City of God, Books IV–VII
c. 413–426
De Civitate Dei
Books IV–VII of the City of God: Roman religion and Varro’s account of the gods. English by Marcus Dods. Included as primary material for pagan cults and as an opposing voice on the Trinity.
Translated by Marcus Dods
English translation by Marcus Dods, in Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, Vol. II (ed. Philip Schaff; Buffalo: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1887). Public domain. Digital text via New Advent Church Fathers.
Contents
- Book 4, Chapter 1: Of the Things Which Have Been Discussed in the First Book.
- Book 4, Chapter 2: Of Those Things Which are Contained in Books Second and Third.
- Book 4, Chapter 3: Whether the Great Extent of the Empire, Which Has Been Acquired Only by Wars, is to Be Reckoned Among the Good Things Either of the Wise or the Happy.
- Book 4, Chapter 4: How Like Kingdoms Without Justice are to Robberies.
- Book 4, Chapter 5: Of the Runaway Gladiators Whose Power Became Like that of Royal Dignity.
- Book 4, Chapter 6: Concerning the Covetousness of Ninus, Who Was the First Who Made War on His Neighbors, that He Might Rule More Widely.
- Book 4, Chapter 7: Whether Earthly Kingdoms in Their Rise and Fall Have Been Either Aided or Deserted by the Help of the Gods.
- Book 4, Chapter 8: Which of the Gods Can the Romans Suppose Presided Over the Increase and Preservation of Their Empire, When They Have Believed that Even the Care of Single Things Could Scarcely Be Committed to Single Gods.
- Book 4, Chapter 9: Whether the Great Extent and Long Duration of the Roman Empire Should Be Ascribed to Jove, Whom His Worshippers Believe to Be the Chief God.
- Book 4, Chapter 10: What Opinions Those Have Followed Who Have Set Divers Gods Over Divers Parts of the World.
- Book 4, Chapter 11: Concerning the Many Gods Whom the Pagan Doctors Defend as Being One and the Same Jove.
- Book 4, Chapter 12: Concerning the Opinion of Those Who Have Thought that God is the Soul of the World, and the World is the Body of God.
- Book 4, Chapter 13: Concerning Those Who Assert that Only Rational Animals are Parts of the One God.
- Book 4, Chapter 14: The Enlargement of Kingdoms is Unsuitably Ascribed to Jove; For If, as They Will Have It, Victoria is a Goddess, She Alone Would Suffice for This Business.
- Book 4, Chapter 15: Whether It is Suitable for Good Men to Wish to Rule More Widely.
- Book 4, Chapter 16: What Was the Reason Why the Romans, in Detailing Separate Gods for All Things and All Movements of the Mind, Chose to Have the Temple of Quiet Outside the Gates.
- Book 4, Chapter 17: Whether, If the Highest Power Belongs to Jove, Victoria Also Ought to Be Worshipped.
- Book 4, Chapter 18: With What Reason They Who Think Felicity and Fortune Goddesses Have Distinguished Them.
- Book 4, Chapter 19: Concerning Fortuna Muliebris.
- Book 4, Chapter 20: Concerning Virtue and Faith, Which the Pagans Have Honored with Temples and Sacred Rites, Passing by Other Good Qualities, Which Ought Likewise to Have Been Worshipped, If Deity Was Rightly Attributed to These.
- Book 4, Chapter 21: That Although Not Understanding Them to Be the Gifts of God, They Ought at Least to Have Been Content with Virtue and Felicity.
- Book 4, Chapter 22: Concerning the Knowledge of the Worship Due to the Gods, Which Varro Glories in Having Himself Conferred on the Romans.
- Book 4, Chapter 23: Concerning Felicity, Whom the Romans, Who Venerate Many Gods, for a Long Time Did Not Worship with Divine Honor, Though She Alone Would Have Sufficed Instead of All.
