City of God, Augustine Defends

City of God, Augustine defends the Christians against critics who blame them for the fall of Rome. Critics believed that it was due to the abandonment of the Roman gods in favor of Christianity that resulted in the empire's demise, because they reasoned that the gods were angry and thus had cursed them. However, Augustine claimed that the calamities of Rome happened long before Christ and had nothing to do with the popularity of Christianity, relying on historical philosophy to mount his defense.

He believed that the city of God consisted of the holy angels and the elect among humanity, while the city of men was the earthly city and was comprised of the humans and angels who were in rebellion against God. He also believed that the church was a militant kingdom, in which it was at war with the enemies of Christ and the lusts within its members (Augustine).

Moreover, Augustine viewed sexuality in terms of an interior state, in that all sexuality and sensual please consisted of the conquest of the carnal will, thus he developed a strict puritanical posture towards sexuality. According to Augustine, sexual reproduction was the natural means of creating humans for the friendship of community, and that the union between a man and woman should be bonded by the same goal. Furthermore, he linked sexual intercourse and procreation as God's intention and the natural reality of God.

According to most modern rabbinical scholars, the Christian concept of salvation from sin has no equal in Judaism, which does not believe that man is evil and sinful by nature, thus there is no need to be "saved" (Jewish). Moreover, they do not believe in a literal hell as a place of eternal punishment, but rather believes that when one falls, he or she can obtain forgiveness through prayer, repentance, and good deeds (Jewish).

Moreover, unlike Augustine who criticized the mysticism, the Jewish faith embraces it, however Judaism is more concerned about actions that beliefs (Judaism). In the Jewish law, sex is not considered shameful, sinful or obscene, nor is it a necessary evil for the sole purpose of procreation (Judaism). Although sexual desire comes from the evil impulse, it is no more evil than hunger or thirst, and like hunger, thirst and other basic instincts, sexual desire should be controlled and channeled, satisfied at the proper time, place and manner (Judaism).

The primary purpose of sex is to reinforce the marital bond between husband and wife, and since the first and foremost purpose of marriage is companionship, sexual relations play an important role (Judaism). Although procreation is a reason for sex, it is not the only reason (Judaism). Growing up Catholic, my views of the world, including sex, have been formed much from Augustine's view. There.