St. Augustine Of Hippo Analysis
St. Augustine of Hippo was an influential philosopher during the Late Roman Empire, and gave a very compelling explanation for the existence of evil. Before Augustine’s explanation, Christians would have to accept that God created evil, meaning God is partially evil. Due to Augustine’s belief that evil does not have substance, which I will defend, it gave Christians piece of mind knowing that God is truly good. Anything created by God is susceptible to corruption, all of his creations are good, but not as good as him, due to our human nature we can choose ourselves to have a good or bad will, nothing evil exists in itself, only evil aspects of God’s creation; therefore, evil is the privation of good.
Anything with a substantial nature is susceptible …show more content…
If good happens to be diminished completely, both good and evil would cease to exist. Because where there is no privation of good, there is no evil. Even if something happens to be corrupted, as long as it continues to exist, it can still be good. “Every actual entity is good; it is a greater good if it cannot be corrupted or a lesser good if it can be”.
From human nature, there can be either a good or evil will. Human nature comes with the gift of free will, which allows us humans to express our own personal, independent choices based on our own rational thoughts. With the ability to orient our lives in any direction that we choose to, those with both good will and evil will exist. One cannot have both a good and evil will; those with an evil will are actively trying to disharmonize the world, while the good willed keep everything in harmony.
One may argue: Why did God grant his creations free will if it leads them towards evil? Evil can be chosen without realization, and there is no reason for said evil to cause suffering. If we had the choice to do something bad versus doing something good, there would be no obligatory suffering if you made the bad choice. God would simply rectify you for any bad moral choices you may have made in your life and forgive
Anything with a substantial nature is susceptible …show more content…
If good happens to be diminished completely, both good and evil would cease to exist. Because where there is no privation of good, there is no evil. Even if something happens to be corrupted, as long as it continues to exist, it can still be good. “Every actual entity is good; it is a greater good if it cannot be corrupted or a lesser good if it can be”.
From human nature, there can be either a good or evil will. Human nature comes with the gift of free will, which allows us humans to express our own personal, independent choices based on our own rational thoughts. With the ability to orient our lives in any direction that we choose to, those with both good will and evil will exist. One cannot have both a good and evil will; those with an evil will are actively trying to disharmonize the world, while the good willed keep everything in harmony.
One may argue: Why did God grant his creations free will if it leads them towards evil? Evil can be chosen without realization, and there is no reason for said evil to cause suffering. If we had the choice to do something bad versus doing something good, there would be no obligatory suffering if you made the bad choice. God would simply rectify you for any bad moral choices you may have made in your life and forgive