Contraste entre The Holy War del puritano John Bunyan y De Civitate Dei de san Agustín de Hipona

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Abstract

The article traces the possible indirect influence of the Augustinian doctrine of the relationship between the two cities in De Civitate Dei and the allegory found in The Holy War written by the Calvinist preacher John Bunyan. To this end, the article situates the Puritan author within his historical, political and religious context; a fourfold interpretation of the allegory is then offered —on the individual, ecclesial, social and eschatological levels— in which the confrontation of the two warring parties and the soteriology of predestination are emphasized; finally, Bunyan’s vision is contrasted with the analogous way in which St. Augustine presents the relationship —tense, conflictive, but also of a certain truce and coexistence— between the earthly city and the city of God.