The City of God · Chapter
Of the ranks and differences of the creatures, estimated by their utility, or according to the natural gradations of being explained
Augustine discusses the hierarchical order of creation based on nature (life, sensation, intelligence, immortality) and contrasts it with human valuations based on utility and desire.
What happens
Augustine discusses the hierarchical order of creation based on nature (life, sensation, intelligence, immortality) and contrasts it with human valuations based on utility and desire. He emphasizes that rational natures are judged by the weight of will and love, so good men are of greater value than bad angels despite the natural order.
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…
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Follow the arc while readingThemes in this chapter
- Morality and Virtue vs. Pagan Corruption
Augustine contrasts natural order with human judgments based on utility and desire, emphasizing that good men are of greater value than bad angels by the scale of justice.
- Peace, Justice, and the Order of Love
The chapter highlights the importance of will and love in rational natures, showing that justice transcends natural hierarchy.
Characters to notice
- Augustine
Author of the chapter, presenting the natural gradations of creatures and the distinction between natural order and human utility.
Key passages
“For, among those beings which exist, and which are not of God the Creator's essence, those which have life are ranked above those which have none; those that have the power of generation, or even of desiring, above those which want this faculty.”
Among created things that are not God, living beings are higher than non-living, and those that can reproduce or desire are higher than those that cannot.
Augustine establishes the first levels of the natural hierarchy.
“Thus the reason of one contemplating nature prompts very different judgments from those dictated by the necessity of the needy, or the desire of the voluptuous; for the former considers what value a thing in itself has in the scale of creation, while necessity considers how it meets its need; reason looks for what the mental light will judge to be true, while pleasure looks for what pleasantly titillates the bodily sense.”
A thoughtful observer values things by their place in creation, but a needy or pleasure-seeking person values them only by how they serve personal wants or physical gratification.
Augustine contrasts objective natural order with subjective human valuations.
“But of such consequence in rational natures is the weight, so to speak, of will and of love, that though in the order of nature angels rank above men, yet, by the scale of justice, good men are of greater value than bad angels.”
In rational beings, the orientation of will and love is so important that a good human being is worth more than a wicked angel, even though angels are naturally higher.
Augustine concludes that moral goodness outweighs natural rank.
