I'm about halfway through Augustine's magnum opus, The City of God, and will be posting a very small sampling of his brilliant quotes, along with some occasional commentary. Here are a pair of resonant thoughts from book 11:
"For God would never have created any... man, whose future wickedness he foreknew, unless He had equally known to what uses in behalf of the good He could turn him, thus embellishing the course of the ages, as it were an exquisite poem set off with antitheses."
"...There are, forsooth, many things, such as fire, frost, wild beasts, and so forth, which do not suit but injure this thin-blooded and frail mortality of our flesh, which is at present under just punishment. They [certain pagans] do not consider how admirable these things are in their own places, how excellent in their own natures, how beautifully adjusted to the rest of creation, and how much grace they contribute to the universe by their own contributions as to a commonwealth; and how serviceable they are even to ourselves, if we use them with a knowledge of their fit adaptations -- so that even poisons, which are destructive when used injudiciously, become wholesome and medicinal when used in conformity with their qualities and design; just as, on the other hand, those things which give us pleasure, such as food, drink, and the light of the sun, are found to be hurtful when immoderately or unseasonably used. And thus divine providence admonishes us not foolishly to vituperate things, but to investigate their utility with care; and, where our mental capacity or infirmity is at fault, to believe that there is a utility, though hidden, as we have experienced that there were other things which we all but failed to discover. For this concealment of the use of things is itself either an exercise of our humility or a leveling of our pride; for no nature at all is evil, and this is a name for nothing but the want of good."
Whenever discussing the "problem" of evil, which I keep putting in quotes because it's only a problem when we doubt God's perfection, it is critically important to distinguish between acts that are evil for man to perpetrate and events that we perceive as evil in the grand scheme of God's plan. In the first category, these acts are only evil because they violate God's commands to men, and therefore do not cast any aspersions on His own holiness. And Augustine, with his observations on fire, poison, etc. shows why the latter type of "evil" is really a flaw in our own perception rather than in God's creation.
Thinking of world chronology as God telling a story about Himself helps to illustrate how both types of "evil" can be rightly understood as the antitheses that Augustine talks about in the first quote above. Regardless of our perception of evil acts and tragic events, God causes all of them to work together for His Divine plan (Gen. 50:20) and for the good of those who love Him (Rom. 8:28).
12 years ago
2 comments:
"...Augustine, with his observations on fire, poison, etc. shows why the latter type of "evil" is really a flaw in our own perception rather than in God's creation."
This reminds me of the way some people look at things like gun control. Guns are viewed as evil because the universal idea is that guns do bad things, i.e.- perception is flawed.
What you have quoted of Augustine sounds very similar to Calvin in style and passion. I can definitely see the relationship there, as you had mentioned to me before, of Augustine's impact on Calvin.
Aye, I've heard it observed that the system of theology nick-named "Calvinism" would have been called "Augustinianism" if the latter weren't so cumbersome.
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