More biblical plays and a morality play; Everyman and Medieval Miracle Plays(11-16), Various Unknown

 Why you might read the Miracle Plays

The Miracle plays are a snapshot of how Medieval England saw the stories of the Bible.  I am just reading a collection of them rather than each version. This makes them great to compare how Christianity was understood across time, even if they are not directly about doctrine. The Everyman Play expands this to include how Medieval England saw salvation and the death of the Christian.

For my Self Education project, they fill this role. They allow for a greater understanding of the way in which faith was a part of everyday life in medieval England. This will be important when I get to read more of the church fathers. As a narrative, they show a stage in the development of the play in the English speaking world.

Stories of the Miracle Plays(11-16)

The Crucifixion

This play covers the soldiers at the crucifixion. Their dialogue as they nail Christ to the cross and lift the cross into its position is most of the content of the play. There is the occasional interlude of Christ speaking, though it is to God not to the soldiers. 

The Harrowing of Hell

This starts with a group introducing themselves in hell. This includes people like Adam and David. Then Satan skites that Jesus is coming to hell. When Jesus arrives however he opens the gates and rescues those we have been introduced to. 

The next scene is in heaven. We are introduced to those who have never been to hell like Elijah and the thief on the cross.

The final scene is back in hell as Satan reestablishes control and welcomes new sinners.

The Resurrection

The play starts with a devout centurion telling Pilate and the head priests that Jesus will rise from the dead. Pilate and company then decide to have the tomb guarded. They send 4 soldiers to guard the tomb. But they fall asleep. Some women of Jesus' followers come to see the body but it is gone. An angel appears to them and tells them he has risen and is gone. 

The soldiers see the empty tomb and decide to tel pilate and the head priests that he rose. The priests pay them to say they were overwhelmed by force and the body stolen.

The Judgement

The play starts with God laying out human creation and fall, as well as redemption through Christ. The angels then go out with trumpets to start the judgement and raise the dead. the devils prepare for more people. Christ sits in judgment and separates the good from the bad. The play paraphrases Christ's comments. These comments are around when I was in need you feed me, clothed me etc. For the Good, he sends them on to eternal bliss and for the Bad, he sends them to hell. 

Everyman

The everyman play starts with Death visiting Everyman. He tells him he has come to his time of reckoning. He laments this and turns to his friends but they desert him. He tries again with his family but they also desert him. He tries his goods but they cannot be taken with him. He turns to good deeds but she is sick. she calls knowledge to him and he takes Everyman to confession. After confession, Good deeds is well and companies him the rest of the way. Knowledge then calls in Beauty, Strength, Discretion and his Five senses to join them. They proceed to the priest for the Lord's supper (communion). Then Everyman comes to his death and Beauty, Strength, Discretion and his five senses all fail him and leave. As does Knowledge and he is left with Good Deeds. He is taken to Jesus in heaven for his accounting.

The Death of Pilate

This Apocraphyal play covers Pilates death at the hands of a converted Tiberius Caesar. The Emperor is sick with leprosy and sends to Pilate for Jesus. He believes the prophet can heal him. His messenger arrives and Pilate sends him out looking for Jesus. He stumbles upon Veronica who tells him that Jesus is dead. He laments but she tells him that she might be able to heal the Emperor. She expects to do so using a covering that Jesus used. She is taken to the emperor and he is healed. The emperor declares Jesus his Lord. Veronica asks him to take vengeance on Pilate for Jesus death and he agrees. He sends executioners to retrieve Pilate. Once Pilate is in his presence he is rather slippery. But eventually, the Emperor gets his cloak, which was worn by Jesus. He sends him to the dungeon to await trial and death. Before this can happen Pilate kills himself. The emperor orders him buried but the body won't stay in the ground. He then has it cast into the river but the river starts killing people. So he has him taken to sea and cast into the depths. The devil then takes hold of the body and his soul into hell. 

Reflections on the Miracle Plays (11-16)

The Crucifixion

The soldiers in this play seem to spend a lot more time talking. Compared to how much they spend actually at the task of putting Jesus on the cross. The interplays in between them though keep it interesting. One of them even seems to think of himself more as an overseer. 

