Augustine is a church father who has influenced Aquinas, Luther, Calvin, and whose ideas are still relevant today. He did not write a treatise on politics, and his ideas about politics are scattered throughout his work. His political views can only be understood within the context of his theological studies, his worldly duties as a bishop, and of the era in which he lived. Augustine is foremost a theologian, and he perceives God as the ultimate source of all being, truth, knowledge, understanding, and justice, which we can access only through introspection. In this world, justice can never be truly realized due to the fallen state of mankind. True justice and salvation are only to be found through grace. The only role for government or the state is to provide peace, i.e., maintain the internal societal order and protect against external enemies, to prevent chaos and social disintegration. Justice is directly related to love, starting with the love of God, expressed in the love for others. Augustine believed in a hierarchy of laws. Human laws need to be obeyed unless they violate the superior natural law which is a derivative of eternal law. Unjust law, including unjust tax law, is no law at all and, thus, cannot demand obedience. Justice in taxation requires regular benchmarking of tax laws against the demands of natural law and building safeguards in the legislative process to protect against injustice.