Garces, Francis Jabez A.

12- Our Lady of Fatima

Religious Education 12

Concept of Good and Evil: Augustine of Hippo

There are different takes from different people on the concept of good and evil wherein

good is considered morally right and evil which is extremely immoral or wrong. One of the

philosophers that has his own concept on this matter is Augustine of Hippo. He was known as a

philosopher and theologian who is born in Roman Africa also known as Algeria. Augustine

proposed that “Evil could not exist within God, nor be created by God, and instead a by- product

of God’s creativity”. From this, he rejects the idea that evil exists in itself rather saying that it is

falling away from good and destruction of nature as well.

This concept or also known as the Augustinian theodicy symbolizes evil as not a

substance but rather a deprivation. An example of which is that he uses blindness being the

absence of sight. In addition, he also stated that evil was created elsewhere. With this, he thought

it originated from when Adam and Eve disobeyed God and ate the forbidden fruit. All the pain,

suffering, and evil has all been a punishment of our abuse of free will and trusting the serpent

over God. Also, the evil brought by Adam and Eve has affected us since we are all descended

from them.

A social relation in regards of the Augustinian theodicy is our own decisions that would

lead to the worst outcomes in the future. This includes our decision to choose our leader in the

country. As seen, the Filipino people have chosen the son of a dictator who is part of the horrid

days of martial law during the regime of his father who is Ferdinand Marcos. It seems that the

Filipinos have forgiven the Marcoses and have forgotten the horrible times during the 1970’s.
With this, what has happened before might happen again in this generation. As what Augustine

said, evil is a deprivation in which he associates it with blindness. The blindness of the people to

reject the truth and forget the past will lead to the downfall of the Filipinos and the country itself.

The concept of good and evil from the perspective of Augustine of Hippo has made me

realize and ponder that our own weaknesses which may include our decisions in life may be

considered as a downfall that may be passed towards other people. This may be considered as an

evil act and the pain and suffering will remain not only tow oneself but also to one’s people too.

The Augustinian Theodicy has made me realize that good and evil may be determined based on

what we decide which is why we should always think first either it is the best decision that could

lead to a better future for everyone.