Saint Augustine:
Madness and the Western Christian World-View
By Lewis Loflin
My Old Augustine Page
The misfortunes of Rome, therefore, should not distress a Christian
unduly, for Christianity belonged to the realm of the spirit and
could not be identified with any state. The collapse of Rome did
not diminish the greatness of Christianity, for the true Christian
was a citizen of a heavenly city that could not possibly be
pillaged by ungodly barbarians, but would endure forever. Compared
to God's heavenly city, the decline of Rome was unimportant. The
welfare of Christianity was not to be identified with Rome's
material progress or even its existence. Thus like the Manichees he
saw nothing worthy in world at all, but that doesn't mean he would
ignore it.
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