1. Augustine of Hippo (354- 430 AD) Catholic priest We know a great deal about his life from his Confessions and Revisions; from a recent biography and from his many letters

2. Augustine’s Theodicy St. Augustine 354 – 430 AD Augustine’s Theodicy St. Augustine 354 – 430 AD A Christian response to the Problem of Evil and connections with Free Will Main points: Privation / The Fall / Free Will Two approaches………………..

3. Philosophical & Biblical God is the creator of all things / substances Creation is good So, evil cannot be a substance Therefore, evil is the ‘privation’ (lack, absence) of good Evil enters when some part of creation renounces its proper role and ceases to be what it is meant to be. THE FALL: Augustine argues for a belief in the ‘fall’ of angels and mankind. God (in his Omniscience) foresaw the fall and planned for a redemption through Christ, so retaining God’s goodness.

4. How do things become deprived of good or ‘fall’? God cannot be less than perfect, but his creations can. God cannot bring about this corruption, instead it occurs through a misuse of Free Will. Free Will gives us the ability to actualise evil. The following puts the blame for evil on humans rather than God; ‘Original Sin’ relates to the fall of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, all of humanity is descended from them and therefore shares in their sin – moral evils. The fall of angels led to natural suffering, this is retained in the world as a punishment for sin.

5. Criticisms of the theodicy It seems insubstantial to say something as ‘potent’ as evil is simply the lack of something. Modern science contradicts a literal interpretation of ‘The Fall’ in preference of Evolutionary theory. This has lead to a symbolic interpretation of the story. The explanation of natural evil as a punishment seems incompatible with a loving God. God must bear some responsibility (logical criticisms); It could be argued that perfect things should not fall, therefore humans and angels could never have been perfect in the first place. A genuinely perfect world would not allow for evil. God chose to create creatures he foresaw would do evil.

6. Summary Evil did not come from God, whose creation is perfect Evil came from elsewhere (humans & angels via free will and turning away from God) Everyone is ‘of sin’ because of the actions of Adam and Eve God is justified in allowing it to stay (I.e, natural evil as a punishment) However God does show love in his offer of salvation through Christ.