Christianity According To St. Augustine And MachiavelliEssay Preview: Christianity According To St. Augustine And MachiavelliReport this essayIn St. Augustines book entitled Political Writings, one could see that Christianity plays a very important role in his view of politics. His opinion on the morality or lack of morality in politics, to me makes it more evident that Christianity persuades his views. Although it seems his writings have become quite well known and admired, not everyone fully shared his beliefs. Niccolo Machiavelli, for instance, seemed to believe in a government that was not driven by morality, but more by practicality. In, The Prince, Machiavelli stresses that the moral fibers of government should not be so soft. Like St. Augustine, his work went on to become one of the most famous books ever written about politics. Throughout the two works there are some similarities and differences regarding politics, however it their view of Christianity and morality that many find most intriguing.
After reading St. Augustines book it seemed to me that he had very little interest in politics as a whole, but he did seem to have a a great interest on the moral problems that plagued them. The books that make up this work come from one of his previous works entitled, The City of God, in which Augustine discusses many different aspects of the city. Augustines view of Christianity in regard to politics was due to the moral decline of the Roman Empire and the effect of this decline on the still faithful Christians. Augustine blamed the pagan gods and their lack of concern for the moral character which defined those who worshiped them. He also makes a reference to Platos Republic, in regards to the way Plato wanted to banish the poets from his city in speech. Augustine also felt that there should be strong censorship of the poets when writing about the gods because they made fools out of them. Augustine is also very concerned with the amount of people who in past invasions of their homelands escaped by lying about being Christians and then turned their backs on Christ when the danger had subsided. Augustines work also raises the question of why mercy is extended to the pious and ungrateful. Augustine responds by reminding everyone that, “The sun rises upon the good and evil, and the rains fall upon the just and the unjust.” The book also discusses Gods patience with humans and how the choice to repent ones sins lies within the man. He tells how some will recognize Gods patience and repent while others will turn their backs and wait for their own judgment. Augustine also had an interesting view of how the mind and body were holy as well. He felt as though that if the mind were virtuous, which consisted of living a good and noble life, it would command the body, and that the body would become holy through the exercise of holy will. For example, this idea of a holy body was used to determine the purity of a woman who had been raped, for instance if the woman is strong in mind but the body is overcome by force then the body remains holy. However, if the woman is pure but weak in mind and gives in, then body is no longer holy. Augustine also addresses some of the discrepancies some people had with the Old Testament, mainly the commandment that said that thou should not kill. He says that he who kills by order of another is not a killer, but is an aide. An example of this that he used was when Abraham sacrificed his son upon the altar by the order of God. In his work Augustine tells the Christians not to defy the enemies of the City of God because someday many will repent and become citizens of the city. Augustine is a very religious man, which causes his political theories to be somewhat, clouded by his stern beliefs of morality.
Many of the pagans try to blame the rise of Christianity for the moral decline of the Roman citizens, however as Augustine points out the moral decline of Rome began before the coming of Christ.
Niccolo Machiavelli seemed to some people to be in favor of tyranny in some ways. His book expressed very different concepts to those proposed by Augustine, in regards to the morality of politics. Machiavelli refers to government as the prince and makes various references too many aspects of politics, most of all morality. He claims that in order to secure the state the prince must become a master of the art of war. He says that this is the most important quality a person can obtain, and this art should be practiced in time of war and more importantly in time of peace. Though this does not explain his views of Christianity, it does show a strong distinction between how Machiavelli and Augustine have laid out their priorities. Machiavelli states that if a prince becomes driven to pursue
t to gain possession of the empire, the empire is lost, while Augustine says that if you go further and conquer the empire you have lost the kingdom, and you get less power. Machiavelli writes:
In a world ruled over by the ruler, the ruler has the power to use his power to further the ends of his influence. In another world ruled over by the king, the ruler has the power to use his power to advance a kingdom or to pursue a specific goal. When these are achieved they become more powerful, i.e., become more great, and are less powerful.
This idea of domination as one of the ways in which power is wielded by humans is a major topic. Machiavelli writes: