Book XXII: The Eternal Blessedness of the City of God and the Resurrection of the Body explained

What happens

Themes in this chapter

• Eschatology and the Last Things

  The chapter focuses on the eternal blessedness of the saints, the resurrection of the body, and the final judgment.

• Sin, Grace, and Redemption

  Discusses the fall of angels and humans, and God's grace in redeeming a people to fill the heavenly city.

• Peace, Justice, and the Order of Love

  The eternal happiness of the city of God is presented as the ultimate peace and justice.

Characters to notice

• Augustine

  Author and narrator, concluding his work with a defense of the resurrection and eternal blessedness.

• Abraham

  Referenced as the recipient of God's promise that 'in thy seed shall all nations be blessed,' fulfilled in Christ.

• Jesus Christ

  Mentioned as the fulfillment of God's promise to Abraham and the foundation of the resurrection.

• Hercules

  Cited by Cicero as an example of apotheosis, whose body was not taken into heaven according to pagan belief.

• Romulus

  Also cited by Cicero regarding apotheosis, with the claim that his body remained on earth.

• Cicero

  Quoted from 'De Republica' to illustrate pagan arguments against the resurrection of the body.

• Apuleius

  Mentioned as a pagan philosopher who testifies that pagan deities tremble before God.

Key passages

• “This blessedness is named eternal, not because it shall endure for many ages, though at last it shall come to an end, but because, according to the words of the gospel, 'of His kingdom there shall be no end.'”

  The eternal happiness of the city of God is not temporary but everlasting, as Christ's kingdom has no end.

  Augustine defines the eternal nature of the saints' blessedness.

• “For it is He who in the beginning created the world full of all visible and intelligible beings, among which He created nothing better than those spirits whom He endowed with intelligence, and made capable of contemplating and enjoying Him, and united in our society, which we call the holy and heavenly city, and in which the material of their sustenance and blessedness is God Himself, as it were their common food and nourishment.”

  God created the world and intelligent spirits, including angels and humans, who find their blessedness in contemplating and enjoying Him.

  Augustine describes the creation of the heavenly city and its dependence on God.

• “It is He who with very just punishment doomed the angels who voluntarily fell to everlasting misery, and rewarded those who continued in their attachment to the supreme good with the assurance of endless stability as the meed of their fidelity.”

  God justly punished the fallen angels with eternal misery and rewarded the faithful angels with eternal stability.

  Augustine explains the justice of God in dealing with angels.

• “For if we were only souls, that is, spirits without any body, and if we dwelt in heaven and had no knowledge of earthly animals, and were told that we should be bound to earthly bodies by some wonderful bond of union, and should animate them, should we not much more vigorously refuse to believe this, and maintain that nature would not permit an incorporeal substance to be held by a corporeal bond?”

  If we were disembodied spirits, we would find it hard to believe that souls could be united with earthly bodies, yet this is a common reality.

  Augustine uses an analogy to argue that the resurrection of the body is no more incredible than the union of soul and body.

• “Thus his saints, inspired by his holy will, desire many things which never happen. They pray, e.g., for certain individuals—they pray in a pious and holy manner—but what they request He does not perform, though He Himself by his own Holy Spirit has wrought in them this will to pray.”

  God sometimes inspires holy desires in the saints that are not fulfilled, showing that His will is not always carried out in the way humans expect.

  Augustine discusses the distinction between God's eternal will and the will He works in humans.