Augustine and Evil Essay

Submitted By Trevor-DeField
Words: 2057
Pages: 9
Open Document
Trevor DeField
Introduction to Philosophy
Dr. David Brown
September 23, 2014
Research Paper of Augustine
I. Life and general impact of the philosopher Augustine of Hippo was one of the greatest theologians of the early church and an esteemed philosopher. He was born in the mid-4th century to a poor family in Africa where he would spend almost all of his life. According to Augustine himself, he was born poor, but because of his pursuit of knowledge and education, he moved up on the social ladder to nobility (Brown, 9). In his pursuit of knowledge, Augustine would study literature, philosophy, Greek, Latin, psychology, and rhetoric. Augustine proved to be very successful in his early years as a teacher in rhetoric. He started teaching in Carthage, but upon needing more challenging students, he moved to Rome. After disappointment in Rome he would move to Milan where he was given a position of high honor as a professor in rhetoric (European Graduate School). Even though he was very successful in teaching, one event would drastically change Augustine’s life forever.
Before his conversion, he was deeply rooted in Manicheanism and dualism (Samples n. pag.). He struggled heavily with coming to Christianity because of reasons such as the existence of an immaterial God, the allowance of evil by God, and the belief of a monotheistic creator. Although he did not agree with the doctrines of Christianity, he started to see flaws in his own beliefs of Manicheanism. He failed to find answers about his questions of epistemology and metaphysics from even the most astute Manichean teachers. Because of the flaws in the philosophy of Manicheanism, he deemed his devotion to Manicheanism worthless. Interestingly, his realization that Christianity was possible came through his studies of Platonic thought. He realized that evil was not something that God had to create. Through this realization, his objections with Christianity soon fell away. Also, he realized how depraved he was, and how impossible living an acceptable lifestyle was. Upon the realization of his moral state, the crumbling of his belief system, and the spiritual influence in his life, Augustine became a believer in Christ. While teaching in Milan, he began reading the writings of Saint Anthony. He knew of Saint Anthony reading the Gospel and this Gospel changing his life. After being so encompassed with sin and moral failure, he read Romans where Paul says the only thing someone needs is Jesus, not a moral lifestyle. He also read in the Gospel how one must sell all that he has and give up his life to serve and follow Jesus. His finding of this section of the Gospel substantiated fundamental in his life because of what Augustine would give up for the sake of Jesus. Augustine gave up his earthly successful life for a spiritually fulfilling life. He resigned from being a highly respected professor at the imperial court of Milan and relinquished the ability to have a prestigious life for the pursuit of Christ. After this life altering event, Augustine would sell his inheritance in order to be in ministry. After coming to Christ, Augustine moved back to his hometown to study and pray. He was soon given the title “Bishop of Hippo”. It was at this phase of his life that he became known for his amazing theology, philosophy, apologetics, and writings (Samples n. pag.).

II. Statement of a philosophical question/problem he addressed Early in life, Augustine struggled with the idea of a perfect God creating a world with evil in it. This struggle kept him from coming to Christ for many years of his life. He had many questions about how awful tragedies such the existence of sickness, physical deformities, or demonic possession could exist in our world. He starts the second part of City of God with a long list of cumbersome questions about the existence of evil.
He also could not understand how society was meant to run. Society according to Augustine struggled with
Show More

Related Documents: Augustine and Evil Essay

God and Augustine Essay

AUGUSTINE: HIS INSPIRATION ON THE CHURCH ACROSS THE CENTURIES A Research Paper Submitted To Dr. Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary Lynchburg, VA In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Course of History of Christianity I CHHI 520-B05 LUO March 5, 2014 CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 1 AUGUSTINE’S LIFE 1 AUGUSTINE’S INFLUENCE 4 AUGUSTINE ON EVIL 5 AUGUSTINE ON FREEWILL 8 AUGUSTINE ON GRACE 10 CONCLUSION 11 BIBLIOGRAPHY 12 INTRODUCTION The objective of this essay is to generate adequate…

