Deane’s work is an attempt to break down Augustine’s social and political thought. In the preface, Deane explains the need for such a work, pointing out that unlike Thomas Aquinas, with his Summa Theologica, there is no central, systematic work from Augustine’s pen that neatly categorizes his thoughts on different subjects. He laments that most students seeking to learn about Augustine’s social and political ideas are simply told to read City of God. Deane points out that City of God is a long work that deals with a variety of topics and is not an exhaustive treatment of Augustine’s social and political thought. Personally, I read the book as a kind of introduction to Augustine’s thought, to prepare me for the task of reading City of God, which I plan to tackle later this month.
Deane begins with Augustine’s doctrine of man, as that is foundational to how one deals with social and political issues. Even a student only vaguely familiar with Augustine will find little new information here. Augustine affirmed man’s total and complete depravity and inability. Such a view necessarily influences Augustine’s perspective on politics. He views the state as a kind of tempering force, an extension of the grace of God, without which anarchy would dominate and chaos would reign. In that sense then, the government’s job is to ensure that anarchy and chaos do not reign. It does not exist to reform men, only to consistently punish lawbreakers so as to provide an incentive against rebellion, destruction and violence.
Deane also spends a great deal of ink detailing Augustine’s change of heart during the Donatist Controversy as it related to the Church-State relationship in dealing with heresy. At first, he was not in favor of the state punishing heretics. However, over time and after seeing the effectiveness of the threat of punishment on the Donatist party; he began to affirm state-sponsored persecution of the Donatist sect. This change of heart provided Augustine with another perspective on the state: that it was the tool of God to be used to bring heretics back to orthodoxy. Deane insists that this is not a contradiction with Augustine’s perspective that the state is only a tempering force in the City of Man.
Overall, I enjoyed this book. Deane supports his points with frequent quotations from Augustine’s works and intertwines Augustine’s thought with the work of other philosophers before and after Augustine, such as Plato and Hobbes. Deane’s knowledge on the topic shines most impressively in his conclusion, where he draws Augustine’s social and political thought into a few paragraphs and reflects on Augustine’s impact on the church after the fifth century. He references the possibility of Augustinian influence on medieval political theory, then goes on to discuss Augustine’s thought as it is seen in the work of Luther and Calvin, right up to the 20th century, where the calamities of world war and human oppression have been boldly displayed, leading to a resurgence in Augustinian perspectives.
After reading the conclusion, I did some thinking of my own and affirmed that St. Augustine and I would agree on a great many things—the nature of man, the function of government, and the illusion of the possibility of utopia within the City of Man. Some would call Augustine’s perspective “pessimism.” However, I would call the African bishop’s perspective “biblical realism,” comporting with both scriptural teaching and human experience.
I think Augustine might have a bit of encouragement for America today, as we tend to put our hope in our political leaders. The longings that we have that are today giving way to a kind of socialism are not new longings. They are the longings for justice, peace and happiness that are common to every human being. What Augustine teaches us, however, is that the answer to these problems is not a messianic leader, or a social program, but a resolute focus on the reality that these longings can only be satisfied when we become residents in the City of God.
3.5 out of 5 stars
