The City of God, Book XVIII

Book XVIII

• The City of God XVIII.1 — Of Those Things Down to the Times of the Saviour Which Have Been Discussed in the Seventeen Books. Chapter 1.—Of Those Things Down to the Times of the Saviour Which Have Been Discussed in the Seventeen Books. I…vatican.va
• The City of God XVIII.2 — Of the Kings and Times of the Earthly City Which Were Synchronous with the Times of the Saints, Reckoning from the Rise of Abraham. Chapter 2.—Of the Kings and Times of the Earthly City Which Were Synchronous with…vatican.va
• The City of God XVIII.3 — Chapter 3.—What Kings Reigned in Assyria and Sicyon When, According to the Promise, Isaac Was Born to Abraham in His Hundredth Year, and When the Twins Esau and Jacob Were Born of Rebecca to Isaac in His Sixtieth…vatican.va
• The City of God XVIII.4 — Of the Times of Jacob and His Son Joseph. In the reign of Balæus, the ninth king of Assyria, and Mesappus, the eighth of Sicyon, who is said by some to have been also called Cephisos (if indeed the same man had both…vatican.va
• The City of God XVIII.5 — Of Apis King of Argos, Whom the Egyptians Called Serapis, and Worshipped with Divine Honors. Chapter 5.—Of Apis King of Argos, Whom the Egyptians Called Serapis, and Worshipped with Divine Honors. In these times Apis…vatican.va
• The City of God XVIII.6 — Who Were Kings of Argos, and of Assyria, When Jacob Died in Egypt. Apis, then, who died in Egypt, was not the king of Egypt, but of Argos. He was succeeded by his son Argus, from whose name the land was called Argos…vatican.va
• The City of God XVIII.7 — Who Were Kings When Joseph Died in Egypt. In the reign of Mamitus, the twelfth king of Assyria, and Plemnæus, the eleventh of Sicyon, while Argus still reigned over the Argives, Joseph died in Egypt a hundred and ten…vatican.va
• The City of God XVIII.8 — Who Were Kings When Moses Was Born, and What Gods Began to Be Worshipped Then. When Saphrus reigned as the fourteenth king of Assyria, and Orthopolis as the twelfth of Sicyon, and Criasus as the fifth of Argos, Moses…vatican.va
• The City of God XVIII.9 — When the City of Athens Was Founded, and What Reason Varro Assigns for Its Name. Chapter 9.—When the City of Athens Was Founded, and What Reason Varro Assigns for Its Name. Athens certainly derived its name from…vatican.va
• The City of God XVIII.10 — What Varro Reports About the Term Areopagus, and About Deucalion’s Flood. Marcus Varro, however, is not willing to credit lying fables against the gods, lest he should find something dishonoring to their majesty; and…vatican.va
• The City of God XVIII.11 — When Moses Led the People Out of Egypt; And Who Were Kings When His Successor Joshua the Son of Nun Died. Chapter 11.—When Moses Led the People Out of Egypt; And Who Were Kings When His Successor Joshua the Son of…vatican.va
• The City of God XVIII.12 — Chapter 12.—Of the Rituals of False Gods Instituted by the Kings of Greece in the Period from Israel’s Exodus from Egypt Down to the Death of Joshua the Son of Nun. During this period, that is, from Israel’s exodus…vatican.va
• The City of God XVIII.13 — What Fables Were Invented at the Time When Judges Began to Rule the Hebrews. After the death of Joshua the son of Nun, the people of God had judges, in whose times they were alternately humbled by afflictions on…vatican.va
• The City of God XVIII.14 — Of the Theological Poets. During the same period of time arose the poets, who were also called theologues, because they made hymns about the gods; yet about such gods as, although great men, were yet but men, or the…vatican.va
• The City of God XVIII.15 — Of the Fall of the Kingdom of Argos, When Picus the Son of Saturn First Received His Father’s Kingdom of Laurentum. Chapter 15.—Of the Fall of the Kingdom of Argos, When Picus the Son of Saturn First Received His…vatican.va
• The City of God XVIII.16 — Of Diomede, Who After the Destruction of Troy Was Placed Among the Gods, While His Companions are Said to Have Been Changed into Birds. Chapter 16.—Of Diomede, Who After the Destruction of Troy Was Placed Among the…vatican.va
• The City of God XVIII.17 — What Varro Says of the Incredible Transformations of Men. In support of this story, Varro relates others no less incredible about that most famous sorceress Circe, who changed the companions of Ulysses into beasts,…vatican.va
• The City of God XVIII.18 — What We Should Believe Concerning the Transformations Which Seem to Happen to Men Through the Art of Demons. Chapter 18.—What We Should Believe Concerning the Transformations Which Seem to Happen to Men Through the…vatican.va
