City of God - Augustine - IV - Book 2 concluded

Required reading
City of God by Augustine (available from Amazon or free on the internet, here for example) - Finish reading Book 2 (Chapters 18-29).

My summary
Augustine continues looking at the lack of morality in the Roman Empire. 

Augustine demonstrates that he is not alone in making such a criticism, in fact non-Christian sources have also complained of the corruption of the Roman empire: '...the Roman writers have no hesitation in saying that the Roman commonwealth had been ruined by moral degradation and had in fact ceased to exist at all, long before the coming of our Lord Christ Jesus.'

Augustine also laments the lack of moral instruction given by other gods, which of course stands in stark contrast to Christianity: '...Christ's teaching is full of instructions for the promotion of the highest morality and reproof of wickedness, while those gods of theirs never took the trouble to impress such commands on their worshippers so as to save that commonwealth from utter ruin - in fact they were more concerned to ensure its ruin by corrupting morality through the baneful authority of their example.'

What grabbed me
Augustine's description of non-Christians in his day sounds all too familiar: 'But the worshippers and lovers of those gods, whom they delighted to imitate in their criminal wickedness, are unconcerned about the utter corruption of their country.  "So long as it lasts," they say, "so long as it enjoys material prosperity, and the glory of victorious war, or, better, the security of peace, why should we worry?  What concerns us is that we should get richer all the time, to have enough for extravagant spending every day, enough to keep our inferiors in their place....It is a good thing to have imposing houses luxuriously furnished, where lavish banquets can be held, where people can, if they like, spend night and day in debauchery, and eat and drink till they are sick: to have the din of dancing everywhere, and theatres full of fevered shouts of degenerate pleasure and of every kind of cruel and degraded indulgence.  Anyone who disapproves of this kind of happiness should rank as a public enemy: anyone who attempts to change it or get rid of it should be hustled out of hearing by the freedom-loving majority: he should be kicked out, and removed from the land of the living."'

The so called 'freedom-loving majority' are still here today and still want hustle out those who do not wish to join with them in corrupting society.

Next week's reading
Begin Book 3 (Chapters 1-16)

Now it's your turn
Please post your own notes and thoughts in the comments section below.