The City of God · Chapter
Book XII explained
Augustine examines the origin of good and evil wills among the angels, arguing that both good and bad angels share the same nature created by God, and that their difference arises solely from their wills—the good adhering to God, the evil t
What happens
Augustine examines the origin of good and evil wills among the angels, arguing that both good and bad angels share the same nature created by God, and that their difference arises solely from their wills—the good adhering to God, the evil turning to themselves. He then discusses the creation of man, emphasizing that rational creatures are made from nothing and can only be blessed by adhering to the immutable God. He also addresses the nature of vice, the beauty of the created order, and the proper estimation of creatures by their nature rather than human utility.
Free preview opens on this chapter — companions, themes, and character notes appear beside the text.
Narrative arc
Story tension across the book — this chapter sits in Rising action.
- Setup
- Escalation
- Breaking point
- Aftermath
- Closing
This chapter is the dramatic climax because it marks the irreversible psychological and spiritual turning poin…
Full beat labels and climax notes unlock in the reader.
Follow the arc while readingThemes in this chapter
- Sin, Grace, and Redemption
Explores the origin of evil will as a defection from God, and the necessity of divine grace for a good will.
- True Worship and the One God
Emphasizes that only adherence to the immutable God brings blessedness, contrasting with the self-love of the fallen angels.
- Morality and Virtue vs. Pagan Corruption
Discusses vice as a corruption of nature, and the proper ordering of love toward God rather than self.
Characters to notice
- Augustine
Author and narrator; presents theological arguments on the origin of good and evil wills in angels and the creation of man.
- Jesus Christ
Referenced implicitly as the mediator and the one through whom the good will is created and sustained.
- Holy Scripture
Cited as the authority for understanding the creation and the nature of good and evil.
Key passages
“The cause, therefore, of the blessedness of the good is adherence to God. And so the cause of the others' misery will be found in the contrary, that is, in their not adhering to God.”
Good angels are blessed because they cling to God; bad angels are miserable because they do not.
Augustine's core argument on the origin of good and evil in rational creatures.
“For it is blessed by the possession of that whose loss makes it miserable.”
A creature is happy only by possessing what, if lost, would make it unhappy.
Highlights the dependence of created beings on God for true happiness.
“Pride, too, is not the fault of him who delegates power, nor of power itself, but of the soul that is inordinately enamoured of its own power, and despises the more just dominion of a higher authority.”
Pride is not in the power or the one who gives it, but in the soul that loves its own power too much and rejects God's authority.
Augustine's analysis of pride as a disordered love of self.