Jesus' few lines are again more indicative of what was known later than at the time. He speaks of saving the sins of the world. We don't hear about that biblically until after the resurrection. 

The Harrowing of Hell

This entire play is only hinted at in the bible. I found it interesting that the saints of the past were in hell. I had thought that this would have been within the time frame where purgatory was a doctrine of the church. Purgatory was the in-between place where the dead went before the judgement. Rather than straight to hell to be rescued by christ after his death. Purgatory is no longer a doctrine of the church. There was little in the bible that even hinted at it.

The Resurrection

The fact that it is a centurion at the start that warns them that Jesus will rise is interesting. In the bible, they are just aware of this fact without any particular warning. This telling is rather close to the account in the bible. But we do not see Jesus appearing to the women as we do in at least one of the gospels. 

The Judgement

The recap of the history that has led up to this point, allows this play to be stand-alone. Rather than relying on the audiences prior knowledge.

The actual judgment portion fit very well with scripture and is even paraphrasing it closely in places.

Everyman

The random reference to Jupiter in the middle of the play was a little surprising. To find a god's names from the Roman pantheon used to describe the Christian God was just strange.

It was interesting how his goods did not just desert him but also admitted that they had distracted him from God. While he was still living he loved them more than God. This is the only specifics of his sins that is gone into in the play. For the rest of the play, he just refers to his sins as a whole.

The Death of Pilate

At the very end of the play, three devils discuss the body and soul of Pilate. These are named Beelzebub, Satan and Lucifer. This is interesting because these are generally accepted as three different names of the same being. Rather than as three devils.

In the real world, Tiberius was never a follower of Jesus and instead was the predecessor to Caligula. Caligula was one of the persecuting emperors.

What others have to say about the Miracle Plays(11-16)

From Britannica about Everyman "this short play (about 900 lines) is more than an allegorical sermon because vivid characterization gives it dramatic energy"

From York Mystery plays about The judgement. "This was both an act of worship and ‘community theatre’ for the entertainment of locals and visitors alike, honouring God,"

Comparisons to other texts

Four of six of the plays are based around the Christian Bible. They carry in how close to the biblical account they come. One is almost exact while another is very much an interpolation of the text.

Everyman is rather different from all the other Miracle plays. For starters, it is a morality play rather than a biblical one. Also, it is a lot longer than the other plays. Everyman is more about how the Christian lives their life and comes to judgment. This contrasts with the biblical stories of the other plays.

Conclusion

The Medieval miracle plays take us on a journey through the Christian Bible. In doing so they often take liberties and interpolate extra content into the narrative. They have a tendency to be written with current knowledge in mind rather than thinking about what the characters would have known. This leads to some odd statements about Christ before he is even born from characters such as Moses.

The Everyman play is different both in its content and its length. It deals with more of how Christians should live and how they receive salvation through the sacraments.

Have you read The Miracle Plays? If so what did you think of it? 

 
Want to read The Miracle Plays but haven't? Please leave me a comment and let me know why you want to read it.

Hopefully, this post inspires you to take the time to look into it on your own journey of Self Education.

Get a copy of The Miracle Plays.

More plays from the Bible; Everyman and Medieval Miracle Plays(6-10), Various Unknown

 Why might you read the Miracle Plays?

The Miracle plays are a snapshot of how Medieval England saw the stories of the Bible.  I am just reading a collection of them rather than each version. This makes them great to compare how Christianity was understood across time, even if they are not directly about doctrine. 

For my Self Education project, they fill this role. They allow for a greater understanding of the way in which faith was a part of everyday life in medieval England. This will be important when I get to read more of the church fathers. As a narrative, they show a stage in the development of the play in the English speaking world.

Stories of the Miracle plays 6-10

Abraham and Issac

The play starts with Abraham praying for Issac his young son. We then see Issac also praying. There is a short scene in heaven where God tells his angels he will test Abraham. the test is to see whether he loves God or his son more.

