Augustines confessions Essay - 1493 Words

Augustines quot;Confessionsquot; A philosophical question faces Christians, and in fact all theists, that challenges the belief in God. To theists, God is an omnipotent, perfect God. He is good. Theists accept this, and embrace it, for how else can they worship God and give their lives to Him unless He is good? However, n this world evil is constantly seen all around us. Because God is the author of all things in this world, and he is good, theists must then ask themselves what evil is and where it came from. Augustine sets up an argument I his Confessions that attempts to define evil, and in doing so he explains its existence. To follow this argument, it is important to realize that Augustine accepts some basic precepts regarding†¦show more content†¦Because we clearly see evil in the world. Did God allow it to enter? This would seem to mean either that God is not entirely good, or that he is not omniscient and all powerful. These questions Augustine does his best to answer. First, Augustine establishes a definition of evil. Originally, he believed that evil had substance. â€Å"I believed that evil, too was some similar kind of substance . . . And because such little piety as I had compelled me to believe that God, who is good, could not have created evil nature, I imagined that there were two antagonistic masses, both of which were infinite, yet the evil in a lesser and the good in a greater degree†(5.10). However, his view changes later, where he says that, â€Å"Evil is nothing but the removal of good until finally no good remains†(3.7). Under this definition, evil does exist as a substance. Instead, it is the result of a removal; of good until there is nothing left, at which time the object/person would cease to exist in a physical realm. â€Å"And evil, the origin of which I was trying to find, is not because if it were a substance, it would be good†(7.12). Augustine approaches this issue from an entirely different angle. First he says: Do we have any good evidence that God even exists? If He does, is He good? So he develops his argument from natural theology. He looks for independent evidence available to us that God is real and He is good. That is why Augustine properly starts with proofs for the existence ofShow MoreRelatedAugustine s Confessions By Augustine1137 Words   |  5 PagesIn Augustine s Confessions, Augustine tells his entire life story leading up to his conversion to Christianity. Throughout his life, he experiences a vast amount of events, both that had major impacts and minor impacts. In the Confessions, Augustine called these events â€Å"episodes. The episodes supported his transformation of who he was into who he wanted to be after his conversion to Christianity. 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