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
to corruption. We are all born as a substance created by God, meaning that we are all good. In order for anything to be corrupted, it is mandatory that it began as a good entity. Therefore, we are all susceptible to evil, a form of corruption. As a Christian, it is enough for me to believe that the cause of the world is a good God. Even though God is known as supremely and immutably good, why does the concept of evil even exist? This can be explained by the concept that evil cannot come from something that is good, only good can come from come from something that is good; ultimately meaning that evil does not have substance. Therefore, evil is a lack of privation of good.
All of nature is good, but nature is not as good as the creator.
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
them.
One may also argue: If a person never chooses evil, do they even have free will? Of course they do, it is entirely possible for one to never accept evil and still have free will. They are the ones consciously choosing to stay on the good side; nobody is making the decisions for them. With the millions of different possible paths to take in life, there is no requirement for evil to have an effect on them.
We are all susceptible to corruption. As humans, it is up to our own personal choices that orient our paths in life, whether it be good or bad. Evil is not a substance, it does not exist; only the evil aspect of God’s creation does. Evil is truly the privation of good, and it is up to you which path you will take.