City of God The Great Outline Finals, 2009 Elfrink was here.

Book I Preface The glorious city of God is my theme in this work I have undertaken its defence against those who prefer their own gods to the founder of this city We must speak also of the earthly city, which, though it be mistress of the nations, is itself ruled by its lust of rule Chap. I Romans were given quarter in Christian churches Chap. 2 Usually the conquered aren't given quarter Chap. 3 The pagan gods never saved anyone, as Troy showed Chap. 4 The asylum of Juno was sacked in Troy, in Rome the asylum of Christ was respected Chap. 5 Usually the conquered aren't given quarter, even Caesar says so Chap. 6 The Romans didn't give quarter, as Marcellus showed at Syracuse Chap. 7 all the slaughter, plundering, burning, and misery was the result of the custom of war. But what was novel was that savage barbarians showed themselves gentle Chap. 8 Good and bad things happen to the righteous and the wicked. Good things reward the righteous and corrupt the wicked. Bad things establish righteousness and punish the wicked. Chap. 9 The righteous aren't too good to suffer evil deservedly Suffering evil can compensate for venial sins They are punished together, not because they have spent an equally corrupt life, but because the good as well as the wicked love this present life, while the ought to hold it cheap. That the human spirit may be proved and that it may be manifested with what fortitude of pious trust, and with how unmercenary a love, it cleaves to God. Chap. 10 What really matters is a person's righteousness and faith, neither of which can be taken by force Chap. 11 Everyone dies, so death isn't all that bad death is not to be judged an evil which is the end of a good life; for death becomes evil only by the retribution which follows it. Chap. 12 What happens to the body after death can in no way affect the soul, therefore it is not an evil to be left unburied. Chap. 13 But it is still good to bury the dead, because it is fitting Chap. 14

Christians were led away captive? So? Prophets were led away captive. Get over it. Chap. 15 The example of Regulus. He is considered most righteous, even though the gods allowed him to be killed. Therefore, Rome could have been righteous and still left to be sacked, as Regulus was righteous and left to be killed. Chap. 16 Are raped virgins guilty? No, sin is an act of the will, not the body. If there is no consent there is no sin. Chap. 17 What of virgins who killed themselves for fear that they might succumb to pleasure? They despaired of God's mercy. And they're killing an innocent person in themselves. Chap. 18 Sin necessitates consent of the will He who lusts after a woman has already committed adultery with her in his heart Chap. 19 Lucretia was not justified in her suicide, she killed herself out of pride Chap. 20 Suicide is never justified thou shalt not kill Chap. 21 The only times we can kill a man are by a general law, or by a special commission granted for a time to some individual Chap. 22 Suicide is never honorable. The greater mind rather faces than flees the ills of life. None of the prophets or patriarchs killed themselves Chap. 23 Cato's suicide wasn't honorable. He argues against suicide to his son, he was a hypocrite. Chap. 24 Regulus was more virtuous than Cato. Job didn't kill himself. Chap. 25 who is such a fool as to say 'Let us sin now, that we may obviate a possible future sin' Chap. 26 Some saints were considered martyrs when they killed themselves. God must have prompted them to do so, and those are peculiar cases. Don't kill yourself. Chap. 27 If suicide was a valid way to avoid sin, why not kill yourself immediately after baptism? Chap. 28 Why did God allow virgins to be raped? God's ways are unsearchable. But it could have been for the sake of humility. Chap. 29 What Christians should say to those who ridicule them: when He exposes us to adversities, it is either to prove our perfections or correct our imperfections; and in return for our patient endurance of the sufferings of time, He reserves for us an everlasting reward. Chap. 30 (switch to corruption of Rome) Scipio Nasica advised Rome not to utterly destroy Carthage, to keep them on their toes in the days of their virtue, [the Romans] had expected injury only at the hands of their enemies, now that their virtue was lost, suffered greater cruelties at the hands of their fellow-citizens. Chap. 31 When Carthage was destroyed the Romans had nothing better to do than allow the luxurious

