Overview

In Books I–V of De Civitate Dei, Augustine rejects the claim that worship of the pagan gods had brought success in this life, and in Books VI–X, the prospect of a happy afterlife. In Books XI–XII, Augustine turns from attack to defence, for at this point he initiates his apology for the Christian faith. Books XI and XII document the initial phase of the rise of the two cities, the city of God and the city of this world, beginning with the creation of the world and the human race. In Book XI, Augustine rejects the theories of Aristotle, Plato and the Epicureans on the creation of the universe and addresses the creation of angels, Satan, the role of the holy Trinity and the importance of numerology in the Genesis account. In Book XII Augustine is chiefly concerned with refuting standard objections to the Christian tradition, returning to discussion of the Creation, including his calculation, based on the scriptures, that the world was created less than 6,000 years ago. Peter Walsh’s acclaimed edition of The City of God is the only edition in English that provides not only a text but also a detailed commentary on one of the most influential documents in the history of western Christianity. Before his death in 2013 he had completed up to Book XVI; it is intended to complete all twenty-two books. Latin text, with facing-page English translation, introduction, notes and commentary.

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9780856688720

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Reviews `...a good basic tool for students and scholars who wish to read and study Augustine's text in English with the possibility of consulting the Latin original.' Bryn Mawr Classical Review

`...a good basic tool for students and scholars who wish to read and study Augustine's text in English with the possibility of consulting the Latin original.' Bryn Mawr Classical Review

Author Information

†P.G. Walsh was Senior Research Fellow and Emeritus Professor of Humanity at the University of Glasgow, and a Latin scholar of international renown. His publications include Livy: His Historical Aims and Methods (1961) and The Roman Novel (1970); editions of Augustine, De bono coniugali and De sancta uirginitate (Oxford); and translations of Paulinus of Nola (Letters, Poems) and of Cassiodorus, Explanation of the Psalms (Ancient Christian Writers). He edited the first sixteen books of Augustine’s De Civitate Dei, as well as Books XXXVI-XL of Livy’s History for the Aris & Phillips Classical Texts series.

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