The lesson of history is that there are no lessons from history that apply to our present crisis.  This is, in a way, what Augustine is arguing from Books I-V of City of God.  In a subsequent post, I will argue the exact opposite:  I will suggest that the whole point of City of God is to extract – or, rather, construct – lessons from history.  But for now, let me stick with this line of argument: the past is no help in explaining the present. Here’s a quick and dirty summary of the crisis Augustine was addressing:  Alaric’s Visigoth Read more