manners of Greece sap the Roman manliness Chap. 32 After the fall of Carthage theatres began to appear in Rome and corrupt it Chap. 33 Even though Rome was sacked there is still no moral reform. While powerful states in the most remote parts of the earth are mourning your fall as a public calamity, ye yourselves be crowding the theatres Chap. 34 Nevertheless God spared Rome by the asylum given to anyone who fled to the protection of the Church Chap. 35 There are still bad Christians Chap. 36 Summary of the next book Book IV Chap. 1 Summary of Book I, defending the City of God and the Christian religion Chap. 2 Summary of Book II & III: in the second moral of evils in morals and physical evils in III Book V Preface Rome's greatness was not effected by her false gods Chap. 1 Kingdoms are established by divine providence, which some call fate The stars cannot show nor determine fate, as is shown by twins Chap. 2 Twins are not equally healthy Chap. 3 The analogy of the potter's wheel is absurd Chap. 4 Esau and Jacob were twins, and were entirely different Chap. 5 Astrology is absurd, because twins are conceived at the same time Chap. 6 Twins can be born of different genders Chap. 7 If there was fate, how could it be determined by the moment of conception? Chap. 8 Some think the stars just manifest the will of God. Still absurd. Chap. 9 God has perfect foreknowledge This doesn't deny our will, however. Neither let us be afraid lest, after all, we do not do by will that which we do by will, because He, Whose foreknowledge is infallible, foreknew that we would do it. If there is no free will, than human laws are in vain If there is free will, all things do not happen according to fate; if all things do not happen according to fate, there is not a certain order of causes; and if there is not a certain order of causes,

neither is there a certain order of things foreknown by God. we assert both that God knows all things before they come to pass, and that we do by our free will whatsoever we know to be done by us Thou wilt render unto every man according to his works Things do depend on the free exercise of our wills, for they are also the causes of our actions Therefore there is no fate in the strict sense of predetermined destiny. Rather it is foreknown. Chap. 10 Our wills are not bound by necessity because of God's foreknowledge, for we do many things which, if we were not willing, we should certainly not do Our wills, therefore, exist as wills and do themselves whatever we do by willing, and which would not be done if we were unwilling Foreknowledge does not force the will: God knew man would sin Chap. 11 God created and perfectly orders all things. Therefore he allowed Rome to rise. Chap. 12 Rome did not become great because of the gods, but through the administration of a few men, who were good in their own way The early Romans were virtuous, which is why they rose. The later Romans were viceful, which is why they fell Chap. 13 Rome's virtue was love of glory, which is pretty close to true virtue (it mistakes only the end) Chap. 14 Love of virtue is better than love of glory, for God's reward in heaven is better than an earthly reward of praise Chap. 15 The glory of Rome was their earthly reward Chap. 16 The reward of the saints is the eternal reward in heaven Chap. 17 The Romans conquered in war because it was more glorious that way Chap. 18 All the honorable things done by the Romans were for the sake of human glory. How much greater then should the acts of Christians be, which are for true glory? Chap. 19 Those who love human glory often try to appear good when they are not. An example of this is Nero, who forced the people to think well of him. Only virtue directed at God (the proper end) is true virtue Chap. 20 Thus virtue for the sake of human praise is similar to virtue for the sake of pleasure; both are directed at the wrong end Chap. 21 No false gods are constant in their promises. Therefore there is a single God. Chap. 22 God decides the issue of war Chap. 23 Example of the miraculous defeat of the demon-worshiping Goths Chap. 24 Christian emperors were not happy because they were powerful Chap. 25

But there is evidence that God favored Constantine, for he granted him worldly power and happiness because of his true virtue Chap. 26 All other blessings and privileges of this life... He lavishes on the good and bad alike. And among these blessings is also to be reckoned the possession of an empire.

