On Augustine - The Two Cities

It would be almost impossible to exaggerate the influence of Augustine the once-hedonistic pagan turned ascetic theologian and defender of the early Christian Church over all the subsequent history of Europe. Augustine s political philosophy is pregnant with arguments that racked not only Christian Europe but also much of the modern world. Whether it was his essential skepticism about the value of earthly politics when contrasted with eternity, the role of a Christian within the State, or the nature of just war and the folly of imperial ambitions, Augustine articulated distinctive and long-lived thoughts on controversial subjects that remain embedded in our political discourse.