- Book 4, Chapter 24: The Reasons by Which the Pagans Attempt to Defend Their Worshipping Among the Gods the Divine Gifts Themselves.
- Book 4, Chapter 25: Concerning the One God Only to Be Worshipped, Who, Although His Name is Unknown, is Yet Deemed to Be the Giver of Felicity.
- Book 4, Chapter 26: Of the Scenic Plays, the Celebration of Which the Gods Have Exacted from Their Worshippers.
- Book 4, Chapter 27: Concerning the Three Kinds of Gods About Which the Pontiff Scævola Has Discoursed.
- Book 4, Chapter 28: Whether the Worship of the Gods Has Been of Service to the Romans in Obtaining and Extending the Empire.
- Book 4, Chapter 29: Of the Falsity of the Augury by Which the Strength and Stability of the Roman Empire Was Considered to Be Indicated.
- Book 4, Chapter 30: What Kind of Things Even Their Worshippers Have Owned They Have Thought About the Gods of the Nations.
- Book 4, Chapter 31: Concerning the Opinions of Varro, Who, While Reprobating the Popular Belief, Thought that Their Worship Should Be Confined to One God, Though He Was Unable to Discover the True God.
- Book 4, Chapter 32: In What Interest the Princes of the Nations Wished False Religions to Continue Among the People Subject to Them.
- Book 4, Chapter 33: That the Times of All Kings and Kingdoms are Ordained by the Judgment and Power of the True God.
- Book 4, Chapter 34: Concerning the Kingdom of the Jews, Which Was Founded by the One and True God, and Preserved by Him as Long as They Remained in the True Religion.
- Book 5, Preface
- Book 5, Chapter 1: That the Cause of the Roman Empire, and of All Kingdoms, is Neither Fortuitous Nor Consists in the Position of the Stars.
- Book 5, Chapter 2: On the Difference in the Health of Twins.
- Book 5, Chapter 3: Concerning the Arguments Which Nigidius the Mathematician Drew from the Potter's Wheel, in the Question About the Birth of Twins.
- Book 5, Chapter 4: Concerning the Twins Esau and Jacob, Who Were Very Unlike Each Other Both in Their Character and Actions.
- Book 5, Chapter 5: In What Manner the Mathematicians are Convicted of Professing a Vain Science.
- Book 5, Chapter 6: Concerning Twins of Different Sexes.
- Book 5, Chapter 7: Concerning the Choosing of a Day for Marriage, or for Planting, or Sowing.
- Book 5, Chapter 8: Concerning Those Who Call by the Name of Fate, Not the Position of the Stars, But the Connection of Causes Which Depends on the Will of God.
- Book 5, Chapter 9: Concerning the Foreknowledge of God and the Free Will of Man, in Opposition to the Definition of Cicero.
- Book 5, Chapter 10: Whether Our Wills are Ruled by Necessity.
- Book 5, Chapter 11: Concerning the Universal Providence of God in the Laws of Which All Things are Comprehended.
- Book 5, Chapter 12: By What Virtues the Ancient Romans Merited that the True God, Although They Did Not Worship Him, Should Enlarge Their Empire.
- Book 5, Chapter 13: Concerning the Love of Praise, Which, Though It is a Vice, is Reckoned a Virtue, Because by It Greater Vice is Restrained.
- Book 5, Chapter 14: Concerning the Eradication of the Love of Human Praise, Because All the Glory of the Righteous is in God.
- Book 5, Chapter 15: Concerning the Temporal Reward Which God Granted to the Virtues of the Romans.
- Book 5, Chapter 16: Concerning the Reward of the Holy Citizens of the Celestial City, to Whom the Example of the Virtues of the Romans are Useful.
- Book 5, Chapter 17: To What Profit the Romans Carried on Wars, and How Much They Contributed to the Well-Being of Those Whom They Conquered.
- Book 5, Chapter 18: How Far Christians Ought to Be from Boasting, If They Have Done Anything for the Love of the Eternal Country, When the Romans Did Such Great Things for Human Glory and a Terrestrial City.
