Worshiping in Public: Theological Justice and the Res Publica in City of God 19

Abstract

Abstract: In this article I trace an interpretation of City of God, book 19, that acknowledges the intrinsic relationship between Augustine's account of justice and worship within his critique of the Roman commonwealth. This interpretation of book 19 suggests that justice, defined theologically by Augustine, remains a necessary criterion for the existence of a truly public social community, which in turn limits the possibility of constructing an Augustinian politics divorced from the theological forms of critique that his account entails. The arguments of book 19 remain consistent with Augustine's overall attempt in the City of God to claim that the proper worship of the heavenly city (in which Israel and the Church are in direct lineage) mediates the only sufficient curative to the pursuits of glory and domination instantiated by the idolatries of the earthly city. This account more adequately acknowledges Augustine's theological commitments as the animators of his remarks about political entities while also questioning the sufficiency of any “political Augustinianism” that does not include the overall theological critique of City of God as among its primary purposes.