 |
 |
 |
 |
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 God and His creation. To begin with, God
is the author of everything. Augustine says, 'nothing that exists could exist
without you [God]' (1.2). God is the creator and source of all things. Again '
. . . when He made the world He did not go away and leave it. By Him it was
created and in Him exists' (4.12). Nothing in this world exists apart from God.
Also, God is in control of everything in this world. 'Everything takes its
place according to your law' (1.7). Augustine clearly sets forth that God is
the creator and source of everything. Not only is He the source, but he is the
reason for its continued existence. The next step Augustine takes regards the
nature of God's creation.
For Augustine, God is good, because everything He made is good. 'You
are our God, supreme Good, the Creator and Ruler of the universe' (1.20), and
again, 'Therefore, the God who made me must be good and all the good in me is
His'(1.20). Everything about God is good. There is no aspect of Him that is
lacking, false, or not good. These characteristics are in turn transferred to
His creation. 'You, my God, are the source of all good'(1.6). However,
Augustine makes an important distinction regarding the creation of good and evil
when he says, 'O Lord my God, creator and arbiter of all natural things, but
arbiter only, not creator, of sin'(1.10). The question of what evil is, and
where it came from, still remains.
Augustine establishes that everything God made is good, and since God
made everything, everything must be good. He than asks where evil could have
come from. After all, evil did not come from God, it must have come from a
source other than God. If this true, then is it not so that God could have been
prevented evil from entering into the world as He is God? 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. '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, '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. '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 of
God and once establishing that there is good reason to believe He exists and HE
is good, then that produces a different ...
DIVORCE Divorce in General A divorce is a legal ending of a marriage. It occurs when two spouses feel that a legal separation is the only way to put an end to their problems such as, differences in goals, financial difficulties, or poor sexual relationships. Most countries including United States and Canada permit divorce only in certa...
Cigarette Kills We all, smokers as well as non-smokers, know smoking. Everyone has his own opinion about it and everyone can also speak about this problem aloud. This is why I have decided to explain my attitude to smoking. Me as a non-smoker strongly encourage people not to smoke and warm then with all the lethal consequences of smoking....
Have you ever sat and watched a football game and saw . Ever consider what they were doing an actual sport? Many people's answers to this question are porbably no, but in this essay I am going to explain why these people are wrong! According to the dictionary sport is defined as any recreational activity requiring bodily exertion. This is someth...
The Necessity Of Ethics In Business Ours is a business-centered society. ?No group in America is more influential than businessmen? (Baumhart xv). Their influence, for good or evil, enters every life and every home many times each day. If this influence is good, the nation is strengthened; if it is evil, the nation is weakened. Obviously...
The Prospect of Cold fusion In March of 1989, Drs. Martin Fleischmann and Stanley Pons first announced that they had discovered a way of producing heat from metals supersaturated with heavy water. Thus at the University of Utah, cold fusion was discovered. In the weeks following this announcement many other scientists tried to replicate t...
It is quite evident as you walk around the streets of almost any city or town in America that the line between what was once considered the black style of dress and the white styles has become less and less evident. This is especially true with the younger kids in junior high and high school. The baggy pants and shirts with labels and bright...
Body Modification in Today's Society Body Modification in Today's Society There is various aspects through which people, especially youth, identify themselves. People are always sending some sort of communication out at all times, whether it is subconscious or not. Images and styles are adopted which communicate meanings about the indiv...
Once someone said . And that person was right. In the modern time (now) the word enemy means: A hostile power or force such as a nation. As an example let's take the Middle East nations suck as Iraq. We can also be our own enemy. How? By testing nuclear devises or dispose of hazardous materials in the environment suck as potation. Why are we been...
Reporting today's Olympic games is like a technological masterpiece. The athletes compete in many events, their times and scores are tallied and sent worldwide by satellites and high-tech computers within seconds. Each event is carefully watched and recorded with a sense of history. There was no such sense of history or records when the first Game...
Summary on Latex Allergy in the Workplace (from JADA) Latex Allergy in the Workplace first talks about the background of the obvious problem of Latex allergy. Natural rubber latex is extracted from the milky sap of the rubber tree Hevea Braziliensis namely in Malaysia. The history of Latex gloves began over a hundred years ago. Th...
These days whenever you turn on the news, or pick up a newspaper, just about every time, you will hear something about the Muslims. Which would normally be a plus, but unfortunately that is not the case here. Anytime you hear the word Islam or Muslims you also you hear terrorist and bombings along with it. Islam is receiving a bad name all aroun...
The importance of human life, is really relative to the person is evaluating it. It differs from person to person. To me, I value life dearly, because everything which has happened to me is pleasant so far. But to some other people, it may not have been such an enjoyable experience. And in some cases, people change their view of human life, as...
Purchasing Power Parity and International Commodity Arbitrage Foreign Exchange Foreign exchange refers to two different things. The first is currency claims expressed in the equivalent value in foreign money. The second is actual transactions involving the conversion of money of one country into that of another. Foreign excha...
Relays Relay racing has two main components - sprinting and baton passing. Each is vital in helping a team win. The main idea is to run around the track, passing the baton from one runner to the next. The relay is primarily the only team event in all of track and field. Each team member must work together to achieve one common goal. Many...
