City of God | Themes & Symbolism

City of God Significant Topics

Faith versus Reason

Pem agonizes over his religious faith because he does not buy into everything he is supposed to believe as an Anglican priest. He wants religious doctrines that can stand up to reasonable questioning. Pem's bishop, however, says that faith and reason will never intersect. They are two parallel paths to knowing God.

The congregants in Sarah's synagogue also struggle with doctrines that do not seem reasonable. They want every aspect of their faith, including prayers, food and clothing, to have a cogent rationale. The EJ Jews aim to reconsider the Torah in its original form and use their modern rationality, rather than the thoughts of readers from long ago, to make sense of it.

Misleading Interpretations

According to Pem, misinterpretations of the Bible have led Christianity down negative paths. Pem feels that early Christians who interpreted Jesus's message as a call for a formal church rather than individual spiritual awakening misread Jesus....
(read more)