There are several types of people who being about the downfall of civilizations. Rome was full of these types.
Those who were morally decadent and only cared about pleasure. This group included the rich and the poor, those in power and those who were given the bread and circuses.
The next group would have been the apathetic, those who disengaged themselves from the civilization.
Another group would be the opportunists, seeking power from another source rather than the status quo.
Of course, we have the barbarians at the gate, who took advantage of a weakening civilization.
But, everyone wanted to blame the Christians, which is why St. Augustine wrote the City of God. If you have not read this classic,De Civitate Dei contra Paganos, do it now.
All Catholics should read this book and I had the joy of teaching it a long time ago at a Catholic college.
Augustine wrote it for two reasons: one, to prove to the pagans that the Christians were not responsible for the Fall of Rome; and two, to help the Christians understand their own place in salvation history.
Imagine the shock of the most sophisticated, prosperous, organized people in the world to date facing cities in flames, a complete collapse of the infrastructure, and financial ruin.
Imagine the shock of a people who were proud to be Romans. To be a Roman citizen was "it".
Even St. Paul was not only proud to be a Roman citizen by birth, and not by bribery or sale, but also he knew his rights and privileges as such.
Perhaps those people my parents' age who remember the fall of Europe to the Nazis and.or the Soviets are the only ones in modern times who can identify with the great shock of the destruction of a nation, more than a nation, and entire world.
I do not rejoice in the fall of the West. The West has its basis in Christianity and Rome. When Europe and America fail, the last vestiges of the civilization from Rome will finally be swept from the earth.
A tragedy, indeed.....and this is a little mini-series on City of God.
to be continued....one can read about St. Augustine, Doctor of the Church, in my perfection series....
