St Augustine's Treatise on the City of God: Free Audiobook and Listening Guide

St Augustine's Treatise on the City of God, credited to Saint Augustine of Hippo, is available as a LibriVox volunteer audiobook. This guide identifies the recording, its source summary and its audio tracks.

About the work

The LibriVox catalogue summary, preserved with the recording, reads:

LibriVox recording of St Augustine's Treatise on the City of God by Saint Augustine of Hippo. (Translated by F. R. Montgomery Hitchcock.) Read in English by InTheDesert After the storming and the sack of Rome by the Goths under their king, Alaric, the worshippers of false gods or heathen, as we call them, tried to prove that this calamity was due to the Christian religion, and began more fiercely and bitterly than ever to blaspheme the true God. This it was that kindled my zeal for the House of God, and induced me to defend the City of God against the calumny and misrepresentations of her foes. After many serious interruptions this great undertaking, which was extended over many years, was at length finished in twenty-two books. Of these, the first five are written in answer to those who believe that worldly prosperity is insured by the old polytheistic religion of Rome, and that calamities have followed by reason of its neglect. The next five are addressed to those who admit that the human race is always exposed to such misfortunes, and yet believe that the old religion is a good preparation for the life to come; . . . while the last twelve books of this extensive work are devoted to a comparison of the different origins, histories, and destinies of the City of God and the City of the World. (Augustine) As a complete version of the De Civitate would not be possible within the limits of this series, the author has adopted the plan of selecting the most important passages for translation, linking these together by arguments in brackets. (Abridger) - Summary by Augustine of Hippo

Recording facts

• Recording title: St Augustine's Treatise on the City of God
• Author credits: Saint Augustine of Hippo
• Language: English
• Original MP3 tracks: 22
• Listed recording duration: 2:36:56

Catalogue topics

• apologetics -- early works to 1800
• kingdom of god -- early works to 1800
• theology -- early works to 1800
• christianity -- early works to 1800
• apologetics -- christianity -- early works to 1800
• kingdom of god

Track guide

1. 01 - The Church's Answer to Paganism — 15:32
2. 02 - The Church's Indictment of Paganism — 1:40
3. 03 - Exposure of the Pagan Deities — 1:59
4. 04 - Traces of Spiritual Religion Among the Pagans — 2:59
5. 05 - The Liberty of Christian and the Freedom of Pagan Rome — A Contrast — 8:35
6. 06 - The Deities of Rome, Unable to Confer Eternal Life, Unworthy of Worship — 9:15
7. 07 - Natural Theology Insufficient — 1:49
8. 08 - Platonism, the Highest Philosophy of the Pagan World, Inferior to Christianity — 12:43
9. 09 - The Demons of Paganism and the Angels of Christianity — 2:23
10. 10 - The Worship of the Triune God, and the Doctrine of the Incarnation — 25:41
11. 11 - The Creation of the World — Its Significance, Purpose and Goodness — 16:35
12. 12 - The Creation of Man and the Origin of Evil — 8:48
13. 13 - The Fall of Man and its Consequences — 6:08
14. 14 - The Two States — 5:41
15. 15 - Biblical Account of the Course of the Two States — 1:39
16. 16 - Same Subject Continued — 0:40
17. 17 - Prophetical Reference to These States — 0:50
18. 18 - Augury versus Prophecy — 8:08
19. 19 - The Ideals of Life and the Objects of Existence — 3:30
20. 20 - The Life to Come — 1:29
21. 21 - Sin — Its Punishment and Forgiveness — 8:59
22. 22 - Righteousness, Its Rest and Freedom — 11:53

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