Augustine yet leads me through his City of God. The book is impressive in its scope, and is indicative of the complicated nature of Christianity, even during the early years of the Church. It also serves to show that though some Christians could not argue their way out of the proverbial wet paper bag, there are certain philosophers whose names belong with Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. St. Augustine is one.
Two of his points particularily struck me.
Can we suppose that the promised peace became a reality during the reign of Solomon? Anyone who hopes for so great a blessing in this world and on this earth has the wisdom of a fool.
There is no such thing as utopia for the Christian, though we work that the Father's "will be done on earth as it is heaven" it is for the latter for which we hope and wait.
[S]uch is the instability of human affairs that no people has ever been allowed such a degree of tranquility as to remove all dread of hostile attacks on their life in this world.
While this may not prove that Augustine was a libertarian, and indeed, there is ample evidence to suggest otherwise, that holy man was wise enough to realize that nothing can make the earth that which it is not, namely heaven.
Tidbits to keep in mind next time a politician promises to defeat terrorism or end poverty or whatever other nonsense spews forth from their lying mouths.
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2 comments:
Wise man indeed. Obviously there will not be a time when ALL dread is gone but surely we can do better than the insanely dreadful times we experienced the last century and are experiencing now.I heard the Pope FINALLY joined in the fray and is calling for a ceasefire. While waiting for heaven it may be hard to sleep at night knowing you did not do all you could.
Careful good sir. You may not have heard about the Pope joining the fray until recently, but Benedict was there from the beginning. As Buchanan asked on July 18th, "Why is Pope Benedict virtually alone among Christian leaders to have spoken out against what is being done to Lebanese Christians and Muslims?"
I sleep well enough, even though I am never satisfied with the minimal amount of positive influence I have. The command: "Be ye perfect as your heavenly father is perfect" leaves permanent room for improvement.
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