Saint Augustine's Problem Of Evil

Saint Augustine was a man who lived in 384-420 A.D. He is credited with being one of the most influential philosophers for western Christianity, and modern day Christianity still incorporates many aspects of his thoughts and beliefs for the world. His main contribution comes in the form of the solution to the problem of evil. It is important to note that he began his quest for his own solution when he became dissatisfied with the Manichean solution to the problem of evil, this caused him to define its solution in a different way than was expressed at the time, he divided the problem of evil into two types of evil, and this author is inclined to disagree with his beliefs about evil.

The Christian God is said to be perfectly good and all-powerful.

He turned to Manicheanism because he did not believe that the Christians had a valid or complete answer to the problem. The Manichean view on the problem of evil is that there was no single higher power that had unlimited good power. Instead, they believed that good and evil were equal and opposite forces. These forces were equally present in humans, the soul being the good power, and the body being the evil power. The Manichean doctrines preached that to be saved from evil, you had to align yourself with your soul and not the body. Augustine noticed that some of the doctrines were controversial when compared to the best knowledge of his time, and that their solution was not useful in a practical sense. While the Manicheans did offer a key to salvation, their doctrines did not outline how to actually change your life. Because of this, Augustine began his own hunt for the solution to the problem of

If you look at all living things, which are created by God, most display some kind of evil tendency. Free will only exists in humans. Other animals have been known to kill competition for mates, power etc. It is documented that some commit rape. As long as it has been documented, humanity has only been at peace for roughly 8% of history. Humans naturally turn towards violence, whether they believe or know free will. In my opinion, free will exists to combat the evil humans naturally have. I agree with Augustine’s theory that we are naturally born into sin because of the actions of Adam and Eve, but I still believe that humans have a natural tendency towards violence and crime and not towards virtue. In social experiments where people are allowed to do anything to someone, they usually go for violence. Free will is a social construct designed to decrease things that a certain society deems as wrong, and nothing more. What is considered morally wrong or evil, varies from society to society. Some society’s do not think that killing murderers is morally wrong, while others do. It is considered to some, that killing someone at all is an evil act, yet in some society’s it is not. Animals have a specific nature, that nature cannot be changed. We can condition an animal to do something, but that only goes as far as their nature allows. Human nature is an evil and vile thing, but we can