- Book 5, Chapter 19: Concerning the Difference Between True Glory and the Desire of Domination.
- Book 5, Chapter 20: That It is as Shameful for the Virtues to Serve Human Glory as Bodily Pleasure.
- Book 5, Chapter 21: That the Roman Dominion Was Granted by Him from Whom is All Power, and by Whose Providence All Things are Ruled.
- Book 5, Chapter 22: The Durations and Issues of War Depend on the Will of God.
- Book 5, Chapter 23: Concerning the War in Which Radagaisus, King of the Goths, a Worshipper of Demons, Was Conquered in One Day, with All His Mighty Forces.
- Book 5, Chapter 24: What Was the Happiness of the Christian Emperors, and How Far It Was True Happiness.
- Book 5, Chapter 25: Concerning the Prosperity Which God Granted to the Christian Emperor Constantine.
- Book 5, Chapter 26: On the Faith and Piety of Theodosius Augustus.
- Book 6, Preface
- Book 6, Chapter 1: Of Those Who Maintain that They Worship the Gods Not for the Sake of Temporal But Eternal Advantages.
- Book 6, Chapter 2: What We are to Believe that Varro Thought Concerning the Gods of the Nations, Whose Various Kinds and Sacred Rites He Has Shown to Be Such that He Would Have Acted More Reverently Towards Them Had He Been Altogether Silent Concerning Them.
- Book 6, Chapter 3: Varro's Distribution of His Book Which He Composed Concerning the Antiquities of Human and Divine Things.
- Book 6, Chapter 4: That from the Disputation of Varro, It Follows that the Worshippers of the Gods Regard Human Things as More Ancient Than Divine Things.
- Book 6, Chapter 5: Concerning the Three Kinds of Theology According to Varro, Namely, One Fabulous, the Other Natural, the Third Civil.
- Book 6, Chapter 6: Concerning the Mythic, that Is, the Fabulous, Theology, and the Civil, Against Varro.
- Book 6, Chapter 7: Concerning the Likeness and Agreement of the Fabulous and Civil Theologies.
- Book 6, Chapter 8: Concerning the Interpretations, Consisting of Natural Explanations, Which the Pagan Teachers Attempt to Show for Their Gods.
- Book 6, Chapter 9: Concerning the Special Offices of the Gods.
- Book 6, Chapter 10: Concerning the Liberty of Seneca, Who More Vehemently Censured the Civil Theology Than Varro Did the Fabulous.
- Book 6, Chapter 11: What Seneca Thought Concerning the Jews.
- Book 6, Chapter 12: That When Once the Vanity of the Gods of the Nations Has Been Exposed, It Cannot Be Doubted that They are Unable to Bestow Eternal Life on Any One, When They Cannot Afford Help Even with Respect to the Things Of this Temporal Life.
- Book 7, Preface
- Book 7, Chapter 1: Whether, Since It is Evident that Deity is Not to Be Found in the Civil Theology, We are to Believe that It is to Be Found in the Select Gods.
- Book 7, Chapter 2: Who are the Select Gods, and Whether They are Held to Be Exempt from the Offices of the Commoner Gods.
- Book 7, Chapter 3: How There is No Reason Which Can Be Shown for the Selection of Certain Gods, When the Administration of More Exalted Offices is Assigned to Many Inferior Gods.
- Book 7, Chapter 4: The Inferior Gods, Whose Names are Not Associated with Infamy, Have Been Better Dealt with Than the Select Gods, Whose Infamies are Celebrated.
- Book 7, Chapter 5: Concerning the More Secret Doctrine of the Pagans, and Concerning the Physical Interpretations.
- Book 7, Chapter 6: Concerning the Opinion of Varro, that God is the Soul of the World, Which Nevertheless, in Its Various Parts, Has Many Souls Whose Nature is Divine.