Angels are then sent to instruct Abraham to go to the mountain and sacrifice Issac. While he prays it isn't so he complies. He takes Issac with wood for the fire up to the mountain.

Issac finds out he is to be the sacrifice and starts pleading with his father for his life. Abraham tells him he has been instructed by God to sacrifice him. Issac accepts his fate. Abraham dithers over doing the deed but eventually swings for the kill. He is stopped by an angel and is relieved. Issac asks why he has stopped and Abraham explains.

They sacrifice the ram God has arranged and descend the mountain praising God.

The Annunciation

The play opens with a Paraphrase of Isaiah's prophecy of the messiah. It continues with Mary being told she will have a child. And her marvelling about not having been with a man. And that the child would be from the holy spirit.

She then tells Joseph she's pregnant and he knows its not his. He will not listen and storms out. He is told by an angel and comes back home to Mary. The play finishes with them on the road to Bethlehem.

The Second Shepherds' Pagent

This play starts with the shepherds lamenting there state in life and lack of warm clothes. They are then joined by a man who is known to them. While they sleep he steals a sheep. He returns before they wake and bids them farewell. 

They then find there is a sheep missing and go to confront him in his house. They find him with his bedridden wife and are told she just gave birth. They go to leave as they cannot find any sign of the sheep. As they go to leave they realise they haven't seen the baby and given it gifts so they return and try and do so. When they do they see their sheep instead of a baby.

The shepherds return to the fields for another night. They meet an angel who tells them of Jesus birth in Bethlehem. So they go and visit the child and glorify him on arrival.

Herod the Great

The play starts with a messenger singing the praises of Herod. Herod enters and is angry that the wise men have gone without telling him who the child is. The child who will be king. So he ascertains the child approximate age. He then sends out his knights to kill every male child under the age of 2. When they return he rewards them well.

The Woman taken in Adultery

At the beginning we see a scribe and a Pharisee discussing Jesus. They focus on how to trap him into hypocrisy. They do so by presenting him with a woman caught in adultery. If he says kill he is a hypocrite because he has been preaching mercy. If he sends her away they have him breaking the law of Moses. Instead, he asks the man without sin to throw the stones. The men each leave bemoaning their sins. The woman then asks Jesus about it and he says she is free to go. She magnifies God for his mercy. 

Reflections on the Miracle plays 6-10

Abraham and Issac

Issac being described as Abrahams young son for this play. In the Bible, he is not described as such and it is common to describe him as full-grown today.

The play also adds Issac knowing he is to be sacrificed and accepting that. Again this is an extrapolation from the biblical text.

It is interesting to see Abraham dithering so much about the sacrifice. It brings some humanity to the story.

The Annunciation

It finishes in a rather interesting place, with them on the road. I would have expected it would either not add that part or go all the way to the birth of Jesus.

The play tells the story more like Mary and Joseph are already married and living together. Rather than being engaged like the Bible story. 

The Second Shepherds' Pagent

This play spends most of its time in the arguments between the shepherds and the stolen sheep. The visiting angel and baby Jesus take second best. This is interesting because it is a large departure from just a scriptural tale.

The missing sheep bit doesn't really end. They find the sheep but there is no talk of taking it back or of punishing the thief.

Herod the Great

Herod would not have had knights but rather warriors. Seems a bit nitpicky but knights were a thing of the middle ages. I must remember though that in the middle ages the idea that the past was different from now had not yet occurred to the scholars much less the laity.

Also, the messenger in the start makes Herod out to be larger and more powerful than he really was. His renowned would not have gone out to Syria and Greece.

The Woman taken in Adultery

It is interesting that the scribe and Pharisee both call him Jesu. We would now call him Jesus. The Editor calls him Jesus in the notes and when named as speaking. 

The plotting of the Pharisee is seen explicitly in the play. By comparison, the bible text just says they wanted to test him.

What others have to say about the Miracle plays 6-10

About Abraham and Issac enotes says "This miracle play does not specify where Abraham lives, apart from his early statement that he understands his home to be a gift from God."

