Aside from the works of Saint Thomas Aquinas, which came later on during the medieval period of European history, the most important work of European medieval philosophy in its early period is perhaps the work of Saint Augustine, particularly his most famous book, titled “City of God.” In this book, which was written in the early 400’s AD as Rome was collapsing, Saint Augustine responds to the charge made by the Roman elite that Christianity and its otherworldly mentality was causing the collapse of Rome. In turn, Saint Augustine responds to the charge by arguing that it was a paganistic mentality in Rome that was causing the collapse of the Roman Empire.
After responding to the charge that Christianity was causing the collapse of Rome, Saint Augustine gives a sweeping account of human history, and argues that the entirety of human history is characterized by “universal warfare” between God and the devil. On one hand, there was the “Earthly City,” or the “City of the Devil,” where corruption and earthly pleasures occupied the minds of its inhabitants. On the other hand, there was the “City of God,” where the inhabitants – namely, the Saints – would forego corruption and earthly pleasures in order to please God and in turn receive salvation for administering God’s will on earth.
Those who were part of the “Earthly City” or the “City of the Devil” were “irrational creatures” whose predominant traits were “memory, perception, and appetite,” whereas those who were part of the “City of God” were “rational creatures” who possessed “a mind with intelligence and will.” Thus, because Rome had fallen to the “Earthly City,” or the “City of the Devil,” Rome became subject to divine laws which prompted the eventual fall of political societies because of corruption and decay.
Saint Augustine added that there is no point working for a corrupt and failing government when in reality there is a government of God that overshadows all earthly affairs. Thus, it is better to work for God’s government instead of working for a corrupt and failing government that belongs to the “Earthly City,” or the “City of the Devil.” Much of Islamic political philosophy follows from Saint Augustine’s teachings. For one, there is a “Party of God” and a “Party of the Devil” according to Islamic political philosophy. Also, the “Party of God” has both a civilian wing and a military wing that is global in scope. And ultimately, the “Party of God” – or in Augustinian terms, the “City of God” – prevails over the “Party of the Devil,” or the “Earthly City” or the “City of the Devil.”
Therefore, early Christian and later Islamic political philosophy were quite Manichean in outlook. Each person in the “City of God” has a task or purpose, and once their task or purpose is complete, they can then “rest in God” for eternity. In this day and age, no form of corruption was worse than Afghan corruption. And American global hegemony fueled it, thus spawning an “Earthly City” or a “City of the Devil” in the 21st century. Those of us who experienced Afghan corruption firsthand were deeply affected by it and angered by it, and it became somewhat incumbent on us to address the issue of Afghan corruption as well as the policy of American global hegemony which underpinned Afghan corruption.
This blog began after I had a short stint at the Afghan embassy in Washington in 2018. Thus, this blog began after experiencing Afghan corruption firsthand, and as a result this blog was fueled by anger and indignation to a certain extent. But instead of resorting to violence, I hit the books, picked up the pen, and decided to join the civilian wing of the “Party of God” in order to challenge and highlight the corruption and satanic activities that were emanating from a 21st century “Earthly City,” or “City of the Devil.”
All corruption and satanic activities emanate from a primary source, and that source is arrogance and hubris. Thus, the “Earthly City,” or the “City of the Devil” or the “Party of the Devil” is characterized primarily by arrogance and hubris. And in turn, it is arrogance and hubris which brings the “Earthly City” or the “City of the Devil” or the “Party of the Devil” down to the ground, as was the case with Rome in the past. Thus, at a time when corruption, dark money, and political decay are all converging on Washington and thus subjecting it to the same divine laws that brought about the collapse of Rome’s political society, it is perhaps worthwhile to reflect on the work of Saint Augustine in order to grasp the bigger picture behind what is actually going on at the moment.
Adam A. Azim 