Book XI Chap. 1 Next the origin of the two cities (the fall of the angels) will be discussed Chap. 2 True knowledge is knowledge of God. Knowledge of God must begin with faith. Faith is from Christ. Chap. 3 Faith necessitates trust Chap. 4 The world was created by God, but this does not mean that he suddenly decided to make the world His plan is eternal and unchanging Chap. 5 In answer to the question what did God do before he created the world we answer that there was no time before creation, for time was created Chap. 6 time does not exist without some movement and transition there could have been no time had not some creature been made, which by some motion could give birth to change Therefore the world was created simultaneous with the beginning of time Since time is essentially a motion, what is meant by the six days described in Genesis? Chap. 7 It could not have been real days, for the sun wasn't created until the fourth day The evening described is the knowledge of the creature, or knowledge of the fact, because it is dimmer than morning The morning is the knowledge of the creator, or knowledge of the cause, because it is brighter and more colorful These motions are the motions of the angels' contemplation of God Chap. 8 God's rest signifies the rest of those who rest in God (The rest of those who rest in God would mean the rest of all creation, and consequently the end of time) Chap. 9 The angels aren't explicitly mentioned, but when the stars were made, the angels praised me there is no question then, that the angels are that light which was called day and whose unity Scripture signalizes by calling that day not the first day, but one day Chap. 10 God is his own substance, therefore within the trinity there is no separation of substance and quality Chap. 11 Blessedness is made up of 1) being blessed 2) being certain that we will remain blessed Chap. 12 The second part seems greater, for the soul which is assured of eternal bliss, even though it is not yet experiencing it, is far more blessed than a soul beholding God who is uncertain of how long it will last

Chap. 13 The good angels are now assured of their blessedness, but the evil angels could not have been assured of their blessedness before the fall And all the angels were created equally blessed, therefore assurance of blessedness was given to the good angels after the fall Chap. 14 the truth was not in him means more that the devil did not abide in truth Chap. 15 But the devil must have been blessed at some point Thou wast perfect in thy ways Therefore the devil was a sinner from the beginning of his sin Chap. 16 by the scale of justice, good men are of greater value than bad angels Chap. 17 God does not create evil, but brings good out of it, because it is better that way Chap. 18 God would never have created anything whose future wickedness he foreknew unless He had equally known to what uses in behalf of the good He could turn him. It is more beautiful for God to bring good out of evil than to simply prohibit evil Chap. 19 whatever is said to be meant by an obscure passage should be either confirmed by the testimony of obvious facts, or should be asserted in other and less ambiguous texts And thus we understand the dividing of the light from the darkness as the fall of the angels Chap. 20 and God saw that the light was good while the angelic darkness, though it had been ordained, was yet not approved Chap. 21 God's approval doesn't mean that he is improved by his creation His knowledge is so perfect as to receive no addition from His finished works The purpose of creation is that good works might be made by a good God. Even Plato acknowledges this Chap. 22 The Manichaeans think that some things are evil by nature, like beasts and fire they do not consider how admirable these things are in their own places, how excellent in their own natures, how beautifully adjusted to the rest of creation Further, God did not create to repulse some independently existing evil, for he is unchangeable Chap. 23 though there is sin, all things are not therefore full of sin the universe is beautified even by sinners Origen's position that to be physical is a punishment is wrong. For there is only one sun, and it is absurd to say that only one spirit sinned in that way. Also the greatest sinner, Satan, is not physical at all. Who made it? By what means? Why? God, by the Word, because it was good. Chap. 24 this whole is a trinity by reason of the individuality of the persons, and one God by reason of the indivisible divine substance He is the holiness of both, not as if He were a divine attribute merely, but Himself also the divine substance The persons of the trinity are consubstantial with eachother Chap. 25

philosophy is divided into three parts: physical, logical, and ethical man is divided into nature, education, and practice Chap. 26 There is a further image of God in us: we are, we know that we are, and we delight in this Chap. 27 We delight in our existence because it is obviously a good even the wretched are, for no other reason, unwilling to perish every man prefers to grieve in a sane mind, rather than to be glad in madness Chap. 28 he is not justly called a good man who knows what is good, but who loves it Chap. 29 The angels have in God as it were, a noonday knowledge; in themselves, a twilight knowledge When these works are referred to the praise and adoration of the Creator Himself, it is as if morning dawned in the minds of those who contemplate them. Chap. 30 The works were completed in 6 days because that's a perfect number Chap. 31 God rested on the 7th day, so there was no evening Chap. 32 Some people think that let there be Light doesn't refer to angels. Who cares? Chap. 33 Some angels certainly fell, so it seems appropriate to associate the separation of light and dark with the separation of the angels and demons. Darkness signifies sin and light righteousness. Chap. 34 Some thought that the angels were referred to by the waters, but that's a worse analogy than light, therefore it's wrong