Comparisons to other texts

In the earlier Miracle Plays, we see many things said that would only be true post the early church. Things like praying to the saints or referencing Christ. This was done in plays based on the old testament. In these Miracle plays this is still happening, though it is a little less jarring.

Compared to the Bible these stories have all been embellished. This is not necessarily a bad thing. But we do see one play go off on a tangent and be more about the tangent than the bible story. 

Conclusion

These plays have covered both old and new testament stories. These have ranged from Abraham and Issac to Jesus' ministry.  We have looked at how there are odd references that are out of their time. This is especially true in the old testament stories. Finally, they have said fairly true to the Biblical accounts but have added details. In one case this goes a little astray but it comes back to the point eventually.

Have you read The Miracle Plays? If so what did you think of it? 

 
Want to read The Miracle Plays but haven't? Please leave me a comment and let me know why you want to read it.

Hopefully, this post inspires you to take the time to look into it on your own journey of Self Education.

Get a copy of The Miracle Plays.

Biblical Stories as plays; Everyman and Medieval Miracle Plays (1-5), Various Unknown

Why you might read the Miracle Plays?

The Miracle plays are a snapshot of how Medieval England saw the stories of the Bible. They were not produced by the church but rather were put on by the local guilds, for example, the shipwrights guild. They were common across England with slight variations. I am just reading a collection of them rather than each version. This makes them great to compare how Christianity was understood across time, even if they are not directly about doctrine.

For my Self Education project, they fill this role. They allow for a greater understanding of the way in which faith was a part of everyday life in medieval England. This will be important when I get to read more of the church fathers. As a narrative, it shows the development of the play in the English speaking world.

Stories of the Miracle Plays 1-5

The creation, and the fall of Lucifer

This play covers who God is and his creative power. It focuses on the creation of the angles. Specifically the creation of Lucifer as Gods second in charge. Lucifer becomes conceited with his beauty and greatness. He oversteps the line and asks to be worshipped alongside God. At this moment he is thrown out of heaven and into hell. We then see him lamenting his new position with another devil. The scene then moves back from heaven as the heavenly host work out how to work without Lucifer as a guide. They turn toward God and he is worshipped.

The creation of Adam and Eve

This play covers again God and his creative power. This time as God creates man. He commands the earth to make a form of a man. Then takes his rib and forms woman. Then finally tells breath to make them alive. This play ends with the man and woman, being named Adam and Eve. They then worship God.

The fall of Man

This play covers the deception of Eve by the serpent. The play does designate the serpent as Satan. The serpent uses the line of eating this will make you like God. First, though he spends some time running down what God had said. It is the make you like God that convinces Eve. She then goes on to convince Adam who eats as well. He instantly laments what he has done and states that he is naked. They resolve to sew together fig leaves for coverings. When God comes to the garden they hide. When God finds out what they have done, he curses them and has the angles throw them out of paradise.

Cain and Abel

This play covers the sacrifices made by Cain and Abel. As well as the Slaying of Abel by Cain. It starts by detailing how Adam asks the two brothers to make sacrifices. It has Abel explaining why he gave his best and can explaining why he gave his worst. This is missing in the Bible account. God accepts Abel offering but not Cains. Cain is angry at this and slays his brother. God asks Cain where his brother is and he complains he is not his brother's keeper. God knows what Cain has done and drives him away and curses him as punishment.

Noah's Flood

This play covers from Noah being told to build the ark, to Noah being told to go forth and multiply. Noah's family is present when he is told to build the ark. Together they build the Ark and house the animals. The ark has a mast in this account but does not in the Bible. Once everything is set his wife refuses to get on the ark but eventually is persuaded and just in time. They are on the ark 40 days and then Noah releases both a raven and a dove. He does this only once unlike the account in the Bible. The dove returns with an olive leaf and Noah and his family get out of the Ark. God then promises to never flood the world again. He also gives the rainbow as a sign.

Reflections on the Miracle Plays 1-5

The Creation, and the fall of Lucifer

This is a story that is only alluded to in the Christian bible. So the specific details while in line with what we know are fabrications. That being said it is all in line with the bible accounts.

