Augustine is fixated upon the idea of evil and its origins in Christian theology. He struggles to come to terms with the doctrine of sin. A popular counterargument to the belief in God is that a good, kind, and loving divine power would never command the wholesale slaughter of nations. According to Christian belief, God created everything, and everything He created is good because He Himself is righteous. Augustine claims that God pervades the entirety of the universe and all it contains. So, how can things outside of God, such as evil, even exist? He asks this in various forms of rhetorical questions, such as, “Where then is evil? What is its origin? How did it steal into the world?...Where then does evil come from, if God made all things …show more content…
and, because he is good, made them good too?” (Bk. VII, 5, p.
138) Augustine employs these questions to provoke strong emotions in his readers. If Augustine had not utilized this literary tool, it may have been unfeasible for him to convey his ideas as admirably as he does with them. Writers use rhetorical questions for eloquence and readers cannot easily quantify the impact rendered by a rhetorical question. The idea becomes all the more robust, and the reader’s interest is piqued and therefore the reader continues to read and take pleasure in the technical and aesthetic beauty that a rhetorical question produces. Moreover, it is rather essential in compelling texts, such as when Augustine is attempting to seek comfort solely in God, instead of lust and love in God’s creations, which can all develop into evil. Augustine implies that evil is not the creation of God, but it has existed since the inception of creation as a …show more content…
non-being. Augustine's perception of evil, which is grounded in a combination of Christian faith and Platonist philosophy, was the outcome of his endeavors to cogitate himself out of Manichaeism. The Manichaeans were also deeply concerned with the origin of evil. They were reluctant to say that God created evil, hence they determined that evil must have always existed. Their philosophy was: one cannot have goodness devoid of God, just as one cannot have God devoid of goodness. God is inherently good. So evil, in their view, is just as real and eternal as God—and just as powerful. Their heresy, as Augustine later deemed it, was a type of dualism, because it categorized God and evil into two equal principles at the basis of all existence. Augustine acknowledges the paradox of evil and thus comes to a conclusion. Similar to the idea of negative space, evil is a “non-being.” God did not create evil because evil is not a being at all, and therefore is not a being that can be created. To better understand this strange concept, think of a rip or hole in a shirt.
It has no being or matter of its own, but it does exist in objective reality and it is has a negative effect on the shirt. Good and bad cognates here: the shirt is a good thing, but the hole is bad for it and therefore impels it to be a bad shirt. Thus, every being is considered good, but it can be wrecked, spoiled, or disordered when it is lacking something “good” that it should in fact possess, such as the missing fabric on the shirt. This concept of dispossession is central to Augustine’s ideologies and the privative perception of evil. Augustine's term for dispossession is “corruption”, which comes from a Latin word meaning “rot” or any affair that causes harm, destruction or loss of goodness. A decayed cabbage leaf, a torn shirt, a demolished house, a diseased animal, a sinful soul are all instances of corruption, of good things gone wrong because they are deprived of what is good for them. Augustine creates an analogy with darkness and light. “You were formerly in darkness, but now are you in the light in the Lord.” (Bk. V111) Darkness is not a form of light but rather the absence of light. It is a form of non-being, and therefore a good trope for evil, as Augustine perceives
it. Augustine recognizes a lingering question that may divert people from accepting that God is not the creator of evil: how can things go bad if all that God created is good? To some extent, Augustine responds to this question in the seventh book of the Confessions, where he explains how he reasons his way out of Manichaeism. God created everything to be innately good, but all the good things he made run a risk of being corruptible. “Corruptible” is completely divergent from the term “corrupted.” These two words are linked the same way possibility is linked to actuality: something corruptible can go bad but might not, whereas something corrupted is actually evil. To say God created “corruptible” good things is thus to say he made nothing evil, but that everything he created could turn evil out of its own freewill. As aforementioned, the concept of evil is related to the idea of freewill. According to the Genesis, God created man in God’s image. God is the most distinctive considering his status as a supreme being and the source of all creation. God possesses autonomy in its highest form; hence man does as well. God is free to choose and create and so too is man. This philosophy can also be applied to mundane objects such as a shirt, as God pervades the entirety of the universe. Thus, everyone and everything encompasses a two-way street; the road to good and the road to evil. Evil is not a thing one chooses, it is a path one chooses because evil is not something that God created, but a corruption of one’s will. Another probing question skeptics may have is: why would God create corruptible things in the first place? In response to that question, there is no alternate process of creation. “Can it be that there was something evil in the matter from which [God] made the universe? When [God] shaped this matter and fitted it to his purpose, did [God] leave in it some part which he did not convert to good?” (Bk. VII, 5, p. 1389) Everything other than God is corruptible, because everything other than God is created, and to be created is to be alterable— and to be alterable is to be corruptible. If one can change, Augustine thinks, then one can change for the worse. Only God cannot turn bad, because only God is eternally, incorruptibly good. Everything else is corruptible because it is in fact alterable. When Augustine speaks of alterability, it can be defined as susceptibility to corruption and non-being, which is immanent in everything that is created. “For [God is] infinite and never change[s]. In [God] ‘today’ never comes to an end: and yet our ‘today’ does come to an end in [God], because time, as well as everything else, exists in [God].” (Bk. I, 6, p. 27) Everthing that comes into existence inhabits the realm of time and (and therefore change) where things cannot solely be created, they must grow, age, deteriorate and die as well. Since only God never came into being (because he has always existed), it is logical that only God is unencumbered by the inevitability of corruption. In conclusion, the idea that only God is free from evil explains why humans should seek comfort solely from God, rather than from others and from material things, as all people and things deteriorate into evil. “Grief eats away its heart for the loss of things which it took pleasure in desiring, because it wants to be like [God], from whom nothing can be taken away.” (Bk II. 6.2) These words embody Augustine’s belief that deprivation of goodness is evil in its truest form. One can only be safe in the love of God because, unlike everything else, God does not change and is eternal.
