St.
Augustine maintains the opposite thesis; he argues that the destruction of the Roman Empire is due, not to the rise of Christianity, but to the vices of Paganism.

He wanders over Roman history, and over Greek philosophy and mythology, and finds everywhere crime, impiety and falsehood.

He compares the worst parts of the Gentile religions with the best elements of the faith of Christ.

He shows nothing of the spirit which led others of the early Christian Fathers to recognize in the writings of the Greek philosophers the power of the divine truth.

He traces the parallel of the kingdom of God, that is, the history of the Jews, contained in their scriptures, and of the kingdoms of the world, which are found in gentile writers, and pursues them both into an ideal future.