The focus on the greatness of God is to be expected in this work. that being said it is interesting how much time is taken just to glorify him. 

The portrayal of Lucifer is interesting. You do not see any of the sinister action and working directly against God. Those actions are attributed to Lucifer later in the narrative in the bible.

The creation of Adam and Eve

This story mashes together the creation of Adam and Eve. In the Christian bible, there is some time between Mans creation and woman. Other than that it sticks to known facts and even contains the dominion given to man over the animals.

The fall of Man

Satans line to Eve that she will be like God is pretty standard for this narrative. But this play takes it a little further and he tells her they will be like gods and worshipped. It's the worshipped part that is an additive here. Here we start to see Satan or Lucifer being more deceitful and conniving.

Cain and Abel

This play again expands on the story as it is given in the Bible. It is interesting to see how people interpreted why Cains sacrifice was unacceptable. The version given is the most likely but it is not something the Bible is specific about.

The start of the play also adds Adam emploring his sons to give sacrifices. This is an interesting interpretation. It could have been at Adams prompting or it could have been at Gods promoting. Again the Bible does not say.

Noah's Flood

Having Noah's wife be rather cantankerous is quite a change. There is no mention of her behaviour in the Bible. It is interesting to see that at least in Medieval England there was this version of her.

It is almost off-putting to see Noah reference Christ and the Apostles. He could not know of them as their place is much later in the timeline.

What others have to say about the Miracle Plays

From Mr Donn "During Medieval times most plays were religious and were used to teach people about the Bible, the lives of saints, or how to live your life the right way."

From Brittanica "By the 13th century they had become vernacularized and filled with unecclesiastical elements. They had been divorced from church services and were performed at public festivals"

Comparisons with other texts

The Main comparison here is with the Bible. I have noted some of this in the discussion and summary of the stories.

Generally, the Plays take the story and embellish it. In most cases, these seem logical and are nice additions to the narrative. But the addition of an almost rebellious wife to the Noah story seems a bit out of place. Noah and his family are chosen because of their righteousness so it makes no sense that she would not obey her husband.

Conclusion

The stories so far have been from Genesis in the Bible. They tend to be embellishments of the stories. They have covered The fall of Lucifer, the creation and fall of man. As well as the first murder and the great flood. This is not the end of the collection. Rather it is the start and there will be two more posts on these miracle plays as well as the everyman play.

Have you read The Miracle Plays? If so what did you think of it? 

 
Want to read The Miracle Plays but haven't? Please leave me a comment and let me know why you want to read it.

Hopefully, this post inspires you to take the time to look into it on your own journey of Self Education.

Get a copy of The Miracle Plays.

Augustine, City of God 1B; Why the Philosophers are wrong

First Post Back! And it's great to be here. It's currently Sunday night and I'm just reactivating all the accounts associated with this blog, mainly Email and Twitter. Just trying to get back into the swing of things. Its Fathers Day here today but that doesn't make it that much different from most Sundays, (I know the USA has a different date for Fathers Day, but at least New Zealand and Australia is today. I'm unsure if other countries have different days).

This is the second post in a series of four on Augustine's City of God, feel free to go back and read the first City of God 1A; Why the Pagans are wrong. In hindsight it possibly should have been a 22 part series but that would have taken nearly 2 years to post at one a month! And I didn't feel like getting that bogged down in one book... I will learn from the experience.

The Story

Book VI

In this book Augustine take the Roman idea (as it is published by Varro) that the religious is broken into three parts, the 'fabulous', the 'natural' and the 'civil', and piece by piece shows the folly of it.  First the 'fabulous' or that pertaining to the theater, he show that for the gods to be accepting of the offering of the theater that they must be no gods at all for the plays portray them in scathing light and without dignity for all the people to laugh at and be entertained by. He then moves on to put together a proof that the 'civil' division in fact is no different to the 'fabulous'. He shows that the offerings and rituals make as little sense as the plays as they also do not honour the gods, and that for some they require a man to be out of his mind to partake in them in the first place. He rounds this all off by pointing out that for the multitude of gods none is said to give eternal life and that it is still just the Christian or True God that gives this.