In the Confessions, Augustine wrote about his struggle with understanding how evil exists in a world created by God. He questioned how it was possible and why God allows evil in his creations because God is supremely good. After delving into finding a solution, Augustine concluded that evil does not exist, and the things deemed as evil are caused by free will. This paper will argue that Augustine has successfully proven that evil does not exist by explaining his earlier explanation of the origin of evil taught by the Manicheans, explaining Augustine’s teachings, and finally, using the textual descriptions of Augustine’s unwillingness to convert as support for his conclusion.
“Please tell me: isn’t God the cause of evil?” (Augustine, 1). With this question to Augustine of Hippo, Evodius begins a philosophical inquiry into nature of evil. Augustine, recently baptized by Saint Ambrose in Milan, began writing his treatise On Free Choice of the Will in 387 C.E. This work laid down the foundation for the Christian doctrine regarding the will’s role in sinning and salvation. In it, Augustine and his interlocutor investigate God’s existence and his role in creating evil. They attempt not only to understand what evil is, and the possibility of doing evil, but also to ascertain why God would let humans cause evil. Central to the premise of this entire dialogue is the concept of God, as relates to Christianity; what is God, and what traits separate Him from humans? According to Christianity, God is the creator of all things, and God is good; he is omnipotent, transcendent, all-knowing, and atemporal- not subject to change over time- a concept important to the understanding of the differences between this world and the higher, spiritual realm He presides over. God’s being is eidos, the essence which forms the basis of humans. With God defined, the core problem being investigated by Augustine and Evodius becomes clear. Augustine states the key issue that must be reconciled in his inquiry; “we believe that everything that exists comes from the one God, and yet we believe that God is not the cause of sins. What is troubling is that if you admit that sins come from… God, pretty soon you’ll be tracing those sins back to God” (Augustine, 3).
Saint Augustine’s On Faith and the Creed breaks down the Apostles Creed and expresses the essence of the Christian faith. The 11 chapters within On Faith and The Creed express many truths of the faith. Chapter one explains the origin of the creed and object of its composition. The Apostles Creed is a sufficient summary of the faith for beginners and those who who are more diligent in their faith. Many heretics have tried to corrupt the interpretation of the Apostles Creed. Yet, since it is written according to the scripture, the Apostles Creed is based on complete truth. Chapter two expresses the fact that eternity is exclusive. Saint Augustine talks about how the Apostles Creed will not truly be understood or impact a person if they are not
For the vast majority of his years Augustine was confused regarding sinful nature. Even as an infant, Augustine was not free from sin. Observing an infant, even though he is too weak to cause any harm, he shows the first steps of sinning if he doesn’t get what he wants. Later on he concludes that teenagers desire to do evil things because they do not understand the nature of beauty or goodness, which is God. What later troubles him the most, is that his main motive was the desire to sin and do wrong. He proceeds that the sinful nature, along with certain situations and people in his life lead him, and brought him closer to God.
