Abstract:
This article dealt with the church father Augustine’s view on history and eschatology. After
analysing the relevant material (especially his City of God and the correspondence with a certain
Hesyschius) it was concluded that, firstly, Augustine was no historian in the usual sense of the
word; secondly, his concept of historia sacra was the heuristic foundation for his idea of history;
thirdly, the present is not to be described in the terms of historia sacra, which implies that he
took great care when pointing out any instances of ‘God’s hand in history’; fourthly, the end
times have already started, with the advent of Jesus Christ; fifthly, because of the uniqueness
of Christ’s coming, it runs counter to any cyclical worldview; sixthly, identifying any exact
moment of the end of times is humanly impossible and seventhly, there is no room for any
‘chiliastic’ expectation.