Book VII

Augustine continues with his dissection of the Roman religion by further looking into the section civil (which he has already offered proof is the same as the fabulous). He shows by various examples that Verro's explanation of the "select" gods (as he call them) is inconsistent at best and unintelligible at worst. He does so by giving various examples of how the king of the gods Janus should not be considered as king as he is not most powerful or relevant but rather that because the position of "selectness" is one of luck and fortune that fortune herself should be head of the gods.

He continues for there to explain how many gods have been ascribed supposed dominion of a given area and how Verro never finds a satisfactory argument to explain this. Augustine then concludes that the select gods can not be that great as they have their very dominions usurped by "trivial" gods.

Augustine finishes the book by turning back to what he calls true religion, that is faith in Jesus Christ, explaining the need to worship the creator not the created.

Book VIII
This book moves on from Verro to instead delve into the world of philosophy. While over the course of the book Augustine deals with a variety of schools of philosophy he pays special attention to the Platonist as he regards them as the closest to Christianity. They profess that logic dictates a singular creator god but do not go any further than this to arrive at "true" religion.
This then dovetails onto a discussion about demons, first that they can not be by there very nature the messengers of the gods as some philosophers would have it. That is to say if the gods are aloof from humanity they could not intermingle with the demons either. He then posits that even if the gods are in the gods are in the ether and, demons in the air and man in the realm of the ground, it does not follow that demons are above humans because they have no hope of doing or being good which has been established to be the basis of happiness.
Augustine ten surges on into a proof of the gods that the pagans worship especially those they make idols to, are really just demons. He even goes to quote Hermes of Egypt with his view that the man made gods are just an expression of disobedience and incorrect belief from the true God.

Book IX
Augustine continues with his discussion of the demons as mediator between man and God and again refutes it. This time he uses the example of Jesus Christ as the true mediator in that he was divine in character and mortal in body, but that even with the death of his mortal body he was bought back to life. He finds Christ a much better mediator in that his divine nature makes interrelating with God possible and fruitful but also that he understands our struggles. He also goes on to expound on how the demons react to the Christ and how it shows their depravity and incapacity for the mediation that the Platonist claim.

Book X
This book moves onto the writings of Porphyry, one of the later Platonist. Here he focuses on the soul, and its providence. This mainly consists of arguing against the ideas that the soul after death returns as a beast, as Plato himself supposed and of the idea that it returns from paradise to another human. He takes the view that for blessedness to be obtained one must know that it will be eternal so the idea of forgetting the misery of the mortal body and then desiring to return to mortal form seems both ludicrous and ill conceived.
Augustine also continues to discuss the truth of eternal life with God, and of Christ as the mediator and only way to achieve this blessedness. As well as using the final book of Part 1 to summarize the nub of his arguments.

Reflections

Book VI

It is interesting that the Romans conceptually broke down their religious practices. The 'civil' or the practices of the city are the most intriguing, it seems to acknowledge that the practice of the people differ from how the gods are worshiped in their own temples. While Augustine does not compare this directly to Christianity there is this underlying sense that Christian worship is more consistent.

The other thing of note is that even some Romans, and Augustine quotes them at length, disputed the civil and fabulous parts of the religion as unprofitable and over sensationalized.

Book VII

Augustine does a thorough job of pointing out the inconsistencies in the Roman religious pantheon. It is interesting that he chooses to use so many examples to poke not just one hole but many into the rationality of the Roman gods as a whole. He even goes so far as to go back to what Verro took as first principles and in doing so undermines his whole theory of how the pantheon both works and is constructed. From Augustine's focus on Verro I must conclude that Verro's work is both well known, widely know and well accepted in the roman public and academic sphere.

Book VIII
It is interesting to see Augustine argue from the very principles of the pagan philosophers and religious writers, that there is one true creator God and that all other gods are man made and therefor nothing more that carved images possessed by Demons. I wonder if this is the origin of the understanding that the gods of the pagans were just deceiving Demons or if this was already an established idea. It is also interesting to see, at least by reference, a pagan that understands that the pagan gods are man made and as such are a poor replacement for the true God.

