ABSTRACT
St Augustine was a very voluminous writer, mainly on theological subjects. Some of his controversial writing was topical, and lost interest through its very success; but some of it, especially what is concerned with the Pelagians, remained practically influential down to modern times. This chapter considers St Augustine's pure philosophy, particularly his theory of time; his philosophy of history, as developed in The City of God ; and his theory of salvation, as propounded against the Pelagians. The best purely philosophical work in St Augustine's writings is the eleventh book of the Confessions. The Greek view, that creation out of nothing is impossible, has recurred at intervals in Christian times, and has led to pantheism. When, in 410, Rome was sacked by the Goths, the pagans, not unnaturally, attributed the disaster to the abandonment of the ancient gods.
