Excerpts From Augustine: The City Of God And The City Of God

Augustine’s belief that prosperous earthly cities such as the United States are not like the City of God supports an accurate illustration of a proper Christian understanding of “dual citizenship”. The United States is not an example of the City of God because of its lack of upholding Christian values. In “Excerpts from Augustine’s City of God”, Augustine displays the values of the two cities of “dual citizenship”: the City of God and the City of Man. He explains the faulty beliefs of the City of Man around the time of the fall of Rome: “…the earthly by the love of self, even to the hatred of God…glories in itself…seeks glory from men…” (Excerpts). The United States, often considered as a modern-day Rome, quite often shifts its focus away from …show more content…
Accordingly, more than half of America believes that they have a special relationship with God in comparison to other modern-day countries (Hayes). Also, in the article “In God’s Country”, Orosius expresses his belief that Rome serves as a part of God’s plan, reflecting that “…God, Who changes kingdoms, orders the times, and also punishes sin… has laid the foundation of the Roman Empire by choosing a shepherd of the humblest station” (Coffman). Orosius’ viewpoint, based off of providentialism, indoctrinates the idea that the Roman Empire is an essential part of God’s plan, which is “laid” and “ordered” by the will of God (Coffman). He believes that God chose Rome to be an influence to the City of Man since Christianity became widespread throughout the nation. However, in Deuteronomy 7:6, God makes a promise to Israel proclaiming that they are His chosen people: “For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth” (Deut. 7:6). Additionally, “dual citizenship” calls Christians to “figure out how to participate effectively in ‘the world’” (Jones). God calls His people, or believers in Him, to spread His word throughout the earth. However, being a believer does not necessarily mean that one is part of the chosen nation of Israel. Even so, anyone that is in Jesus can be used to spread the good news, including nations like Rome and the United States. Dual citizenship involves reflecting God and Jesus’ teaching on earth so that glory may be brought to God. In all, being an influence to the world does not necessarily mean that one is a part of God’s original covenant with Israel. On the other hand, Augustine continues to illustrate the true meaning of dual