Augustines god vs epictetus god

Leave a comment Augustine v. Aquinas Saint Augustine and Aquinas are both famously known for their philosophical and theological explorations, with Augustine writing in the late fourth to early fifth century and Aquinas in the thirteenth.

Existence of God The problem of evil refers to the challenge of reconciling belief in an omniscient, omnipotent, and omnibenevolent God, with the existence of evil and suffering in the world. If an omnipotentomnibenevolent and omniscient god exists, then evil does not. There is evil in the world.

Therefore, an omnipotent, omnibenevolent and omniscient god does not exist. This argument is of the form modus tollensand is logically valid: If its premises are true, the conclusion follows of necessity.

To show that the first premise is plausible, subsequent versions tend to expand on it, such as this modern example: God is omnipotent, omnibenevolent and omniscient. An omnipotent being has the power to prevent that evil from coming into existence.

An omnibenevolent being would want to prevent all evils. An omniscient being knows every way in which evils can come into existence, and knows every way in which those evils could be prevented.

A being who knows every way in which an evil can come into existence, who is able to prevent that evil from coming into existence, and who wants to do so, would prevent the existence of that evil. If there exists an omnipotent, omnibenevolent and omniscient God, then no evil exists.

Evil exists logical contradiction. Both of these arguments are understood to be presenting two forms of the logical problem of evil. They attempt to show that the assumed propositions lead to a logical contradiction and therefore cannot all be correct.

Most philosophical debate has focused on the propositions stating that God cannot exist with, or would want to prevent, all evils premises 3 and 6with defenders of theism for example, Leibniz arguing that God could very well exist with and allow evil in order to achieve a greater good.

Tulip vs Wesley

If God lacks any one of these qualities—omniscience, omnipotence, or omnibenevolence—then the logical problem of evil can be resolved. Dystheism is the belief that God is not wholly good. Evidential problem of evil[ edit ] William L. In the fire a fawn is trapped, horribly burned, and lies in terrible agony for several days before death relieves its suffering.

Both absolute versions and relative versions of the evidential problems of evil are presented below. A version by William L. There exist instances of intense suffering which an omnipotent, omniscient being could have prevented without thereby losing some greater good or permitting some evil equally bad or worse.

An omniscient, wholly good being would prevent the occurrence of any intense suffering it could, unless it could not do so without thereby losing some greater good or permitting some evil equally bad or worse.

Therefore There does not exist an omnipotent, omniscient, wholly good being. The hypothesis of indifference, i. Therefore, evidence prefers that no god, as commonly understood by theists, exists. Wild animal suffering The problem of evil has also been extended beyond human suffering, to include suffering of animals from cruelty, disease and evil.Conditional Election - God has chosen that all humanity be righteous by His grace, yet has called us to respond to that grace by exercising our God-restored human freedom as a condition of fulfilling election.

For Augustine, as for Benedict, as for all clear-minded Catholics, the human person faces tremendous obstacles in the effort to arrive at truth—that is, the mind’s conformity with reality.

Augustine maintains that in directing our love towards God we must rely on the teaching of authority not on our own darkened reason. The authority Augustine refers to is found in Christ’s commandment that we are "to love God with all our heart, all our soul, and all our mind.

AN EXPLANATION OF AUGUSTINE’S CONCEPTION OF THE CITY OF GOD, A DICHOTOMY BETWEEN THE HEAVENLY CITY AND EARTHLY CITY. St. Augustine was an influential philosopher who lived in the fourth and fifth century AD.

God does not participate in evil, God is perfection, His creation is perfection, stated Augustine. According to the privation theory, it is the absence of the good, that explains sin and moral evil.

[80]. These are not two sons of God, one God and the other man, but one Son of God--God without origin, man with a definite origin--our Lord Jesus Christ.

CHAPTER XI. The Incarnation as Prime Example of the Action of God's Grace.