these ten books, then, I refute these two opinions, which are as groundless as they are antagonistic to the Christian religion. But that no one might have occasion to say, that though I had refuted the tenets of other men, I had omitted to establish my own, I devote to this object the second part of this work, which comprises twelve books, although I have not scrupled, as occasion offered, either to advance my own opinions in the first ten books, or to demolish the arguments of my opponents in the last twelve. Of these twelve books, the first four contain an account of the origin of these two cities-the city of God, and the city of the world. The second four treat of their history or progress; the third and last four, of their deserved destinies. And so, though all these twenty-two books refer to both cities, yet I have named them after the better city, and called them The City of God. (Summary by the author in his Retractationes (ii. 43) as translated by Marcus Dods) Author - Saint Augustine. Narrator - LibriVox Community. Published Date - Thursday, 19 January 2023.
Language:
English
Chapter 1
Duration:00:47:04
Chapter 2
Duration:00:48:43
Chapter 3
Duration:00:40:50
Chapter 4
Duration:00:46:54
Chapter 5
Duration:00:43:15
Chapter 6
Duration:00:44:51
Chapter 7
Duration:00:43:37
Chapter 8
Duration:00:41:46
Chapter 9
Duration:00:54:06
Chapter 10
Duration:00:48:02
Chapter 11
Duration:00:30:09
Chapter 12
Duration:00:30:05
Chapter 13
Duration:00:47:00
Chapter 14
Duration:00:45:29
Chapter 15
Duration:00:45:43
Chapter 16
Duration:00:50:47
Chapter 17
Duration:00:27:33
Chapter 18
Duration:00:30:07
Chapter 19
Duration:00:55:29
Chapter 20
Duration:00:58:58
Chapter 21
Duration:00:24:50
Chapter 22
Duration:00:32:38
Chapter 23
Duration:00:38:08
Chapter 24
Duration:00:29:42
Chapter 25
Duration:00:31:08
Chapter 26
Duration:00:26:24
Chapter 27
Duration:00:27:28
Chapter 28
Duration:00:30:07
Chapter 29
Duration:00:25:09
Chapter 30
Duration:00:22:32
Chapter 31
Duration:00:29:42
Chapter 32
Duration:00:27:00
Chapter 33
Duration:00:23:47
Chapter 34
Duration:00:27:40
Chapter 35
Duration:00:30:40
Chapter 36
Duration:00:34:30
Chapter 37
Duration:00:28:03
Chapter 38
Duration:00:31:50
Chapter 39
Duration:00:32:26
Chapter 40
Duration:00:31:23
Chapter 41
Duration:00:38:43
Chapter 42
Duration:00:31:47
Chapter 43
Duration:00:29:13
Chapter 44
Duration:00:28:17
Chapter 45
Duration:00:27:52
Chapter 46
Duration:00:28:21
Chapter 47
Duration:00:29:58
Chapter 48
Duration:00:25:00
Chapter 49
Duration:00:31:42
Chapter 50
Duration:00:31:32
Chapter 51
Duration:00:28:17
Chapter 52
Duration:00:34:00
Chapter 53
Duration:00:28:29
Chapter 54
Duration:00:33:19
Chapter 55
Duration:00:26:39
Chapter 56
Duration:00:26:53
Chapter 57
Duration:00:34:22
Chapter 58
Duration:00:32:52
Chapter 59
Duration:00:36:36
Chapter 60
Duration:00:30:40
Chapter 61
Duration:00:30:24
Chapter 62
Duration:00:37:10
Chapter 63
Duration:00:41:25
Chapter 64
Duration:00:39:04
Chapter 65
Duration:00:31:47
Chapter 66
Duration:00:42:05
Chapter 67
Duration:00:37:55
Chapter 68
Duration:00:45:03
Chapter 69
Duration:00:41:13