The City Of God By Thomas Aquinas, Augustine, And Frederick Douglass

Christianity Defying Racial Oppression Christianity has worked its way through history making its imprint on all of society up until this very day. Some of the most influential Christians have set a particular focus on an array of beliefs, making it difficult to pinpoint the characteristics and attitudes of a perfect Christian. Being the perfect Christian was sought to be the epitome of happiness and greatest achievement. Important Christian philosophers had views that varied from law, social division, and unjust racism which influenced the religion and the way people thought about faith substantially. Thomas Aquinas, Augustine, and Frederick Douglass work to integrate equality and righteousness into the faith by directly and indirectly explaining
Augustine reflects on Christianity in the secular world in his writing The City of God, where the focal point of the writing is to differentiate the two separate kingdoms men are living in. A kingdom lived by according to man and a kingdom lived by according to God. Augustine states that when a man lives according to himself, or society in this case, he is living according to a lie. Augustine openly states this about the kingdom of man, “But as this is not a good which can discharge its devotees of all distresses, this city is often divided against itself by litigations, wars, quarrels, and such victories are either life-destroying or short-lived.” He pushes for the reader to simply notice and examine the division created by personal victories, which leads him to write “…all men desire to have peace with their own circle whom they wish to govern as suits themselves. For even those whom they make war against they wish to make their own, and impose on them the laws of their own peace.” As a devout Christian he works to solidify the idea of peace and true acceptance of one another. Augustine continues to strengthen his argument with this statement “…God, then, the most wise Creator and most just Ordainer of all natures, who placed the human race upon this earth as its greatest ornament, imparted to men some good things adapted to the life, to wit, temporal peace, such as we can enjoy in this life from health and safety and human fellowship, and all things needful for the preservation and recovery of this peace…” He finishes by saying earthly peace and earthly community is connected by the City of God with eternal peace. Augustine works to expose the social divide among believers of the Christian faith and is against man feeding into their own self-interest opposed to God’s. By uncovering truth in his