• The City of God XVIII.19 — That Æneas Came into Italy When Abdon the Judge Ruled Over the Hebrews. After the capture and destruction of Troy, Æneas, with twenty ships laden with the Trojan relics, came into Italy, when Latinus reigned there,…vatican.va
• The City of God XVIII.20 — Of the Succession of the Line of Kings Among the Israelites After the Times of the Judges. Chapter 20.—Of the Succession of the Line of Kings Among the Israelites After the Times of the Judges. While these kings…vatican.va
• The City of God XVIII.21 — Of the Kings of Latium, the First and Twelfth of Whom, Æneas and Aventinus, Were Made Gods. Chapter 21.—Of the Kings of Latium, the First and Twelfth of Whom, Æneas and Aventinus, Were Made Gods. After Æneas, whom…vatican.va
• The City of God XVIII.22 — That Rome Was Founded When the Assyrian Kingdom Perished, at Which Time Hezekiah Reigned in Judah. Chapter 22.—That Rome Was Founded When the Assyrian Kingdom Perished, at Which Time Hezekiah Reigned in Judah. To be…vatican.va
• The City of God XVIII.23 — Of the Erythræan Sibyl, Who is Known to Have Sung Many Things About Christ More Plainly Than the Other Sibyls. Chapter 23.—Of the Erythræan Sibyl, Who is Known to Have Sung Many Things About Christ More Plainly Than…vatican.va
• The City of God XVIII.24 — Chapter 24.—That the Seven Sages Flourished in the Reign of Romulus, When the Ten Tribes Which Were Called Israel Were Led into Captivity by the Chaldeans, and Romulus, When Dead, Had Divine Honors Conferred on Him.…vatican.va
• The City of God XVIII.25 — Chapter 25.—What Philosophers Were Famous When Tarquinius Priscus Reigned Over the Romans, and Zedekiah Over the Hebrews, When Jerusalem Was Taken and the Temple Overthrown. When Zedekiah reigned over the Hebrews,…vatican.va
• The City of God XVIII.26 — Chapter 26.—That at the Time When the Captivity of the Jews Was Brought to an End, on the Completion of Seventy Years, the Romans Also Were Freed from Kingly Rule. At this time, Cyrus king of Persia, who also ruled…vatican.va
• The City of God XVIII.27 — Chapter 27.—Of the Times of the Prophets Whose Oracles are Contained in Books and Who Sang Many Things About the Call of the Gentiles at the Time When the Roman Kingdom Began and the Assyrian Came to an End. In order…vatican.va
• The City of God XVIII.28 — Of the Things Pertaining to the Gospel of Christ Which Hosea and Amos Prohesied. Chapter 28.—Of the Things Pertaining to the Gospel of Christ Which Hosea and Amos Prohesied. The prophet Hosea speaks so very…vatican.va
• The City of God XVIII.29 — What Things are Predicted by Isaiah Concerning Christ and the Church. The prophecy of Isaiah is not in the book of the twelve prophets, who are called the minor from the brevity of their writings, as compared with…vatican.va
• The City of God XVIII.30 — What Micah, Jonah, and Joel Prophesied in Accordance with the New Testament. The prophet Micah, representing Christ under the figure of a great mountain, speaks thus: “It shall come to pass in the last days, that the…vatican.va
• The City of God XVIII.31 — Of the Predictions Concerning the Salvation of the World in Christ, in Obadiah, Nahum, and Habakkuk. Chapter 31.—Of the Predictions Concerning the Salvation of the World in Christ, in Obadiah, Nahum, and Habakkuk.…vatican.va
• The City of God XVIII.32 — Of the Prophecy that is Contained in the Prayer and Song of Habakkuk. In his prayer, with a song, to whom but the Lord Christ does he say, “O Lord, I have heard Thy hearing, and was afraid: O Lord, I have considered…vatican.va
• The City of God XVIII.33 — What Jeremiah and Zephaniah Have, by the Prophetic Spirit, Spoken Before Concerning Christ and the Calling of the Nations. Chapter 33.—What Jeremiah and Zephaniah Have, by the Prophetic Spirit, Spoken Before…vatican.va
• The City of God XVIII.34 — Of the Prophecy of Daniel and Ezekiel, Other Two of the Greater Prophets. Daniel and Ezekiel, other two of the greater prophets, also first prophesied in the very captivity of Babylon. Daniel even defined the time…vatican.va
• The City of God XVIII.35 — Of the Prophecy of the Three Prophets, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi. There remain three minor prophets, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi, who prophesied at the close of the captivity. Of these Haggai more openly…vatican.va
• The City of God XVIII.36 — About Esdras and the Books of the Maccabees. After these three prophets, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi, during the same period of the liberation of the people from the Babylonian servitude Esdras also wrote, who is…vatican.va
