A Tale of Two Cities
When growing up, do you remember playing the game Jacks? It involved a couple of bouncy balls and many non-descript "jack" pieces that were packaged together and sold in a small net bag. The first time my cousin introduced me to it, I questioned how a game could be played using such randomly opposite pieces. But nevertheless, their distinctions allowed for an enjoyable and often competitive pastime. Just as the jacks and balls were combined to form a game, Augustine writes of two peoples who are joined to live on Earth until Judgment passes. Although they share things necessary for mortal life, the way in which they live and the purposes they serve greatly differ. This creates a unique distinction between the two which is to proceed to the end of history.In The Essential Augustine, edited by Vernon Bourke, Augustine introduces the two peoples by describing their origins. God created man with the hope that they might "be bound together in harmony and peace..." (Bourke 200). However, in the Garden of Eden so great a sin was committed that by it human nature was altered for the worse and was...liable to sin and subject to death. And the kingdom of death so reigned over the men that the deserved penalty of sin would have
Those who were saved and those who were not saved make up the two groups "which we may justly call two cities..." (Bourke 201). According to Augustine, these cities are defined by their loves. The earthly city has a love of self whereas the heavenly city has a love of God (Bourke 202). Additionally, these cities are "held together by some law..." (Bourke 208). The law, in essence, is the values and ideals by which the cities live. It is practiced by an assemblage of people with a "community of interests..." (Bourke 211). The earthly city consists of people "who wish to live after the flesh", whereas the heavenly city is made of "those who wish to live after the spirit..." (Bourke 201). Augustine continues to relate the differences between the two cities by telegraphically comparing them. The earthly city is selfish, greedy, foul, trouble-making, and controlled by arrogant domination (Bourke 201). It "subjugates its neighbor," "lifts up its head in its own glory," and "delights in its own strength..." (Bourke 202). On the contrary, the heavenly city is humble, peaceful, holy, concerned with the common welfare, and submissive to God. It "desires for its neighbor what it desires for itself," deems God as the lifter of its head, and marks God as its strength (Bourke 202). These sharply Manichean ideas distinguish the two cities and the people which belong to them. One is secular, the other is godly.
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Approximate Word count = 957
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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