In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Saint Augustine of Hippo was the first great historian who approached history from the point of
view of God's intervention.
It is what some call the theology of history.
He fundamentally speaks that the history of men is a history of salvation.
God has created men out of love, like a good
father who wants the happiness of his children and cannot watch with indifference that they
deviate from the right path, manufacturing in this world and for all eternity their own unhappiness.
For this reason,
God as a good father intervenes in the lives of men to correct His children and
guide them along the path of good, which is the only path to their earthly and eternal happiness.
Saint Augustine of Hippo poses human history as a struggle between two great forces, love
and lack of love, love and hate, good and evil, between good and bad men.
He speaks of two cities, the earthly and the heavenly.
In his book The City of God
he develops his providentialism conception of history,
trying at the same time to answer the great question that the pagans of his time asked him.
Why, when the Roman gods were worshiped, was everything prosperous in the empire
and why when the Empire becomes predominantly Christian, does decadence come?
These questions arose with
impetuosity with the sack of Rome that Alaric and his warriors had carried out on August 24th, 410.
Saint Augustine of Hippo replies that never in previous wars had the victors respected
the vanquished out
of respect for their gods,
something Alaric's soldiers had done,
taking refuge with them in the Catholic churches,
in which many pagans were also saved,
whose gods did not and would not have protected them outside the Christian churches.
Certainly the military disaster was due to the vices of the pagans and their military decadence.
Among other causes, for not wanting to have children, as recognized by the Roman historians of the time.
Then Saint Augustine of Hippo speaks in a general way about the two cities and says:
Two loves built two cities.
Self-love, which reaches the point of contempt for God, raised the earthly city.
And the celestial, the love of God, which reaches the point of contempt for oneself.
These two cities, one of the wicked, the other of saints,
are conducted from the beginning of the human race to the end of time. Now they are mixed bodily,
but separated according to their will; and on the day of judgment the total separation will come.
They are two loves: one holy, the other impure; one social, one private
one that looks to the
common utility for the superior kingdom,
another that takes advantage of the common good for its
own advantage and arrogant domination of it.
These two loves preceded in the angels, the good in the good
and the bad in the bad
and they were the cause of distinguishing between men two cities
under the admirable and ineffable providence of God, who governs and orders everything created.
All those who allow themselves to be captivated by earthly things
all those who put happiness from here before God
all those who seek what is theirs, not that of Jesus Christ,
belong to that earthly city
which mystically is called Babylon and has Satan for a king.
But those who seek things above and meditate on heavenly things,
those who live in the world with the determination not to offend God and avoid all sin
nor are they ashamed to confess their falls, being humble, meek, holy, just, pious and good
all these belong to the city that has Christ as king.
Each one does what he loves and he will
find where he is a citizen
and if he sees that he is a citizen of Babylon,
he will root out covetousness and plant charity.
And if he sees himself a citizen of Jerusalem
the city of God
he tolerates captivity of this world and hopes for freedom.
In these two cities rule
pride on earth, and humility in the city of God.
In these two cities
acts the providence of God
who loves His children and does not abandon them
human freedom also acts, which God always respects
even though His children do not want to love Him
and the forces of evil try to distance them from God
goodness and eternal happiness.
For Saint Augustine of Hippo, all the bravery and waves of the sea of history
are under the loving gaze of God.
They are not simply the work of chance.
In this divine providence there is a pedagogy according to human capacity
which is better understanding God's plan throughout the centuries
For this reason
in the Old Testament polygamy is allowed
anathema in wars or give everything to death
Sheol is spoken of as the place where the dead go
until little by little
God opens their eyes to the resurrection
and with Jesus Christ opens the door of revelation wide open,
and reveals to us all its mysteries
such as the Trinity, the divinity of Jesus and the greatness of His love.
Through miracles performed since the beginning of human history
God makes Himself present in daily life
just as through prophets and holy men He leads the people along the path of good
so that they avoid polytheism and other practices of the surrounding peoples, such as human sacrifices
We can say that Saint Augustine of Hippo, fascinated by the struggle
between good and evil, between love and hate, assigns to future generations,
as a task, the redemption of the earthly city, to free it from sin
and to love God so that you can
feel the joy of living with God now and forever.
Saint Augustine of Hippo has some brilliant quotes.
He says:
The search for God is the search for happiness.
The encounter with God is happiness itself.
Seeking happiness in external things is prostituting the soul.
For this reason, the same saint projects us towards eternal happiness,
stating that this life is a step towards heaven and says
Here we are tenants,
in heaven we will be residents.
There we will rest and contemplate
we will contemplate and love
we will love and praise.
Behold what will be the end that has no end.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.