Evil Is Real, and It Is Nothing: A Biblical-Augustinian Fusion Against Humanistic Distortion

Scripture Does Not Speak Softly About Evil

The Bible never treats evil as illusion, metaphor, or mere perspective. From the opening chapters of Genesis, evil stands as a concrete, objective force that corrupts and destroys. “The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time” (Genesis 6:5). This is not hyperbole; it is divine diagnosis.

Human Goodness, Corruption, and the Prideful Quest for Divine Recognition

In an era dominated by psychological self-help and therapeutic culture, the privation theory of evil offers a profoundly appealing but flawed vision of humanity.

A Reflection on Evil, Privation, and the Cry of the Cross

Jesus’ words from the cross cut through every tidy explanation of suffering. They are not the complaint of a man who made poor choices. They are the anguished cry of the sinless Son of God, nailed to wood by the collective evil of humanity, abandoned in a way none of us will ever fully grasp.

Augustine maintained that all creation is inherently good (omnia bona) because it proceeds from a perfectly good Creator (Confessions VII.12; City of God XI.21). Evil, therefore, has no ontological status; it is a defect, like blindness in an eye or rust on iron.

Although Augustine ultimately rejected Manichaean dualism, its influence lingered in his language, psychology, and metaphysics for years. This essay traces that influence across his career, showing how he gradually replaced a cosmic conflict of substances with a Christian doctrine of evil as privatio boni (privation of good), original sin, and divine grace. The analysis draws on Augustine’s own reflections in his Retractationes (Reconsiderations), where he critiques and corrects his earlier statements.

From the Intimate Struggles of Confessions to the Cosmic Drama of The City of God

Augustine of Hippo (354–430 CE) wrestled with the problem of evil more persistently and profoundly than many thinkers in the Christian tradition. His theodicy, the effort to reconcile evil’s existence with God’s goodness and omnipotence, did not emerge fully formed but developed across decades of intellectual, spiritual, and personal upheaval.