A  BRIEF  CRITICISM  OF
  AUGUSTINE'S 'CITY OF GOD' (1).

Holy Spirit does not allow an anointed son of God to indulge in excessive argument or debate with those who worship false gods, who follow the philosophies of men, or are involved in affairs of State.  Excesses of this sort would only grieve Holy Spirit.

On the one hand, Augustine agreed with some of the teachings of the philosophers, on the other he attributed the inspiration of their works to demons. But in recalling the numerous names of these men and their philosophies to prove his own arguments, he served only to dilute the authority of the Word of God in the minds of the untaught and unsteady who may read his writings.

However, among Augustine's speculative and erroneous guesswork, there are passages that are scripturally accurate and some show a measure of spiritual understanding. As an example of this, after quoting 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12,  Augustine attempted to reveal who the Antichrist of 2 Thessalonians would be:

'No one can doubt that Paul is here speaking of Antichrist, telling us that the day of Judgement (which he calls the Day  of the Lord) will not come without the prior coming of a figure whom he calls the Apostate, meaning, of course, an apostate from the Lord God. And if this appellation can rightly be attached to all the unGodly, how much more to him! There is, however, some uncertainty about the 'temple' in which he is to take his seat. Is  it  the ruins of the Temple built by King Solomon, or actually in a church? For the Apostle would not say 'the temple of God' if he meant the temple of some idol or demon. For that reason some people would have it that Antichrist means here not the leader himself but what we may call his whole body, the multitude, that is, of those who belong to him, together with himself, their leader. And they suppose that then it would be more correct to say, following the original Greek, that he 'takes his seat as the temple of God', instead of 'in the temple of God', purporting to be himself God's temple, that is, the Church: in the same way as we say, 'He sits as a friend', meaning 'like a friend'.'  ('City of God'. Bk. XX. Ch.19).

Augustine did not distinguish between the "antichrist" (1 John 2:22) and the apostate "man of lawlessness".  (2 Thess 2:3). For whereas the antichrist "denies the Father and the Son", knowing neither (e.g. a Trinitarian), the apostate "man of lawlessness" are those who were once believers in The Christ, but who subsequently withdrew from God (apostatized) and "took pleasure in unrighteousness". This was confirmed by their removal of those "acting as a restraint" to their unrighteous activities (removing the last of The Christ's anointed brothers of his "body").  However, Augustine did realize it would involve many taking hold of the seat of authority in the temple of God     a composite "man of lawlessness".  (2 Thess 2:1-12).

Augustine goes on to speculate: 'However, there are others who think that 'you know what restrains' and 'the secret power of wickedness' refer only to the evil people and the pretended Christians who are in the Church, until they reach such a number as to constitute a great people for Antichrist; this they hold, is 'the secret power of wickedness' because it is, evidently, concealed. And they suppose the Apostle to be exhorting the faithful to hold on with perseverance to the faith they hold. In their view, he is saying, 'Only let him who holds hold on, until  he is removed  from  the scene', meaning 'until the secret power of wickedness, now concealed, departs from the Church'.'  ('City of God'. Bk. XX. Ch.19).

The Church (congregation) that will remain are faithful anointed sons of God once removed from the scene but continuing to hold onto their faith. As for the members of the apostate "man of lawlessness", collectively they are "that wicked man whom the Lord Jesus will destroy with the breath of his mouth, and annihilate by the radiance of his coming."  (2 Thess 2:8 NEB).

(Cont. on Page 7/8/90).

3/8/90.
 

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