In The City of God, Augustine attempts to explain the distinction between living according to God and living according to man using an analogy of two cities. With this distinction, he shows that living according to God is superior because it offers the promise of salvation and true happiness after death, which cannot be achieved according to Augustine if one decides to turn away from God and live according to God. 'man. He makes this argument by defining the three parts of the human being and explaining their role in a person's decision to serve God or self. He also uses his interpretation of original sin as evidence of the repercussions of turning away from God. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay. Augustine begins by defining the composition of a human being. According to Augustine, every man is composed of two parts, the flesh and the spirit. The flesh consists of both the soul and the physical body, while the spirit is the rational part of the human being that has free will to serve either the flesh or God. Augustine does not believe that the soul is intrinsically better than the body, stating that "it is not only because of the flesh that the soul is moved by desires and fears, by joy and sadness, but that it can also be agitated by these same emotions welling up in the soul itself” (303). This means that the soul is affected by the emotions and is corruptible in the same way that the body can be controlled by its appetites and desires. Because the soul is just as fallible and imperfect as the body, Augustine does not believe it to be superior. All three parts – soul, body and spirit – constitute a human being, and no part alone can constitute a man in the absence of the others. With the two parts of the human being established, namely the flesh and the spirit, Augustine creates an analogy of two cities, each representing a way in which a man can live. The first is to live in the City of Man, that is, to live “according to the flesh” (295). This way of life occurs when man lives for himself rather than for God. He turned away from God, thinking it was better for him to concern himself only with the needs and desires of the flesh, which led him to not serve God. Augustine considers this an arrogant and self-centered way to live, because he believes it happens when a man thinks he can live a more fulfilling and enjoyable life without God. He condemns the decision to live in this way, saying: "There is a wickedness whereby a man who is satisfied with himself as if he were the light turns away from that true Light which, if man had loved, would have made him a human being. sharing the light” (311). This suggests that Augustine equates living according to man with turning away from God completely due to the belief that the human being is complete without Him. He criticizes the man who chooses this way of life as being blind to the salvation and wisdom of God, which he could have participated in if he had accepted God into his life. The City of God, unlike the City of Man, is a state in which man lives according to God. This way of life arises when man embraces and serves God, even to the point of self-negation. By this Augustine means that man chooses the subjection of the body and the desires of the world to orient himself towards God. This is done in the hope that self-denial in this life will lead to eternal peace in the next life. In this metaphorical city, the spirit looks above the flesh to exist for the purpose of serving God and controls the pleasures of the flesh in order to honor Him. The two cities represent two different loves, the one who lovesoneself and the one who loves God. . The City of Man is a "selfish love" (321) in which man rejects the necessity of God to achieve true happiness and salvation and instead believes that happiness is a reality achievable through human wisdom alone . Conversely, the City of God recognizes that God is the highest form of truth and knowledge; it is only through him that humanity has any hope of eternal peace and holiness. Although Augustine recognizes that man has been given the ability to choose whether or not the mind should serve God, it is clear that he believes that human beings can only live righteously. by living according to God. He believes that it is only through a life in his service that one can access his kingdom and his eternal bliss after death. Even the most virtuous men and the "wise men of the city of men live according to man" (322), meaning that even if they lead respectable lives, they will nevertheless be condemned to damnation after death since they will not receive God's salvation. Not only will living in God's service allow for peace after death, but it will also ease the minds of his followers while they are alive, for it will give them hope for a greater existence after death. Augustine asserts that human beings, “now forced to feel the misery of so many grave evils on earth, can, through the hope of heaven, be made both happy and secure” (442). This means that although life may be unpleasant, even miserable at times, there is always hope for serenity in heaven if one lives in service to God. Those who choose to believe that the greatest happiness is found in a worldly existence and who selfishly indulge in bodily pleasures are excluded from the peace of mind that comes with the hope of an eternal existence and through continued “will not reach the kingdom of God” (297) after death. Denying the ultimate power of God in favor of living according to man is exactly what happened in the case of Adam and Eve, which Augustine considers the original sin. Eve turned away from God's power when she decided to eat the forbidden fruit, and Augustine believes this act was committed because Eve thought she knew better than God. His actions were disobedient and represented the false idea that human beings can be more competent than God and self-sufficient without Him. Augustine uses this example to show how failing to live in service to God leads to serious negative consequences. After all, Adam and Eve, like all other human beings who choose to live according to man, had each made themselves "deserters from eternal life" and "doomed to eternal death - from which nothing could save them except grace” (313). Choosing to live according to man is therefore choosing to be exiled from heaven and the salvation of God. Although human beings may appear to be naturally sinful creatures who cannot resist the urge to fulfill bodily pleasures while choosing to neglect their duties to God, Augustine asserts that this is not the case. If the human body were inherently sinful, this would imply that the Creator made human beings inherently evil. Since Augustine believes that all things created by God must be good, the flesh cannot be blamed for the sins of human beings. This is why Adam and Eve's original sin was not caused by "a corruption of the body" (299), but rather by their choice to disobey God's command. It is for this reason that their bodily desires were not alone responsible for their sin; rather it was a flaw in their minds. Because the spirit has free will, it is up to each person to decide whether they want to live according to man or according to Him. Adam and Eve's inability to obey God was caused.