Essay Outline: St Augustine’s The City of God and the City of Man
Thesis (introduction paragraph — topic sentence): St Augustine argues that human history contains two main social-spiritual ‘cities’ — the City of God and the earthly city (City of Man) — which are formed by two different loves, grow through history (including Old Testament events), and have very different futures; Christians must live in the world but keep their ultimate citizenship in the City of God. (Support with Augustine’s summary: "Two loves made two cities: the love of self even to the contempt of God; the love of God even to the contempt of self." — City of God)
Paragraph 1 — Attributes of the two cities (topic sentence)
Topic sentence: The City of God is defined by love of God and ordered life aiming at eternal peace, while the earthly city is defined by self-love, pride and pursuit of temporal goods.
Support / brief explanation: Augustine describes the heavenly city as people united by love of God, seeking higher, eternal goods; the earthly city unites those who love themselves and earthly power.
Short quote: "the love of God, even to the contempt of self" versus "the love of self, even to the contempt of God." — City of God
Paragraph 2 — How the two cities came to exist (topic sentence)
Topic sentence: Augustine traces the origin of the two cities back to the beginning of human moral choices — the city of God through the righteous who choose God, the earthly city through those who choose self over God.
Support / brief explanation: He reads early Genesis stories (for example Cain and Abel) as showing these two ways of life: Abel stands for those orientated to God, Cain for those orientated to self.
Short quote: Augustine points to early scripture types: Cain and Abel as signs of two sorts of people — "the one was of the wicked, the other of the righteous" (City of God, discussing Genesis).
Paragraph 3 — How Augustine traces the cities through the Old Testament (topic sentence)
Topic sentence: Augustine reads the Old Testament typologically: figures and cities like Jerusalem and Babylon symbolise the two societies, and many Old Testament people are seen as belonging to one city or the other.
Support / brief explanation: He often treats the true Israel as mixed — some Israelites belong to the heavenly city (righteous figures like Abel, and righteous sufferers), while the wicked or idolatrous represent the earthly city; he uses Jerusalem (heavenly) and Babylon (earthly) as broad symbols.
Short quote: Augustine uses the image of cities repeatedly (Jerusalem vs Babylon) and writes about the contrast between them as representative of spiritual states (City of God).
Paragraph 4 — Futures of the two cities (topic sentence)
Topic sentence: Augustine holds that the earthly city will pass away and fall because it rests on changing human loves, while the City of God endures eternally.
Support / brief explanation: Earthly powers and cities are temporary and can be lost (for example Rome fell); the city built by God’s love lasts forever and reaches perfect peace only at the end.
Short quote: Augustine insists the heavenly city finds its rest in God and endures beyond earthly loss — the City of God is linked with eternal destiny (City of God).
Paragraph 5 — Flaws in the earthly city and the status of earthly goods (topic sentence)
Topic sentence: The earthly city is flawed not because earthly goods are always bad, but because they are loved in the wrong order — turning good things into evils when they replace love of God.
Support / brief explanation: Augustine says created goods (wealth, honour, family, life) are not evil in themselves; they become harmful when loved more than God — when ordered wrongly they make the city of man corrupt.
Short quote: Augustine warns that goods are twisted by inordinate love and that right ordering is the meaning of true good (often summarised by his idea of rightly ordered loves). — City of God
Paragraph 6 — What produces peace and discord between the two cities (topic sentence)
Topic sentence: Peace comes from the right ordering of loves (love of God before all), while discord comes from pride, selfishness and rivalry in the earthly city.
Support / brief explanation: Augustine’s famous definition of peace is the "tranquillity of order" — when loves are in the right place we have true peace; when people seek power or self-satisfaction, conflict follows.
Short quote: Augustine sums up true peace as "tranquilitas ordinis" (the tranquillity of order) — City of God.
Paragraph 7 — Suffering and Augustine’s view (topic sentence)
Topic sentence: Augustine believes Christians may suffer on earth, but God permits or uses suffering to test, correct, teach or strengthen the faithful rather than always preventing every suffering.
Support / brief explanation: Suffering in the earthly life does not show God’s failure; Augustine says earthly trials are part of a bigger story that leads believers toward the eternal city and divine justice.
Short quote: Augustine says God sometimes allows suffering for a purpose (discipline, correction, or to reveal true hearts) — City of God.
Paragraph 8 — How much Christians should be concerned with earthly affairs (topic sentence)
Topic sentence: Christians should take part in earthly life and do justice, charity and public service, but always with the perspective that their ultimate loyalty and hope belong to the City of God.
Support / brief explanation: Augustine does not demand total withdrawal; he allows Christians to serve as rulers, soldiers, parents and citizens, provided they keep God first and act for justice rather than selfish ambition.
Short quote: Augustine advises Christians to live in the world "but not to be of the world" (a summary idea he develops in City of God).
Paragraph 9 — The sack of Rome (410) and Augustine’s implications (topic sentence)
Topic sentence: Augustine wrote City of God partly as a response to Rome’s sack (410) to show that pagan religion did not save Rome, and that the city’s fall proves the fragility of earthly hopes, not the falsehood of Christianity.
Support / brief explanation: He argues that Rome’s gods could not give real salvation or lasting peace; the fall of an earthly empire is not evidence against the eternal city of God.
Short quote: Augustine emphasizes that earthly powers fail and that true security is not in pagan rites or city walls but in God — City of God.
Paragraph 10 — Augustine compared with Tertullian and Chrysostom (topic sentence)
Topic sentence: Augustine stands between stricter separatists like Tertullian and churchmen like Chrysostom — he agrees that the world is corrupt, but he allows more engagement than a purely separatist stance while still urging spiritual detachment.
Support / brief explanation: Tertullian tended to urge separation from Roman culture; Chrysostom emphasized moral reform and engagement with urban life. Augustine accepts service in public life but insists on prioritising divine goods and inner order.
Short quote: Augustine stresses dual citizenship and the priority of the heavenly city, while also describing the Christian’s role in society — City of God.
Conclusion (topic sentence)
Topic sentence: Augustine’s two-city theory teaches that history is shaped by competing loves, calls Christians to live faithfully in the world with their hope set on the City of God, and explains events like Rome’s fall as part of the temporary nature of earthly life.
Final supporting quote: Keep Augustine’s key summary in mind: "Two loves made two cities…" This line helps you explain his whole argument in a short, exam-ready way. — City of God
Study tips: For an assessment, turn each paragraph topic sentence into one clear sentence in your essay, then add 2–3 supporting sentences (explain, give a short example or Old Testament link, and include the short Augustine quote). Use clear signposting (e.g., "First..., Next..., Finally...") and end with a strong concluding sentence that restates your thesis.