1. Augustine on evil ~ slide 1 Augustine on evil zAugustine on evil âBiographical notes yBorn in north Africa in 354 A.D.; died 430 A.D. yMother Christian; father non- Christian yStudied rhetoric; lived with mistress & fathered son yTurned to Manicheanism

2. Augustine on evil ~ slide 2 Augustine on evil yAs young man, resided in Rome, then in Milan yHeard sermons of Ambrose & converted to Christianity yReturned to North Africa, founded a monastic community yBecame priest & eventually Bishop of Hippo

3. Augustine on evil ~ slide 3 Augustine on evil yIn the history of Christianity, probably did more to shape Christian theology than anyone except Paul... more than Aquinas, more than Luther or Calvin zAugustine’s account of evil â1. A df. of evil -- a privation of the good (privatio boni). Evil “has no substance at all; for if it were a substance it would be good” (Peterson 231).

4. Augustine on evil ~ slide 4 Augustine on evil yWhy this strange df.? â2. Evil is nothing positive & hence not directly caused by God. But God permits evil for the sake of a higher good--namely, freedom.

5. Augustine on evil ~ slide 5 Augustine on evil â3. The free-will defense y“There is no other place from whence evil could have arisen in the first place except from the nature--good in itself--of an angel or man” (Peterson 235). yMoral evil is caused by the choices of human person.

6. Augustine on evil ~ slide 6 Augustine on evil yNatural evil is caused by the choices of angels (mentioned in the Hebrew Bible (apocrapha) in Henoch & in the N.T. in 2 Peter & the Letter of Jude). This caused a fall away from golden age of nature. (Hence there were 2 falls.) â4. Both of these kinds of evil contribute to a higher good, the good of the whole.