The Arguments Of Augustine And The Problem Of Evil

Improved Essays
Augustine and the problem of evil
The problem of evil can be formulated through a logical reasoning. The argument claims that the existence of evil is conflicting with the existence of an all-good, knowing and powerful God.
1. If an all-good, all-knowing, all-powerful God exists. Then evil does not exist.
2. Evil exists
3. So, an all-good, all-knowing and all powerful God does not exist
Augustine is committed to the existence of God. Augustine disagrees with premises number two, he does not believe in the existence of evil, it is the actions followed by our free will that God gave us that can create evil. Augustine believes that God wanted to create the best possible world, a world with free will. In this world some people

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    In the logical problem of evil, it is made aware that three things must be true in the contemporary version layout for evil to exist. They are that God is all good, He is all…

    • 1073 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In Augustine early life he turns his back on God and has these desires that he struggles with and he also had the needs of flesh. He talks about the darkness he went through at at early age ,which was was similar to Dante’s habits in his dark woods of sin. Augustine talks about his many sins with unlikeness which causes him become lost without purpose or direction. His void which he stated that made him feel hopelessly lost says “ And I perceived myself to be far off from Thee in the region of unlikeness”(134). St Augustine confession represents a more physical journey but both of them agree that a spiritual connection is necessary for the human soul to closeness with God.…

    • 582 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    In Augustine’s “On Free Choice of the Will”, Augustine states, “…Through whom God made all the things that were made from nothing” (4) meaning that God is the creator of all things. This makes evil an issue since if evil is a thing, and God has created all things, then it is safe to assume that God has created evil. This creates problems for those who believe that God is all loving and all powerful because if God is truly all loving, then why would he create malice for his beloved children. If God is truly good however, how could he possibly be capable to make evil exist? Augustine concludes that if God is truly perfect, then it is possible to believe that evil is not a thing at all, but simply just the absence of God’s good.…

    • 1213 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Julian's Theory Of Evil

    • 1207 Words
    • 5 Pages

    When people discuss the problem of evil or sin, they are more accurately talking about the pain that sin causes. The pain is the substance that humans can feel, understand and analyze. This helps bridge the connection between the problem of evil and the problem of human suffering. Without that pain, there is no result or consequence from sin. As mentioned earlier, Julian thinks that God has good reason for everything.…

    • 1207 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    If all three sentences cannot be true together, than the theist can just take out one. For instance, the theist can deny that God is wholly good. But the problem with this is that the theist does not fully support this. The theist is only half-heartedly agreeing with this to avoid the problem of evil. Also, the theist could reject that there is evil in the world.…

    • 1014 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Peter Van Inwagen’s whole concept of this article was to prove through various points and arguments the conflicts of evil. He brings arguments, and ideas that disagrees with the notion of even believing that evil exists. What he begins with is the problem with believing evil exists is; say evil exists through the many happenings you have witnessed or even only heard about, so how can it not be real right? Inwagen inserts the idea that God, almighty and creator of all, does not exist if large amounts of evil exist through is research from other readings about evil. The mere idea of god existing while evil does will reject the image that is there for God.…

    • 1109 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Many people have an understanding of what evil is, but when asked why most just say because it is. However, when reading Augustine the reader can clearly see what he views as evil and why he does so. For Augustine evil is classified as a form of corruption that can be associated with pride but that not all pride is evil. Augustine bases this on the fact that like a “corrupted tree” (Augustine, pg.608), Adam and Eve choose the corruption by “an act of their own free will” (Augustine, pg. 608). Augustine explains that according to 1st Timothy 2:14, Adam was not being deceived when he ate the fruit but that Eve was actually the one being deceived.…

    • 301 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    In book IV of the "Confessions of St. Augustine" Augustine develops a image of what a true friend is and how he once had the truest friendship but it didn't last and was replaced with grief instead. In the text Augustine states " My heart was black with grief." (Confessions of St. Augustine, section, IV) what I assume Augustine is saying is that the only emotion he could feel is grief because losing his friend was a difficult time for him especially since Augustine and his friend were not on speaking terms and then Augustine came to realize that all friendships will come to an end eventually and will be replaced with grief no matter what or who the person is. Augustine discussed the "...affection of mortal things…" (Confessions of St. Augustine,…

    • 296 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    St. Augustine Theodicy

    • 494 Words
    • 2 Pages

    One solution to the problem of evil and suffering is the Augustinian Theodicy, proposed by St. Augustine of Hippo (354-430 AD). Augustine’s theodicy is entirely based on the Bible, and focuses on Genesis 1 and Genesis 3. He stated that God made the world perfect, which is based on Genesis 1 – “all God had made pleased him”, and the world was free of flaws or any evil. His theodicy says that since God did not create evil, it is not a ‘thing’ and instead taught that evil was an absence or ‘privation’ of good, brought into the world by humans and angels who have turned away from God. He believes evil was brought into the world when Adam and Eve turned away from God by eating forbidden fruit from the Tree of Knowledge in Genesis 3.…

    • 494 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Evil is a complex issue within the Catholic faith. It is difficult to put a definition to what evilness is because it is not something that can physically be touched or seen. Philosophers such as, St. Augustine and Boethius, have proposed ideas that transform the way Catholics view evil, and help to give a better understanding of faith and God. These two philosophers have expressed their opinions on this very controversial topic in depth in Augustine’s Confessions and again in the Consolation of Philosophy by Boethius. The philosophers shared certain ideas, but have come to them each in different ways.…

    • 1299 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    In the essay The Problem of Evil, the author says “Either God cannot abolish evil or he will…

    • 1646 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Problem of Evil 1-The Problem of evil and Omnipotent The problem of evil has been continually open in theologian 's side for hundreds of years. The problem mainly arises from the inconsistency in propositions that are stated either by religious minds or theologians. It starts by the key attributes of God that are strongly believed by Theists, as follows, 1-God is omnipotent. 2-God is wholly good.…

    • 781 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The consistency that exists between the divine foreknowledge possessed by God and an individual’s ability to freely choose what they desire is an issue discussed by Augustine in his work Free choice of will bk. 3. Inherently, the ideals of divine foreknowledge and free choice of will are contradictory to one another as is it is impossible for an individual to possess free choice of will if the outcome that awaits the individual is known to God. Divine foreknowledge, which allows God the capacity to foresee the outcomes of an individual's choices prior to their actions, makes it impossible for an individual to act otherwise as God would also possess foreknowledge of their intent to do so. Therefore, an individual cannot be free.…

    • 852 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Augustine, known as one of the four founding fathers of the Catholic church, helped to shape and mold the rights and wrongs within the religion. From Augustine’s interpretations of the bible and its scriptures, many people who wished to follow an idealistic Christianity turned to Catholicism. Correspondingly, the two differ when it came to their attitudes towards faith. While Abelard was always an avid Christian throughout his life, Augustine did not become a believer in God or the Holy Spirit until later. Even so, Abelard looked to religion as a backbone of comfort, whereas Augustine looked to it for wisdom.…

    • 1671 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Great Essays

    He made into the conclusion that every man that lives well possesses God within them. But according to Augustine, man always has God within us. A person who lives well have God favourably inclined within us, and if a man lives in evil, he did not incline God favourably. God can be also the ultimate end, in which through love, we can reach him and become one of him, but, we cannot surpass him by any means of goodness since he is the ultimate good. We are formed from goodness and wants our happiness be far better as we accomplish it.…

    • 2087 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Great Essays