Conflict and Conflicting Justice in Augustine's City of God

Augustine’s City of God offers political insights far beyond its common portrayals as a defense of Christianity against pagan accusations or a response to the Roman Empire’s crisis. The paper discusses Augustine’s political concept of justice through the lenses of conflict, slavery and domination as presented in the City of God. It reveals a world perpetually shaped by conflict by providing an understanding of slavery in it the historical context of its times. It further explores humanity’s unending quest to understand ‘justice’. The paper highlights the interconnectedness of the said themes within Augustine’s dualistic vision of the earthly city and the City of God. It argues that pervasive conflict is rooted in the human pursuit of domination and manifesting through the institution of slavery. This symbolises the inherent flaw in earthly conceptions of justice. The earthly conception of justice is in conflict with true ‘justice’. Conflict is an inevitable aspect of the human condition. True ‘justice’, for Augustine, is only attainable when human wills align themselves towards God.