City of God - Augustine - IX- Book 5 commenced

Required reading
City of God by Augustine (available from Amazon or free on the internet, here for example) - Begin Book 5 (Chapters 1-12).

My summary
Augustine begins Book Five with the intention of 'inquiring why God was willing that the Roman Empire should extend so widely and last so long.'

Most of today's reading may be summed up by Augustine himself: 'In the first part of the present book, up to this point, I have shown that the notion of "destiny" must be dismissed, so that no one, once convinced that the propagation and preservation of the Roman Empire was not due to the worship of those gods, should attribute it to some "destiny" or other, and not to the omnipotent will of God most high.'

The rest of the reading is Augustine starting to show the 'moral character in the ancient Romans which earned from the true God the increase of their empire although the did not worship him.'

What grabbed me
A good portion of today's reading was Augustine doing what is he is well known for: defending the sovereignty of God.  He is concerned particularly to attack Cicero's assertion that there is no foreknowledge.  Cicero believes this is true because otherwise man would have no free will.

But Augustine is not concerned that God's sovereignty removes human free will and responsibility for evil: 'The breath of life, which gives life to everything, and is the creator of every body and every created spirit (breath), is God himself, the uncreated spirit.  In his will rests the supreme power, which assists the good wills of created spirits, sits in judgement on the evil wills, orders all wills, granting the power of achievement to some and denying it to others.  Just as he is the creator of all natures, so he is the giver of all power of achievement, but not of all acts of will.  Evil wills do not proceed from him because they are contrary to the nature which proceeds from him.  Bodies are mostly subject to wills, some to our wills - that is to the wills of mortal beings, the wills of men rather than of animals -  the others to the wills of angels.  But all bodies are subject above all to the will of God, and to him all wills also are subject, because the only power they have is the power that God allows them.'

We have to hold God's sovereignty and man's free will together: '...we are in no way compelled either to preserve God's prescience by abolishing our free will, or to safeguard our free will by denying (blasphemously) the divine foreknowledge.  We embrace both truths, and acknowledge them in faith and sincerity, the one for a right belief, the other for a right life.'

Nice reminder Augustine.  We must embrace both God's sovereignty and man's responsibility by faith.

Next week's reading
Finish reading Book 5 (Chapters 13-26).

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