How Does Augustine Relate To Evil

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Augustine is one of those humans that most people, now and days, can relate too. He was born from a Pagan father and Christian mother. I feel like this is something that was very taboo, but is not that uncommon now. For example, I know a lot of people whom are Catholic/Jewish. I really like and sort of relate on how he wanted to find himself in the religion. I was raised by two Catholic parents, but since I was strictly raised with this religion, I feel like I still have yet to find myself within it. It amazed me how evil was such a huge role and study back then. I have always been taught about “Hell” and evil, but not in a very complex form. The religion he was very intrigued in was Manichaeism. “Mani had followed the Gnostics in speaking of two Gods- a good one who created the spiritual realm and an evil one who ruled over matter” (p. 100). Augustine believed that God …show more content…

He describes how attracting this spirit was and how it felt good to be evil. “The evil in me was foul, but I loved it”( p 103). He saw the will to sin as a characteristic of human being. I loved that he thought this. I agree with him on nobody being perfect. I feel like when we do something “evil” then realize, we have a new found feeling of good. I feel in a way, evil is a wakeup call to keep us on the “right” track. He also formulated the theory of predestination. I don't know how I feel about this. My brother and I have always had this discussion on why bad things, happen to good people. If someone is so religious and devoted to god, but can have such a difficult time. For example, my mom’s aunt. Her life story is so impactful and hard, yet she is a full devotee and won’t give up on her faith. Is this where the whole “things happen for a reason” or “it’s all in God’s plan” comes from? I am really interested in learning more about Augustine, as I feel like his teaching are some what relatable in todays

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