Book IX
At first it seems like Augustine is going to repeat parts of the previous arguments, as he repeats some of the disputation of the idea that demons go as a mediator between the gods and man. But as he continues we see that he was just setting up a foil with which to contrast the true mediation of the Christ. In many ways he does not add a lot to his arguments other than this exposition of the mediation of Christ. Everything else of this book he has already proven in greater detail in the previous book.

Book X
Augustine in the act of summarizing the work so far spends a lot more time on the gospel of Christ than we see in previous books. His short introduction of what follows in part 2 shows that there will be a great shifting in focus from arguing against the beliefs of the world to more of a focus on Christianity, though I do not really expect to see an end to his arguments I just expect them to move to false doctrine rather than external beliefs.
It is interesting, and Augustine makes this point, that the later Platonist Porphyry, while seeming to hold Plato in high esteem, still dares to disagree entirely with his teacher on the point of what happens to human spirits after death. He seems to regard the idea that they would become the spirits of beasts to degrading and yet he posits that we come back again as humans from paradise. 
This idea of reincarnation I am used to associating with more eastern thought and religion, it makes me wonder if it was influenced by the thought coming out of the sub continent or if it was arrived at by its own means. And after a little research it seems that the answer to that very question is much debated with one side listing the similarities of the philosophers to the yogis of India and the other stating that we know where Plato traveled and it was further west not east. So I guess this one is a mystery.

Comparisons

At this point the only real comparisons to be made are with different parts of the City of God with itself. As I mentioned in the previous post on this book I have not got far enough through my BC list to have read the Philosophers being referenced by Augustine in this work. As such I look forward to reading Plato and Socrates and getting my own read on their philosophy and how it is flawed or well thought out in places.
The second half of this part seems far removed from the content of the first half which focused more on Christian thought and around what was happening in the empire at the time of its writing, while this half has been entirely focused on the religions, and I count Philosophy as one of them, of the secular Romans of the empire.

Have you read The City of God? If so what did you think of it?

Want to read The City of God but haven't? Hopefully this inspires you to take the time to do so.
Get a copy of The City of God.

Saint Augustine, The City of God 1A; Why the pagans are wrong

Ok so I'm going back to The City of God. It should have been the first book on my list but I was planning to put it on a Theology list, until my husband told me it was considered the precursor to the novel, so it has been added to this list. This book is huge, even bigger than Herodotus. Hopefully, it's not going to be as much hard work, though. Because of its size, I'm going to break it up. There are two parts in it and I will split each of these in half, so this work is Part 1A.
Also, because it is so large I'm going to break up my synopsis, reflections, and maybe comparisons into the respective books that the work is split into, just to make it more accessible.

The Story
Book I
During the sacking of Rome, Pagans and Christians sought refuge in the churches and places dedicated to Saints. Augustine is arguing against those who are now saying that Christianity is the reason for the sacking of Rome, by pointing to the saving work of Christ in those churches and holy places. He points out that it is anything but normal for an invading army to leave the holy places alone in their sacking of a city.
He also spends time comforting those who were raped in the sack. He argues eloquently that the sin of the man does not contaminate the chastity of the woman involved if, in her heart, she is against the act.
Related to this, he speaks against suicide. The thing to be aware of here is that culturally it was expected for a person to cause their own death if they have lost their chastity or virginity, and other situations considered to be highly shameful. Augustine, rightfully, argues that to take one's own life is to sin against the commandment "thou shall not kill" and, to add another sin on top of what has happened or will happen, is not to be promoted.

Book II
Augustine's main argument in this book is that the Roman gods did not give the people any moral instructions and that this, which is the cause of the decay in Rome, is a big part of why they cannot be gods but rather are demons. He also spends a lot of time detailing the depravity of the theater, which is dedicated to the gods, and uses that to argue again that they must not be very great or big gods.
He again uses Roman sources to lay out the history of the decline from the early days of Rome to his modern day. From these sources, he lays out that the community and commonwealth of Rome is actually already dead, with the moral decay it has come apart and there is, by this definition, no longer a community or commonwealth. He eventually contrasts this with the moral compass and teachings that come with Christianity.