• The City of God XVIII.37 — That Prophetic Records are Found Which are More Ancient Than Any Fountain of the Gentile Philosophy. Chapter 37.—That Prophetic Records are Found Which are More Ancient Than Any Fountain of the Gentile Philosophy. In…vatican.va
• The City of God XVIII.38 — Chapter 38.—That the Ecclesiastical Canon Has Not Admitted Certain Writings on Account of Their Too Great Antiquity, Lest Through Them False Things Should Be Inserted Instead of True. If I may recall far more ancient…vatican.va
• The City of God XVIII.39 — About the Hebrew Written Characters Which that Language Always Possessed. Now we must not believe that Heber, from whose name the word Hebrew is derived, preserved and transmitted the Hebrew language to Abraham only…vatican.va
• The City of God XVIII.40 — About the Most Mendacious Vanity of the Egyptians, in Which They Ascribe to Their Science an Antiquity of a Hundred Thousand Years. Chapter 40.—About the Most Mendacious Vanity of the Egyptians, in Which They Ascribe…vatican.va
• The City of God XVIII.41 — About the Discord of Philosophic Opinion, and the Concord of the Scriptures that are Held as Canonical by the Church. Chapter 41.—About the Discord of Philosophic Opinion, and the Concord of the Scriptures that are…vatican.va
• The City of God XVIII.42 — Chapter 42.—By What Dispensation of God’s Providence the Sacred Scriptures of the Old Testament Were Translated Out of Hebrew into Greek, that They Might Be Made Known to All the Nations. One of the Ptolemies, kings…vatican.va
• The City of God XVIII.43 — Of the Authority of the Septuagint Translation, Which, Saving the Honor of the Hebrew Original, is to Be Preferred to All Translations. Chapter 43.—Of the Authority of the Septuagint Translation, Which, Saving the…vatican.va
• The City of God XVIII.44 — Chapter 44.—How the Threat of the Destruction of the Ninevites is to Be Understood Which in the Hebrew Extends to Forty Days, While in the Septuagint It is Contracted to Three. But some one may say, “How shall I know…vatican.va
• The City of God XVIII.45 — Chapter 45.—That the Jews Ceased to Have Prophets After the Rebuilding of the Temple, and from that Time Until the Birth of Christ Were Afflicted with Continual Adversity, to Prove that the Building of Another Temple…vatican.va
• The City of God XVIII.46 — Of the Birth of Our Saviour, Whereby the Word Was Made Flesh; And of the Dispersion of the Jews Among All Nations, as Had Been Prophesied. Chapter 46.—Of the Birth of Our Saviour, Whereby the Word Was Made Flesh; And…vatican.va
• The City of God XVIII.47 — Whether Before Christian Times There Were Any Outside of the Israelite Race Who Belonged to the Fellowship of the Heavenly City. Chapter 47.—Whether Before Christian Times There Were Any Outside of the Israelite Race…vatican.va
• The City of God XVIII.48 — Chapter 48.—That Haggai’s Prophecy, in Which He Said that the Glory of the House of God Would Be Greater Than that of the First Had Been, Was Really Fulfilled, Not in the Rebuilding of the Temple, But in the Church…vatican.va
• The City of God XVIII.49 — Of the Indiscriminate Increase of the Church, Wherein Many Reprobate are in This World Mixed with the Elect. Chapter 49.—Of the Indiscriminate Increase of the Church, Wherein Many Reprobate are in This World Mixed…vatican.va
• The City of God XVIII.50 — Of the Preaching of the Gospel, Which is Made More Famous and Powerful by the Sufferings of Its Preachers. Chapter 50.—Of the Preaching of the Gospel, Which is Made More Famous and Powerful by the Sufferings of Its…vatican.va
• The City of God XVIII.51 — That the Catholic Faith May Be Confirmed Even by the Dissensions of the Heretics. Chapter 51.—That the Catholic Faith May Be Confirmed Even by the Dissensions of the Heretics. But the devil, seeing the temples of the…vatican.va
• The City of God XVIII.52 — Chapter 52.—Whether We Should Believe What Some Think, That, as the Ten Persecutions Which are Past Have Been Fulfilled, There Remains No Other Beyond the Eleventh, Which Must Happen in the Very Time of Antichrist. I…vatican.va
• The City of God XVIII.53 — Of the Hidden Time of the Final Persecution. Truly Jesus Himself shall extinguish by His presence that last persecution which is to be made by Antichrist. For so it is written, that “He shall slay him with the breath…vatican.va
• The City of God XVIII.54 — Of the Very Foolish Lie of the Pagans, in Feigning that the Christian Religion Was Not to Last Beyond Three Hundred and Sixty-Five Years. Chapter 54.—Of the Very Foolish Lie of the Pagans, in Feigning that the…vatican.va