who was augustine AND belief
- St Augustine of Hippo- Christian Bishop- focuses on the Bible in his theodicy
- Tired to solve the existence of God in the face of evil
- Sees the Genesis stories as literal- ideas of Adam and Eve
- creationist
2 Presumptions:
1) Evil does not come from God as he is perfect,.
2) Evil came from somewhere else and God was justified in allowing it to stay.
Is God responsible for everything that he created?
Arguments for:
The Genesis creation myth demonstrates that God created everything and that he imminent within creation. He also therefore created evil. – Schleiemacher
If God is omniscient this would suggest he knows what is happening and has the power to control what is happening.
Arguments against:
Peter Vardy argues that God cannot change history and that it is wrong to suggest that everything which happens because of God’s will.
There is moral evil in the world, caused by humans. This is as a result of free will, demonstrating that God is not responsible for such actions.
whats EVIL
A privation of good = EVIL privation boni
augustine flow chart
- god is all good creator
- creation = good harmony
- Hierarchy - there is a hierarchy in his creation- humans have dominion- stewards of the world
- Privation - evil is the privation of good (blindness)
- fall - humans abuse it, disobey god- Satan tempts Adam and Eve
- natural evil - disharmony, ground is cursed
- freewill - so valuable - god sustains a world with evil
- aesthetic value - contrast between good and evil
why cant god be blamed for evil
God can’t be blamed as it was a lack of goodness on our part
natural evil comes from fallen angels and sins of humans
we have destroyed the natural order of things
origins of sin
- fallen angels and humans abusing free will given to us by God = massa damnata
- analogy of blindness- privation of sight- a lack of
- so evil is a deprivation of good
- the importance of free will- The Free Will Defence
- God is not to blame
- He acc wanted a relationship with humans- shown in Genesis where he walks through the Gardens of Eden with A+E
- If we hadn’t sinned the world would still be perfect
- ‘All evil is either sin or the punishment for sin.’ – Augustine
- God saves some through the death of Christ, shows he is merciful
Objections to augustine
- Plantinga- no evidence of the existence of angels so who tempted Adam and Eve? Where did evil come from if not fee will?
- Science- proof that the human race did not come from just one man and woman
- Adam’s sin-if adam was passing on his sin through his DNA by now it would have worked its way out o the genes
- Schleiemacher - why would god create a perfect world just to let it go wrong?
- natural evil - why allow natural evil? unjust!
- flew - god could have created world without evil - if he is omnipotent
theodicy overview
- god as a good creator - omni….
- evil comes from god (genesis) - evil is a privation of good and not a thing in itself like blindness is just a lack of sight
- ‘god saw it was good’ - he created the perfect world
- privation & evil - evil was brought about by angles (fallen) and humans - not gods fault
- lack of goodness in world rather than absence
