Religion attempts to answer numerous questions in its own way. Some religions try to answer questions about existence, God and even evil. Why is there evil? Who created evil? Is evil even real? If God is so powerful, why is there evil? Religion scholars strive to answer these questions. However, this essay is not about all the above questions, rather it is about how various theorists question why evil exists if God is all powerful. According to Augustine, evil is the result of the free will of humans, but Thomas Aquinas argues that evil is the privation of “good”. In this essay, theories will be applied to the Christian beliefs of the Enlightenment period. Firstly, the essay will explain what evil is, the types of evil and some ways Christians
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God does not want to be the puppeteer with humans as his puppets, thus giving humans free will. This is the reason for evil according to Augustine. “So too free will, without which no one can live rightly, must be a God-given good, and you must admit rather that those who use this good wrongly are to be condemned than that He who gave it ought not to have given it” . He argues that free will creates evil not a weak God. Natural disasters, death of a loved one, business failure, so many things are evil, and Augustine explains that the only reason any of that happens is free will . He stresses on the fact that God wanted us to have free will, but there is a problem in that theory. He discusses that there are some people that have free will and not sin at all; this he argues is a defect in that person’s character because God creates humans as “wholly good” and never responsible for evil. He further explains that origin of evil is incomprehensible and uses the idea that good is the privation of evil (the theory that Aquinas supports) . Furthermore, he claims that evil is not separate, or in competition, with the force of good, rather evil is parasitic on good . The analogy that the site uses is as one moves away from the light source, the shadows increases; likewise, evil grows as one moves away from good. Augustine came from a time in which there was much war and to know which nation was evil and which was good was important, his main influence being Plato. Aquinas is a different person, influenced by different means (though one of the philosophers he studied was
God does not want to be the puppeteer with humans as his puppets, thus giving humans free will. This is the reason for evil according to Augustine. “So too free will, without which no one can live rightly, must be a God-given good, and you must admit rather that those who use this good wrongly are to be condemned than that He who gave it ought not to have given it” . He argues that free will creates evil not a weak God. Natural disasters, death of a loved one, business failure, so many things are evil, and Augustine explains that the only reason any of that happens is free will . He stresses on the fact that God wanted us to have free will, but there is a problem in that theory. He discusses that there are some people that have free will and not sin at all; this he argues is a defect in that person’s character because God creates humans as “wholly good” and never responsible for evil. He further explains that origin of evil is incomprehensible and uses the idea that good is the privation of evil (the theory that Aquinas supports) . Furthermore, he claims that evil is not separate, or in competition, with the force of good, rather evil is parasitic on good . The analogy that the site uses is as one moves away from the light source, the shadows increases; likewise, evil grows as one moves away from good. Augustine came from a time in which there was much war and to know which nation was evil and which was good was important, his main influence being Plato. Aquinas is a different person, influenced by different means (though one of the philosophers he studied was