Essay on On Free Choice of the Will St. Augustine’s View...

On Free Choice of the will: St. Augustine’s View on Evil This paper examines St. Augustine’s view on evil. St. Augustine believed that God made a perfect world, but that Gods creatures turned away from God of their own free will and that is how evil originated in the world. Augustine assumes that evil cannot be properly said to exist at all, he argues that the evil, together with that suffering which is created as punishment for sin, originates in the free nature of the will of all creatures. According to Augustine, God has allowed evil to exist in the world because it does not conflict with his righteousness. He did not create evil but is also not a victim of it. He simply allows it to exist. It is impossible to deny the existence of†¦show more content†¦If God is not all-powerful, is he worthy of worship? And finally, does God not exist? This is the problem of evil. Augustine summed it up most effectively when he said, â€Å"Either God cannot abolish evil or he will not. If he cannot then he is not all-powerful. If he will not then he is not all good.† Augustine viewed evil as merely the absence of good just as dark is the absence of light, a non-being â€Å"a name for nothing but the want of good†. He looked to the Bible for an explanation for the existence of God and believed that the fall of humanity from grace, as shown in Genesis, showed the origin of evil. He believed that evil came into the world because human beings had deliberately turned away from God and his goodness. This suggests that both moral and natural evil is a result of original human sin. The problem of evil questions the nature of God and threatens his status as a figure worthy of worship. Surely human beings would not wish to worship a God that is neither all good nor all-powerful? The figure we call God is seen to be entirely perfect and flawless in every way. The problem of evil also questions God’s omniscience, in respects that he is all knowing. If God is omniscient then he must know the harm that evil does and the suffering it will cause. The attributes in question are the essence of the nature of God and without them he becomes more like a human than a God. If any of God’s characteristics are omitted, heShow MoreRelated God And The Problem Of Evil Essay1252 Words   |  6 PagesProblem Of Evil Everyday it is possible to read a newspaper, or turn on TV or radio news and learn about evil going on in our world. Banks are robbed, cars are stolen, violent murders and rapes are committed. Somewhere in the world the aftershock of an earthquake is being felt. Cancer is killing millions of people each year, while other debilitating conditions continue to affect many with no cure to end their suffering. President Bush said that our country is fighting a war against evil. 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