Augustinian Theodicy

The Fundamental Principles of the Theory

As a theodicy, Augustine's work is designed to prove the existence of God even in the face of evil. He achieves this through a literal interpretation of Genesis; the first book of the Bible. 

• God created a perfect world ex-nihilo (out of nothing) - as opposed to ex-deo (out of God). He thenceforth cannot be held responsible for the subsequent corruption. He is the author of everything; and as Genesis 1 states "All God has made pleased him". This insinuates that the world was initially of perfect state. 
• Evil cannot be a substance because Augustine could not accept the idea that it would be created by God. He describes it as merely being the privation of goodness; in the same way that blindness can be defined as the privation of sight. 
• The principle which fundamentally accounts for the existence of evil is free will. This is what drove angels to fall from Heaven, and what accounted for the original sin. So, although humans are given the potential to worship God; they are equally able to abandon him, in the idolising of lesser goods. 
• All evil is accounted for by poor human moral choices, the fall and other free agents (i.e. angels). 
• As the story of Job suggests, we cannot comprehend the bigger picture - and the true purpose of evil.

Natural Evil

• We are largely to account for the existence of natural evil within the world, according to Augustine's theodicy. It exists largely due to poor moral choices; which have consequences such as global warming. As we are "seminally present in the loins of Adam" we are being blamed for the original sin; sufficiently, through natural evil. We also put ourselves in the way of natural evil, and thus are susceptible to its consequences.
• The fall destroyed the world's natural order and subsequently we are distanced from God. Natural evil is therefore much a consequence of the original sin. 
• Natural evil puts us in a position…