During the early portion of his life, Augustine loses a dear friend, and it flips his whole world upside-down. He became depressed, moody, and confused. In his confusion, however, Augustine learns and discovers answers to the new questions in his head. The first instance of learning we see is when Augustine is describing the almost incurable pain that plagues him. As he recollects this moment, Augustine states that there was little to nothing he could do to ease the immense emotional pain he is experiencing. However, looking back he knows the solution is God. He states himself, “I should have lifted myself to you, Lord, to find a cure” (60). In other words, Augustine knows God had the answer to his problem, but was too weak
In the medieval world of literature, a plethora of highly accredited philosophers whose texts bewilder even the most intelligent experts in the 21st century come to mind. The art of persuasion, also known as “rhetoric,” has been incorporated into a large portion of the writings in the medieval era, and has aided in the construction of the way humans live their lives to this day. This use of rhetoric is highly noticed in the ancient roman bishop Saint Augustine’s theological texts. Having been newly introduce to Christianity, Augustine is widely recognized for his addressing of religious issues in Rome during its collapse. Perhaps Augustine’s most famous depiction of his beliefs are represented in his work “City of God.” He uses a specific level
Augustine’s dabblings in Manichaeism may cause one to infer that he perhaps is clinging to the idea that there is something inherently evil about matter. Augustine, however, mentions that the “soul fornicates” which would go against Manichaeistic thinking, since they would hold that the soul was essentially good. When he suggests this corruption of the soul, Augustine is alluding to his acceptance of free will, which he elaborates on in Book 7. Free will is what causes corruption and the immersion of evil. Even in this book, Augustine confesses that he did these evil things out of his own accord. Although Plotinus would have found issue with the soul being corruptible, since for him it is suppose to govern the body in perfect harmony, Augustine’s response is reminiscent of his writings. Plotinus stressed the idea that humanity has moved away from the ideal Oneness that is God and they desperately crave to reunite with Him. This parallels Augustine’s idea that humanity wishes to imitate God to be closer to
In the beginning, God created the world. He created the earth, air, stars, trees and mortal animals, heaven above, the angels, every spiritual being. God looked at these things and said that they were good. However, if all that God created was good, from where does un-good come? How did evil creep into the universal picture? In Book VII of his Confessions, St. Augustine reflects on the existence of evil and the theological problem it poses. For evil to exist, the Creator God must have granted it existence. This fundamentally contradicts the Christian confession that God is Good. Logically, this leads one to conclude evil does not exist in a created sense. Augustine arrives at the conclusion that evil itself is not a formal thing, but the result of corruption away from the Supreme Good. (Augustine, Confessions 7.12.1.) This shift in understanding offers a solution to the problem of evil, but is not fully defended within Augustine’s text. This essay will illustrate how Augustine’s solution might stand up to other arguments within the context of Christian theology.
Augustine shows that we should desire the four cardinal virtues of prudence, fortitude, temperance, and justice. Augustine shows that these four virtues relate to good by using Evodius to say that “all four virtues that you just described, with my agreement, are present in those who love their own good will and value it highly” (Augustine). Augustine believes that these cardinal virtues are unchanging and eternal, and could be held onto by simply wanting them. To do a good action, one must desire these four virtues over other worldly desires like living without fear. In any evil action, one or more of these cardinal virtues are not prioritized at the top and are below some other desire. With this understanding in hand, it is clear why evil actions are wrong. We can see how inordinate desire lead to wrongdoings in everyday life with another example.
“Some Manicheans, Augustine alleged, not only commit sexual sins, but they also try to excuse themselves by claiming that the power of evil was stronger than the power of God.” Augustine for a while in his younger years was a Manichean. He did not admit that he himself believed this, his actions should that it was somewhat true in his life.
Augustine’s influence on the church is significant but recently from more of a past historical standpoint rather than a current theological standpoint. This is because of his outdated thoughts of sexual activity and the way he theorized good vs. evil as something physical vs. spiritual.
In the search of finally understanding evil and the being of God, Augustine understands who God is and what He stands for. He claimed that for God evil does not exists because He had created all things to be good. All element of the world are good, but may
For a majority of his life, St. Augustine attempted to solve the problem of evil. The problem has plagued Christianity for centuries, as the idea that God created evil would cause many contradictions to the religion. If God is the creator of everything, and evil is a thing, then God knowingly created evil. If this be the case, than God can not be good. Initially Augustine is intrigued by the solution introduced by the Manichees Understanding that the conclusion brought by that rationale could not be the conclusion, Augustine then asked “What is evil?”.
His issue with this belief seems to stem from the idea that, by saying that evil has power over ourselves, we as people don’t have to feel responsibility for our actions, and therefore our sin. He eventually comes to the following conclusion: God is incorruptible, and since God made all things good, God could not have created evil, which is not good. Since God created everything in the existence, and everything that God created is good, then evil must not exist (7.XIII). It is by this argument that Augustine comes to the conclusion that, what the Manichees perceived as “evil,” was defines by Augustine as an “absence of good.” In other words, evil is what is left when people refuse “goodness” and God, and that any evil that we do is our own choice. This forces people to take responsibility for their actions, both good and
He argues that man’s nature is ultimately good since it is created by God Himself, who is truly and perfectly good (bk. 7, ch. 12, sec. 18). However, this does not account for man’s indecisiveness or poor decisions. To account for this, Augustine states that man possesses many conflicting wills that persuade man’s soul to act. Man’s sin, therefore, is not a result of a twisted or perverted nature. Rather, sin itself sparks a multitude of wills to arise in an individual, causing a state of unrest in the soul. Among these wills exist both good and bad intentions. Man remains in this state until he chooses a will to act upon, which puts his soul at rest. According to Augustine, man is called to adhere to God´s will by his own nature, which is good. All men are capable of having God's will, but all men do not choose to act upon it; the ones who choose to overcome the influences of their other wills and follow God's will are the ones who are able to convert (bk. 8, ch. 10, sec.