- Book 7, Chapter 7: Whether It is Reasonable to Separate Janus and Terminus as Two Distinct Deities.
- Book 7, Chapter 8: For What Reason the Worshippers of Janus Have Made His Image with Two Faces, When They Would Sometimes Have It Be Seen with Four.
- Book 7, Chapter 9: Concerning the Power of Jupiter, and a Comparison of Jupiter with Janus.
- Book 7, Chapter 10: Whether the Distinction Between Janus and Jupiter is a Proper One.
- Book 7, Chapter 11: Concerning the Surnames of Jupiter, Which are Referred Not to Many Gods, But to One and the Same God.
- Book 7, Chapter 12: That Jupiter is Also Called Pecunia.
- Book 7, Chapter 13: That When It is Expounded What Saturn Is, What Genius Is, It Comes to This, that Both of Them are Shown to Be Jupiter.
- Book 7, Chapter 14: Concerning the Offices of Mercury and Mars.
- Book 7, Chapter 15: Concerning Certain Stars Which the Pagans Have Called by the Names of Their Gods.
- Book 7, Chapter 16: Concerning Apollo and Diana, and the Other Select Gods Whom They Would Have to Be Parts of the World.
- Book 7, Chapter 17: That Even Varro Himself Pronounced His Own Opinions Regarding the Gods Ambiguous.
- Book 7, Chapter 18: A More Credible Cause of the Rise of Pagan Error.
- Book 7, Chapter 19: Concerning the Interpretations Which Compose the Reason of the Worship of Saturn.
- Book 7, Chapter 20: Concerning the Rites of Eleusinian Ceres.
- Book 7, Chapter 21: Concerning the Shamefulness of the Rites Which are Celebrated in Honor of Liber.
- Book 7, Chapter 22: Concerning Neptune, and Salacia and Venilia.
- Book 7, Chapter 23: Concerning the Earth, Which Varro Affirms to Be a Goddess, Because that Soul of the World Which He Thinks to Be God Pervades Also This Lowest Part of His Body, and Imparts to It a Divine Force.
- Book 7, Chapter 24: Concerning the Surnames of Tellus and Their Significations, Which, Although They Indicate Many Properties, Ought Not to Have Established the Opinion that There is a Corresponding Number of Gods.
- Book 7, Chapter 25: The Interpretation of the Mutilation of Atys Which the Doctrine of the Greek Sages Set Forth.
- Book 7, Chapter 26: Concerning the Abomination of the Sacred Rites of the Great Mother.
- Book 7, Chapter 27: Concerning the Figments of the Physical Theologists, Who Neither Worship the True Divinity, Nor Perform the Worship Wherewith the True Divinity Should Be Served.
- Book 7, Chapter 28: That the Doctrine of Varro Concerning Theology is in No Part Consistent with Itself.
- Book 7, Chapter 29: That All Things Which the Physical Theologists Have Referred to the World and Its Parts, They Ought to Have Referred to the One True God.
- Book 7, Chapter 30: How Piety Distinguishes the Creator from the Creatures, So That, Instead of One God, There are Not Worshipped as Many Gods as There are Works of the One Author.
- Book 7, Chapter 31: What Benefits God Gives to the Followers of the Truth to Enjoy Over and Above His General Bounty.
- Book 7, Chapter 32: That at No Time in the Past Was the Mystery of Christ's Redemption Awanting, But Was at All Times Declared, Though in Various Forms.
- Book 7, Chapter 33: That Only Through the Christian Religion Could the Deceit of Malign Spirits, Who Rejoice in the Errors of Men, Have Been Manifested.
- Book 7, Chapter 34: Concerning the Books of Numa Pompilius, Which the Senate Ordered to Be Burned, in Order that the Causes of Sacred Rights Therein Assigned Should Not Become Known.
- Book 7, Chapter 35: Concerning the Hydromancy Through Which Numa Was Befooled by Certain Images of Demons Seen in the Water.