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The City Of God we speak of is the same to which testimony is borne
by that Scripture, which excels all the writings of all nations by its
divine authority, and has brought under its influence all kinds of
minds, and this not by a casual intellectual movement, but obviously
by an express providential arrangement. For there it is written,
"Glorious things are spoken of thee, O city of God." And in
another psalm we read, "Great is the Lord, and greatly to be
praised in the city of our God, in the mountain of His holiness,
increasing the joy of the whole earth." And, a little after, in the
same psalm, "As we have heard, so have we seen in the city of the
Lord of hosts, in the city of our God. God has established it for
ever." And in another, "There is a river the streams whereof shall
make glad the city of our God, the holy place of the tabernacles of
the Most High. God is in the midst of her, she shall not be
moved." From these and similar testimonies, all of which it were
tedious to cite, we have learned that there is a city of God, and its
Founder has inspired us with a love which makes us covet its
citizenship. To this Founder of the holy city the citizens of the
earthly city prefer their own gods, not knowing that He is the God of
gods, not of false, i.e., of impious and proud gods, who, being
deprived of His unchangeable and freely communicated light, and so
reduced to a kind of poverty-stricken power, eagerly grasp at their
own private privileges, and seek divine honors from their deluded
subjects; but of the pious and holy gods, who are better pleased to
submit themselves to one, than to subject many to themselves, and who
would rather worship God than be worshipped as God. But to the
enemies of this city we have replied in the ten preceding books,
according to our ability and the help afforded by our Lord and King.
Now, recognizing what is expected of me, and not unmindful of my
promise, and relying, too, on the same succor, I will endeavor to
treat of the origin, and progress, and deserved destinies of the two
cities (the earthly and the heavenly, to wit), which, as we said,
are in this present world commingled, and as it were entangled
together. And, first, I will explain how the foundations of these
two cities were originally laid, in the difference that arose among the
angels.
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