A History of Western Philosophy

through the Middle Ages, during the gradual rise of the papal power, and throughout the
conflict between Pope and Emperor, Saint Augustine supplied the Western Church with the
theoretical justification of its policy. The Jewish State, in the legendary time of the Judges, and
in the historical period after the return from the Babylonian captivity, had been a theocracy; the
Christian State should imitate it in this respect. The weakness of the emperors, and of most
Western medieval monarchs, enabled the Church, to a great extent, to realize the ideal of the
City of God. In the East, where the emperor was strong, this development never took place, and
the Church remained much more subject to the State than it became in the West.

The Reformation, which revived Saint Augustine's doctrine of salvation, threw over his
theocratic teaching, and became Erastian, * largely owing to the practical exigencies of the fight
with Catholicism. But Protestant Erastianism was half-hearted, and the most religious among
Protestants were still influenced by Saint Augustine. Anabaptists, Fifth Monarchy Men, and
Quakers took over a part of his doctrine, but laid less stress on the Church. He held to
predestination, and also to the need of baptism for salvation; these two doctrines do not
harmonize well, and the extreme Protestants threw over the latter. But their eschatology
remained Augustinian.

The City of God contains little that is fundamentally original. The eschatology is Jewish in
origin, and came into Christianity mainly through the Book of Revelation. The doctrine of
predestination and election is Pauline, though Saint Augustine gave it a much fuller and more
logical development than is to be found in the Epistles. The distinction between sacred and
profane history is quite clearly set forth in the Old Testament. What Saint Augustine did was to
bring these elements together, and to relate them to the history of his own time, in such a way
that the fall of the Western Empire, and the subsequent period of confusion, could be
assimilated by Christians without any unduly severe trial of their faith.

The Jewish pattern of history, past and future, is such as to make a powerful appeal to the
oppressed and unfortunate at all times. Saint Augustine adapted this pattern to Christianity,
Marx to Social-

* Erastianism is the doctrine that the Church should be subiect to the State.

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ism. To understand Marx psychologically, one should use the following dictionary:

Yahweh=Dialectical Materialism

The Messiah= Marx

The Elect=The Proletariat

The Church=The Communist Party

The Second Coming=The Revolution

Hell=Punishment of the Capitalists

The Millennium=The Communist Commonwealth