The Naive Existence of Evil

One aspect of Christianity and its relationship with society that is often debated is the idea of evil. Many would say that evil could be found throughout the world, from the atrocious crimes committed, to the horrendous natural disasters that destroy homes and kill many. This idea begs the question of why a perfect God would create evil when everything God creates is supposedly good. Saint Augustine discusses this idea in his book Confessions. Saint Augustine believes that “evil does not exist” and everything that exists must be good (Augustine 148). Augustine reasons that all things must have some inherent good, and evil things as a substance simply do not exist. He effectively logically appeals to the reader, conveying his viewpoint on evil in a very convincing manner.

In Book VII Chapter 12, Augustine explains the origin of evil and the uniformity of good in life. Augustine argues that evil is spurred through corruption, but these evil things could not “become corrupt unless they were in some way good” (Augustine 148). Augustine emphasizes that something cannot be corrupted unless it was good to begin with; therefore since all things God creates are good, substances perceived as evil are in fact just wicked and corrupt. This idea of an absence of evil goes against the Manichaean dualistic idea that there are both good and evil principles in the world, and a substance is either good, and of God, or evil in nature. On the other hand, Augustine’s theology is based upon the goodness of God. The Bible in Genesis 1:31 states that “God saw all that he had made, and it was very good”, and according then to Augustine nothing, no evil “could invade [God’s creation] and break down the order which [God] have imposed on it” (Augustine 148).

Augustine believes that wickedness is perversion of the good, and the act of turning against God and his will. Therefore nothing is evil in nature, and further humanity, God’s creation, should not question the presence of evil in the world. For if we question the existence of evil we are essentially questioning God and his will. The question still remains however, why would God have such wicked things occur? The book of Job epitomizes this idea. Job loses all his possessions, his family, his health, etc. yet he will not turn away from God. Why would God allow Job do go through such suffering and persecution. Perhaps God is testing his faith, and Job will see his reward in the next life. The answer cannot be clear on an earthly level. There are many things we don’t know yet, and who are we to question God. Augustine would agree that there is a bigger picture and God’s will is far greater than the realm of our understanding (Augustine 154).

If one was to approach this idea from a modern society perspective, how are the atrocities of the Sudan genocide not evil? How are the people who have committed numerous murders, and raped many women not evil? Based on his theology, Augustine’s response to these questions is that these people were born and part of God’s creation and therefore cannot be inherently evil. So essentially they are all innately good, yet they demonstrate the idea of turning away from God’s will, and using their own will to pervert the good, and create wickedness.

For human’s it is hard to comprehend the idea that the cruelty is innately good. Yet this is just another aspect that contributes to the lack of understanding we have, and how much greater and wiser God is. Augustine convincingly explains that as human’s we are naive, we cannot question God and his will, and although it may seem obvious and certain that there are evil substances in the world, there is so much that we don’t know, and our God is good, and therefore his will and creation is good.