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Rome’s empire was collapsing. It had been a Christian empire for the better part of a century, but now the barbaric Goths were kicking in its doors. So Augustine tried to shore up the faith of his flock with a book he called The City of God.

Written more than 15 centuries ago, it is now an undisputed classic. Begun in 413 A.D. and appearing in installments over the next 13 years, Augustine’s masterpiece has spawned innumerable other books and articles since. Later philosophers and theologians have been deeply influenced by it, with its impact being felt from literature and historiography. Its greatest influence has been within the Christian church itself, as one might expect of a book written by a bishop who was a great theologian as well as philosopher and administrator.

It was written in response to a particular historical context. In 410 A.D., Alaric and his Goths, Germanic barbarians from the north, sacked Rome. Since Rome had been undisputed queen of civilization for a millennium, her fall shocked the ancient world. As Jerome put it, “The whole world perished in one city.” Josef Pieper notes, “To Augustine himself and to all with whom he dealt, Rome was nothing less than the symbol of order in the world.” Many blamed Christianity for Rome’s fall, suggesting that the pagan gods were angry because Christianity had been promoted by the empire. Augustine’s answer was The City of God.

The book covers an astonishing range of topics. As one might expect from its title, it contrasts “the City of God” with “the city of men.” But it also deals with creation, time, the origin of evil, human freedom, divine knowledge of the future, the resurrection of the body, final judgement, happiness, the Incarnation, sin, grace, and forgiveness (among others). The sheer scope of the work is impressive.

Equally impressive is the quality of Augustine’s discussions. He offers broad, deep, rich, and generally clear analyses of very difficult topics—topics on which it is easy to write obscurely and foolishly. Even where one is inclined to disagree, one can still learn much from him.

Further, he is often simply eloquent. Consider, for example, his brief description of the core of Christianity: “God’s son, assuming humanity without destroying his divinity, established and founded this faith, that there might be a way for man to man’s God through God’s man.” To the suggestion that human beings can be saved from their sins by their own efforts, without God’s grace, his terse reply is: “Without him, what have we accomplished, save to perish in his anger?” Concerning human suffering as evidence of God’s non-existence or unconcern, he writes: “Our God is everywhere present, wholly everywhere; not confined to any place. He can be present unperceived, and be absent without moving; when he exposes us to adversities, it is either to prove our perfections or correct our imperfections; and in return for our patient endurance of the sufferings of time, he reserves for us an everlasting reward.” These are pithy, thought-provoking answers to difficult questions. Not that these are the only answers, but it is clear that Augustine has something to say, and generally says it very well.

The basic reason for his perpetual influence is very simple: much of what Augustine offers his readers is a very blunt statement of Christianity. He sees, and forcefully states, some of the most basic implications of the Christian gospel. That gospel, to use a contemporary term, is a message of “tough love”— and he sees no other sort of love that is really worth having.

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