Does evil have a cause? Augustine's perplexity and Thomas's answer.

From: The Review of Metaphysics | Date: December 1, 1994| Author: | Copyright information

Thomas Aquinas holds that evil is caused accidentally by a defect of will that is voluntary, but not in itself a sin. His conception essentially follows the approach of Greek philosophy that sees evil as error, an intellectual approach that does not seem to do justice to the radical possibilities for evil. Augustine's approach of admitting that evil cannot be understood seems more appropriate. Kierkegaard suggests as well that philosophy is unable to account for evil; divine revelation is needed to explain how sin is not an accident but the result of a defiant will.

IN THE DISCUSSION on ...

Read all of this article with a FREE trial to HighBeam Research

Related newspaper, magazine, and trade journal articles from HighBeam Research

(Including press releases, facts, information, and biographies)

Overcoming Sin: We do wrong when we pridefully put ourselves in the place of God. What the world's great religions teach us about the origins of evil--and how believers can escape its costly grip.(National Affairs)
; ...retribution as if he were God himself. In this view, evil acts are born of inordinate...and light, the other the god of evil, chaos and the dark. All...that is Allah; avoiding evil means asserting the oneness of God and rejecting every form...
The Problem of Evil
; ...knowledge of good and evil. One might think, if they actually obeyed God's orders, they would...is the creator of evil. Theologians have...the admission that God, not human sin, is...of predestination, God is even responsible for human evil. As creator of every...
Wrestling with evil.(The Home Forum)(Today's Article On Christian Science)
; ...t be shocking that evil is horrible. After all, God isn't in it. Evil is the absence of goodness...question: O Lord my God, hast thou also brought evil upon the widow with...case, the presence of God destroyed, eradicated, evil and its effect. Jesus...
Faith and Reason: God's plan will explain all evil
; IN THINKING about God and evil, the basic question is a quite simple...accounts of the relation between God and evil make a distinction between natural...or to fold them, in the face of evil. The Creator - God, the God who is lord of all, is nevertheless...
How God became evil
; ...Jerusalem Post 02-11-2005 Headline: How God became evil Byline: YEHUDA KURTZER Edition...have effectively come to worship evil, God - in His desire to be at one with...providing God's autobiography and how God became evil, he disentangles God from the biblical...
Evil: A Historical and Theological Perspective
; ...an active opposition to God constituting a kingdom of evil, and that this opposition...rejection of the view that God brings about evil. It is, however in relation...power (which implies that God must be the cause of evil). Saying that no complete...
The Conundrum of Evil.(Evil in Modern Thought: An Alternative History of Philosophy by Susan Neiman)(Book Review)
; ...Ultimately, the purpose of evil was to drive us to...repentance and reliance on God. When men or devils...torments of the damned. Evil, whether natural or...Christian dogma concerning God. If God is benevolent...be better made. If God is omnipotent, He...the understanding of ...
RABBI PONDERS OLD QUESTION: WHY DOES GOD ALLOW EVIL?
; ...OLD QUESTION: WHY DOES GOD ALLOW EVIL? By LAWRENCE TROSTER...wanted to know why there is evil in the world. If God is all good and all powerful...stop great acts of human evil? If our religious traditions proclaim that God brought about great salvational...
Facing evil: Evil's many faces
; Five Paradigms for Understanding Evil God saw everything that [God] had...theodicy, for a justification of God's relationship to evil that allows the sufferer to hope...Theodicy, the justification of God's relation to evil that in a sense domesticates...
Defending God: Biblical Responses to the Problem of Evil
; Defending God: Biblical Responses to the Problem of Evil by James L Crenshaw Oxford...assume the presence of evil, either God is not powerful enough...sought to suppress: "Is God to blame for the evil in the world?" and "Is...