Evil and Faith

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses the theology of Saint Augustine, who spent many years pondering and studying the subject of evil in the world. The paper shows how St. Augustine ultimately believed evil was allowed to exist, despite the goodness of God, in order to create and strengthen the belief in God. The paper also looks at the problem faced by St. Augustine in reconciling free will and evil in the world.

From the Paper:

"St. Augustine spent many years contemplating the problem of evil, wondering why evil exists despite the fact that God, the almighty controller of the world, is entirely good and all-powerful. He believed that God makes everyone and everything completely good (Evans, pp. 63-66), yet recognized that evil existed in the world. Therefore, he aimed to understand evil in order to develop his faith. His major question was: If the body and soul are created by God and are therefore good, what causes evil?"

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