City of God: Book 3

A couple weeks ago, I tested GenSpark again, creating a short podcast about St. Augustine’s ‘City of God‘ – Book 3.

For more context, see my related article: Augustine City of God Outline and Reading Plan.

Transcript of the Audio

Welcome to Ancient Ideas, where we explore,texts that shaped the world.

Welcome back. Last time, we explored how Augustine argued that the pagan gods were a source of moral corruption.

Right.

Now, in Book 3 of The City of God, he shifts his focus from the moral to the material.

He does. He addresses the pagans who said, ‘Since we stopped worshipping the old gods, you know, we’ve been hit with war, famine, and disaster.’

Hmm.

Augustine’s response is essentially, ‘Oh, *really*? Let’s open your own history books.’

And he starts right at Rome’s mythological source: the city of Troy. He poses a simple question: If these gods were Rome’s great protectors…

Right…

…why did they fail so spectacularly to protect their first city, Troy, from being utterly destroyed by the Greeks?

The pagans had an answer for that, though.

Okay.

They claimed the gods abandoned Troy to punish the Trojan prince, Paris, for his adultery with Helen.

And this is where Augustine just… just dismantles their argument with brilliant satire.

Yeah?

He points out that, according to their own myths, Rome’s legendary founder, Aeneas, was the son of the goddess Venus and her mortal lover. He basically asks, ‘How can the gods punish humans for adultery when *they* are the worst offenders?’

It’s a masterful stroke. I mean, he shows that either their myths are false…

Right.

…or their gods are just massive hypocrites. And then he turns that same logic on the founding of Rome itself.

Exactly. He says, ‘If the gods destroyed Troy for an affair, why did they bless Rome, a city founded on the crime of fratricide—Romulus murdering his brother, Remus?’

Wow.

The inconsistency is just… it’s damning. Rome’s foundational crime was far worse…

Far worse.

…yet it was rewarded with power.

So Augustine establishes that the gods are not reliable moral judges.

No.

But he goes further, right? Arguing they aren’t even effective protectors.

Yes, and he uses this incredible story from Roman records about a statue of the god Apollo.

Oh?

During a difficult war, the marble statue reportedly wept for four days.

Which… sounds like a terrible sign.

It should have been! But the priests gave it a clever spin.

Of course.

They declared that Apollo was weeping for the fate of his *enemies*, the Greeks, who were about to be crushed by the Romans. And Augustine just seizes on this. A god who can only weep at a coming disaster is not a protector…

No.

…he’s a helpless bystander. He’s showing they are totally impotent.

And this impotence, it wasn’t solved by adding more gods to the pantheon…

No.

…which the Romans loved to do.

Not at all. Augustine lists the endless wars, the brutal civil strife, the horrific violence like the Rape of the Sabine Women…

Right…

…all happening while the Romans were dutifully worshipping a whole host of deities. More gods did not bring more peace or security.

So Book 3 is basically Augustine acting as a historian and a prosecutor.

Totally.

Using the Romans’ own revered history to prove that their gods were ineffective, inconsistent, and ultimately, not worth worshipping. He’s tearing down their entire defense…

Mmmhmm.

…before he even builds his own case.

It’s a powerful and logical demolition.

Yeah.

He shows that earthly suffering has always been a part of the human story and you just… you can’t blame it on the arrival of a new faith.

Now, here’s a question we’d like you to think about: Augustine argues that suffering is not a sign of divine abandonment. So, in our own lives, when we face hardship or disaster, do we look for someone to blame, or do we search for a deeper meaning?

City of God: Book 3 – Podcast

Transcript of the Audio

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