Book XII Chap. 1 Things become blessed by adhering to the immutable good. Wretchedness is a corruption of the nature of a thing. Therefore it is a corruption of a thing's nature not to cleave to God Chap. 2 Wretchedness is not cleaving to some other entity apart from God, for there is no entity apart from God (he is the cause of existence) Chap. 3 Vice, by definition, is the contrary of good. Therefore it is the contrary of God, and the contrary of existence. So evil is hurtful to beings, because it corrupts the existence of the being Chap. 4 Inanimate nature is naturally blessed, they seem to illustrate the excellence of the natures themselves What is more beautiful than fire flaming? Chap. 5 All things glorify God Chap. 6 Angels that cleave to God are blessed Angels that forsake God are miserable. When angels forsake God they have a less ample existence. What is the efficient cause of evil wills? Evil wills could not exist by nature. A good will becomes

evil by inordinately desiring an evil thing. the turning itself is wicked But there remains the problem how evil can be caused by good Chap. 7 Let no one look for an efficient cause of the evil will; for it is not efficient, but deficient Trying to find the efficient cause of evil is like trying to see darkness or hear silence Chap. 8 And I know likewise, that the will could not become evil, were it unwilling to become so; and therefore its failings are justly punished, being not necessary, but voluntary Chap. 9 they would not have fallen away had they been unwilling to do so these angels, therefore, either received less of the grace of the divine love than those who persevered in the same, or the others were more abundantly assisted. Chap. 10 Some men say that the world is eternal, or at least millions of years old By Biblical reckoning not more than 6000 years have passed Chap. 11 Some men say that the earth is destroyed and renewed in cycles, but how would men continue to exist if the world was destroyed? Chap. 12 Answers to the last two chapters: the world cannot be eternal, even Plato admits that time is finite Some also ask why the world was not created before it was. Chap. 13 Some include the blessed souls in this infinite cycle, which contradicts their blessedness And the providence of God must not be subject to the cycle Chap. 14 Although God created man in time, he did so according to his eternal plan, which is unchangeable Chap. 15 Time requires the creature Time began with the creation of the angels, because they were the first moving things Chap. 16 God's promise of eternal life was made according to his divine plan, which is unchangeable Chap. 17 Some say that the infinite cannot be comprehended by any mode of knowledge, including God's But this is absurd, for then God would not be omniscient Chap. 18 God knows all numbers, for example Chap. 19 The cycle cannot be possible if we admit immortal life after death Chap. 20 Again, if the cycle were infinite, there would be an infinite number of creatures, which is absurd And the souls cannot be sent back into bodies in a cycle, for they cannot be truly blessed if they are not assured of their continued blessedness if this cycle exists, then it were truer to say that we shall always be miserable than that we can some time be happy Chap. 21 (switching to men) God created mankind from one man for the sake of unity men are bound together not only by similarity of nature, but by family affection Man is the mean between angels and beasts

Chap. 22 But the men who sin become akin to the beasts. Therefore God promised to unite the righteous to the angelic community Chap. 23 God works divinely, that we might not conceive of this work in a carnal fashion as if god wrought as we commonly see artisans Chap. 24 Some say that we were not created by God, but by lesser beings empowered by God This is absurd, for we do not say that the farmer creates the crops Chap. 25 Likewise the angels did not aid God in creation, for he created them. Nothing except God can have prime agency We do not say that Rome was built by the masons, but by the king Even time did not aid his creation, for it relies on created things which he made Chap. 26 Plato's view that the angels created our mortal aspect as a kind of jail is false Chap. 27 there is nothing so social by nature, so unsocial by its corruption, as this race The fact that the woman was made for him from his side, it was plainly meant that we should learn how dear the bond between man and wife should be Finis est.