St. Augustine’s views on Evil -Discussion Paper.
According to St. Augustine, evil is a problem to the world. He defines evil as that which is devoid or lacking goodness. The understanding of evil in this context banks on the premise that God created everything and all that he created is good. Since evil is not part of the goodness that God created, then evil is neither a thing, and neither was it created by God. St. Augustine’s views on Evil -Discussion Paper.With this understanding, St. Augustine contends that since evil was never created, its cause is the result of deprived goodness (Loewen 42).
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Anything that is not wholly good is, thus, a cause of evil. Consequently, since evil is not a thing, he argues that evil is merely an act. The act of choosing that of lesser good is what is evil.
Given that evil is an act, St. Augustine further explains why evil is a problem. The leading cause of evil or as explained above, the reason for choosing a lesser good is the free will bestowed on man by God. Human beings have the freedom to discern and make choices, of which, human weakness leads to choices that result in no or lesser good are made.St. Augustine’s views on Evil -Discussion Paper. This is a problem because the perfect nature of the world is tarnished. The purpose for which God created a perfect world with moral perfection is undermined due to the evil acts (Peterson 104). Also, evil is a problem because it results in no good. Further, St Augustine highlights that godliness is profitable for all things. Similarly, evil is bad for all things as it negatively affects the conditions in the next life.
In the development of his theory, St. Augustine disputed the Manicheanism theories elaborately. The manicheasm theory emphasizes that Satan is the sole cause and propagator of evil. This also posited that human beings have no responsibility for good and evil.St. Augustine’s views on Evil -Discussion Paper. If anything, human beings are disposed to that which is good while Satan works to bring evil to the world. St. Augustine vehemently opposed this because he believed that human beings have free-will in the world. It is upon them to choose between good and evil (Loewen 47). In this light, the place of Satan in propagating evil is only limited to the choices that human beings make. Augustine was further dissatisfied with the Manichean idea that human beings are on a battlefield between body and soul, which are on different sides. In his perspective, human beings are entirely in charge of their situation, and they exist as body and soul together.
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Based on these arguments for his theory on the problem of sin, St. Augustine proposes a solution based on certainty and wisdom. As such, if human beings acknowledged certitude, then they will be on the right track in achieving goodness. He also raises a solution based on wisdom and happiness and insists that the former is key in evading evil. This solution and theory succeeds simply because of the acceptance that evil is real (Peterson 219). By acknowledging that God did not create evil, the theory concurs with the knowledge of believers and theorists. In addition to this, perceiving evil as spoiled goodness means that there is room for goodness to be restored. This idea ties with the primary idea that the world was initially perfect, therefore, the original state can still be achieved. These premises make a strong case for St. Augustine’s theory. St. Augustine’s views on Evil -Discussion Paper.
Works Cited
Loewen, Nathan R. B. Beyond the Problem of Evil: Derrida and Anglophone Philosophy of Religion., 2018. Internet resource. Page 45-50
Peterson, Michael L. The Problem of Evil: Selected Readings. Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 2017. Print. Page 102, 243. St. Augustine’s views on Evil -Discussion Paper.