Augustine’s City of God laid the foundations for a Christian understanding of history. It has given all generations of believers since his day the grounds on which to explain the mysterious hand of divine Providence in guiding the destiny of nations. No one has improved on Augustine’s analysis of the two kinds of society in the world. There are two kinds of human society, which we may justly call two Cities according to the language of our Scriptures. The one consists of those who want to live after the flesh, the other of those who wish to live after the spirit. (City of God, 14, 2.)

As we look more closely at these two kinds of society, we find they are composed of two different kinds of people. “We distribute the human race into two kinds of men, one living according to man, the other living according to God. Mystically, we call them two Cities, or two societies of men: the one of which is predestined to reign eternally with God, the other to suffer eternal punishment with the devil.” (City of God, 15, 1.)

If we look still more closely, we discover that, at root, what produces these two cities is how the members in each of the two societies use their wills. It all depends on whom and how deeply they love and what they are willing to pay as the price of their love.

“These two Cities are made by two loves: the earthly City by love of oneself even to the contempt of God; the heavenly City by love of God even to the contempt of self. The one glories in itself, the other glories in God. The one seeks glory from men; to the other, God, witness of conscience, is its glory. The one lifts up its head in its own glory; the other says to its God, “My glory and the one who raises my head”, (Psalm 3:3), (The City of God, 14, 28.)

- Fr. John Hardon, S.J.