Book III
In a lot of ways this book is a rinse and repeat of book II, but instead of focusing on the moral decay that happened before Christ as an argument against those who want to blame the sacking of Rome, by the Goths, on the worship of Christ, and the decrease of worship in the "Roman" gods: Augustine focuses on the calamity's that have befallen Rome. He runs through these calamities in broad sweeps, including earlier sacks of Rome, civil wars, and wars abroad and points out that, if the roman gods aren't to blame for that, how can Christ be to blame for what has come after the national conversion.

Book IV
This book starts with a recap of the previous three books. After that, Augustine launches into a proof that the Roman gods are false or demons, and that Rome's fortunes are actually blessings from the one true God. He does this by logically questioning the order of the Roman gods and suggesting that the only god it makes sense to worship is Felicity or of being happy. So, it makes more sense to worship the one God who gives good felicity and happiness, rather than worship the fortune itself.

Book V
Augustine reiterates that felicity is not a goddess but a gift from the True God. Then, continues with the debunking of Astrology and star-based divination. He uses the example of twins, especially those that are male and female, to show that the differences are bigger than a small change of stars should indicate. He continues by explaining how the expansion of Rome, and its good fortune, are actually gifts from God and show that the Roman pursuit of glory has no place in the heavenly city.

Reflections
Book I
Augustine uses scripture and history to prove that, even under the old Roman gods, bad things happened. So, it was too much of a stretch to say that the sacking of Rome was due to the disregarding those gods and the rise of Christendom. He points to the moral decay of people being too comfortable, without any more wars, as the reason for the sacking.
The biggest point that stuck with me over the rape, was the argument: the reiteration that, in the case of rape, the woman is blameless. Though, Augustine does add that she is blameless if she did not want it in her heart. This still rings true today and in it's time was a huge departure from the idea that the woman was somehow spiritually sullied by the act. That is not to say that there is no wound that need healing for the woman but that she is blameless when law and order breaks down as in a sack.
With suicide, in the modern context, where there is no societal pressure to suicide, if disgraceful things happen to you, I have a saying "you can believe that suicide is a thing a Christian should not do and still be suicidal." If you are in that place please seek help. I know that knowing it is a sin and that this is probably not much help right now. Also, I think that the early church took it a step too far and decided that because there was no opportunity to repent of your own murder it must be unforgivable but this does not line up with scripture where Christ says that the only unforgivable sin is the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit.

Book II
I feel like Augustine spends far to long on this but as a direct rebuff to an opinion, I guess, it is well formulated. In the process of defining his argument, he does reiterate his point a fair bit. I think Augustine's tendency to quote Roman writers (yes and Greek) would strengthen his point to his target audience, but, at times, I find it a little hard to follow, as I haven't finished my BC list yet. This is why I started with my BC list, but as you know, I needed a little more variety.

Book III
Again, this is a well formed argument that steps through the history of Rome from Roman sources.
The first book was just an overview and in these following books Augustine fleshes out his arguments. In this case, he takes a tour through the history of what has gone wrong or the bad that has come against, or to, Rome.

Book IV
Today, in Christianity, most times, when we talk about other religions, the strongest language we seem willing to use is to call them "false gods", and we treat them like they don't exist. Augustine, on the other hand, starts with the idea they are false religions and is not shy about calling their gods, demons. He is very aware that they exist but that they are spirits working in deception for the prince of darkness.

Book V
Sometimes, today, we can look around at what is going on in the world and despair at the bad and good in it. Augustine reminds us that pursuing things other than God, like the good approval of men, is sinful and will lead to eternal destruction. He also reminds us that God lifts up Nations in their time and that this is still a work of his hand, even when it doesn't look like it.

Comparisons
There is not much to compare it to at this point. I think that once I get into the Roman writers, both proceeding and contemporary to this work, there will be more that can be said.  I may end up coming back to it once I have read some of the Roman authors, as, I think, it will be quite interesting to do. I just do not have the background at this point.

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