Words 3084 - Pages 13

Essay on God Did Not Create Evil

As stated by St. Augustine, God did not create evil; it is the absence of good. Many religions have traditionally conceived of God as being all-powerful, all-knowing and all-good. One of the most difficult puzzles facing anyone who believes in such a being is to explain why there is so much evil in the world. People believe God created everything, including evil. Augustine felt the same way. He was always searching for the truth so he joined the Manicheans to unravel the mystery. Because the Manicheans…

Words 545 - Pages 3

Essay about St. Augustine's View of Evil

Whether or not evil is the absence of good is a question that has puzzled Christians since the time of St. Augustine of Hippo. In The Confessions of St. Augustine, he initiates this premise and argues in its favor. Discourse about evil is based on the Christian theological teachings of the omniscience, omnipotence, and perfect benevolence of God as well as the understanding that evil is present in this world. Since these four concepts are contradictory, one of them must be rejected. Thus, St…

Words 1077 - Pages 5

On Free Choice of the Will: St. Augustine’s View on Evil Essay

View on Evil This paper examines St. Augustine’s view on evil. St. Augustine believed that God made a perfect world, but that God's creatures turned away from God of their own free will and that is how evil originated in the world. Augustine assumes that evil cannot be properly said to exist at all, he argues that the evil, together with that suffering which is created as punishment for sin, originates in the free nature of the will of all creatures. According to Augustine, God has allowed evil to exist…

Words 1740 - Pages 7

The Problem of Evil Essay examples

300 The Problem of Evil One of the most interesting questions in the world is, “If a God exists, why is there evil in the world?” Most people respond with, “If God created the universe and us, then there should not be evil in the world,” when asked about God or any other powerful being. The problem of evil is also believed to be the cause of Atheism, and I do believe that there is a solution for this. The problem of evil is not a correct argument. The arguments from evil state that if there…

Words 1287 - Pages 6

Plato And Augustine

Plato & AUgustine Term Paper Philosophy. According to the Merriam Webster dictionary philosophy is “the study of ideas about knowledge, truth, the nature and meaning of life.” Over the course of the semester, we have read two books which involve two quite infamous beings and their works. We have studied the Eight Essential Dialogues by Plato and the Confessions by Augustine. Through their works, we are able to begin understanding, at a deeper level, their ideals on knowledge, truth, the nature…

Words 2090 - Pages 9

Biography Of Augustine's Confessions

Augustine Confessions Augustine created a whole new field of autobiography in Confessions by studying what it means to really be a person. He discovered the idea of self that can be attained by self-presentation, which leads to self-realization. He also stated that a person has two minds, one good and one evil. If a person holds evil beliefs, they are evil themselves. In his confessions, Augustine tells the story of his own life and compares himself to a struggle of both the body and the soul…

Words 617 - Pages 3

City of God Essay

| | |The City of God: Saint Augustine Style | |By: | |Word Count: 2000…

Words 2010 - Pages 9

Philosophy: Metaphysics and Eternal Law Essay

takes a lot of time and detail to explain each case. The first question asked is if God is the cause of evil? Augustine then answers Evodius' question by saying God is not evil and does no cause evil. However, those who are naturally evil at heart are punished by God. "We believe that everything that exists comes from the one God, and yet we believe that God is not the cause of sins" (Augustine 3). Since learning is seen as beneficial and positive and sinning is negative, it is also believed…

Words 344 - Pages 2

Augustine Confessions Analysis

Confessions, which is written by Saint Augustine, constitute an noteworthy book. Reading this book it is logical to lead to many questions not only philosophical but also questions about religion. The purpose of Augustine is to make people understand who God is and separate him from the evil. The author discuss about how he thinks he was sinner as he lived following Hedonism. Hedonism is a way of not only thinking, but life as well, believing that people should do whatever pleases them, without thinking…

Words 1757 - Pages 8