A poet who later took the name of John Paul II once wrote of talking with a friend about the two cities while the lights of the third city twinkled below.
The beauty of that verse overcame the translation into another language.
My view of the two cities is somewhat different than that of the present Bishop of Rome or of the renowned Bishop of Hippo.
The City of God and City of Man were to some extent of providential inspiration. The fall of the city of Rome to the barbarians turned the thoughts of many to the limitations of the City of Man.
And Augustine of Hippo wrote "The City of God", a marvelous exposition of Christian teaching by a church father later greatly esteemed by both catholic and protestant.
The two cities of Augustine appear to me to be theological constructs containing much revealed reality.
I take John Paul, the poet's, third city with the twinkling lights as somewhat the same as the City of Man.
The City of Man is the city seen with the eye.
The City of God is the city seen by faith.
We are told that Abraham, the father of all them that believe (Rom. 4.11-12), sought a city that has foundations, whose builder and maker is God (Heb. 11.10).
And I have a somewhat idiosyncratic notion that meta-nominal Christians are presently dwelling in both cities, perceiving one by faith and the other by sight.
Thus, a personal weblog, to be complete, must include perceptions of both cities.
