St. Augustine's Views On The Problem Of Evil

The Problem of Evil

A global definition of evil encompasses all that is deemed as wicked, bad, sinful, immoral, or corrupt. It manifests in many shapes and forms. Evil is classified into different subtypes, most relevant include moral evil and natural evil. It is generally agreed that natural evil is can be caused without the interference of free moral agent which includes the natural disasters which befall Earth and its inhabitants. Such as hurricanes, earthquakes, and volcanoes. Moral evil, however, is more encompassing as it the subject of extensive debate. To define we should mention that it cannot exist without someone causing it. One of many examples are, committing a crime, lying, and harming people. However, all forms of evil cause

Augustine of Hippalso known as Saint Augustine is a philosopher. In his early years, he was heavily influenced by Manichaeism but he broke with the Manicheans because he was questioning the responsibility for evil, since he believed that human beings have free will and can cause a lot of suffering in the world. After his baptism and conversion to Christianity, Augustine developed his own approach believing that the grace of Christ was indispensable to human freedom. He also believed that God is all good and powerful and he could not create evil. Moreover, when we say something is evil we mean the absence of good and evil is lesser form of good. In Augustine’s theology, evil exists in the free will of human beings. "And I strained to perceive what I now heard, that free-will was the cause of our doing ill". Augustine, Confessions VII: [III] 5. In other words, Augustine saying that evil could not exist without us having free

One big flaw in Augustine’s theology is that we cannot blame the children for the evil that happens to them as a free will, because children at a young age does not what is free will. As Ivan stated in the book, “I understand solidarity in in sin among men. I understand solidarity in retribution, too; but there can be no such solidarity with children”. Therefore, If men sin we can perhaps blame them for the evil that is happening to them. On the other hand, children does not know the meaning of a sin because they can’t differentiate between wrong and right. It is crucial to define morality and how it may be acquired. Morality is the product of consciousness; the ability to differentiate right from wrong. Morality is a developmental phenomenon as there is no clear-cut age as to when it is acquired. It is generally accepted that children begin to acquire morality at the mean age of 12 years old. So when we refer to the child of eight in the novel, we can clearly say that he is not conscious. For this purpose, we cannot blame him for something wrong he might have