Augustine Theodicy
Explain Augustines Theodicy (25 marks)
Augustines's theodicy, which aims to decipher why there is evil in the world, is greatly influenced by the Bible’s creation stories, Genesis 1-3, which he took literally. Augustine believed, that God had made the world ex nihilo (out of nothing) and when making the world he had made it free from flaws. He believed very strongly that God is good, omnipotent and omniscience. As he had a traditional view of God it created a problem that he had to solve, if God is good and he is omnipotent and He created the world, why is there evil in it? He solves this problem by saying that God is responsible for the evil in the world by defining evil as “privation.” What this means is that when we use worlds such as "evil" and "bad" we are saying that something does not meet our expectations of what it should be like (by nature). Augustine wrote that evil is not a substance but is in fact an absence of kind feelings. If you say that a human being is evil, you are saying that the way that they behave does not match expectations of how a human being should behave. For example, if you are mean, you lack the qualities of generosity and charity. This is a privation in Augustines thinking. It is the failure to be what you should be that is wrong. Augustine also said that God can't be blamed for creating evil himself that occurs in the world. He believes that God created a good, perfect world which was in harmony (existing in a state of peace and happiness with each other) at the beginning. Augustine said that evil comes from angels and human beings. Adam and Eve are tempted by the serpent and uses their free will to choose to do what they are told not to do. They choose not to be in harmony with God - this is called Original Sin. Once disharmony is introduced the original peaceful state of the Garden of Eden cannot be restored. Augustine believed that all humans are Adam and Eve’s descendants and that they passed on this sin through
Augustines's theodicy, which aims to decipher why there is evil in the world, is greatly influenced by the Bible’s creation stories, Genesis 1-3, which he took literally. Augustine believed, that God had made the world ex nihilo (out of nothing) and when making the world he had made it free from flaws. He believed very strongly that God is good, omnipotent and omniscience. As he had a traditional view of God it created a problem that he had to solve, if God is good and he is omnipotent and He created the world, why is there evil in it? He solves this problem by saying that God is responsible for the evil in the world by defining evil as “privation.” What this means is that when we use worlds such as "evil" and "bad" we are saying that something does not meet our expectations of what it should be like (by nature). Augustine wrote that evil is not a substance but is in fact an absence of kind feelings. If you say that a human being is evil, you are saying that the way that they behave does not match expectations of how a human being should behave. For example, if you are mean, you lack the qualities of generosity and charity. This is a privation in Augustines thinking. It is the failure to be what you should be that is wrong. Augustine also said that God can't be blamed for creating evil himself that occurs in the world. He believes that God created a good, perfect world which was in harmony (existing in a state of peace and happiness with each other) at the beginning. Augustine said that evil comes from angels and human beings. Adam and Eve are tempted by the serpent and uses their free will to choose to do what they are told not to do. They choose not to be in harmony with God - this is called Original Sin. Once disharmony is introduced the original peaceful state of the Garden of Eden cannot be restored. Augustine believed that all humans are Adam and Eve’s descendants and that they passed on this sin through