From the example of the illness given above it does seem logical to conclude that evil does not exist in itself but is merely the absence of something good. Yet if this is accepted one needs to ask where evil (corruption) first came from? As far as Augustine is concerned evil entered the world as a result of the wrong choices of free beings (free in the sense that there was no external force necessitating them to do wrong). Thus corruption occurred as a result of, 'A willful turning of the self in desire from the highest Good, which is God himself, to some lesser good' (Hick p.60). However, it is not the act itself which makes a being evil but the premeditated desire to do wrong (motive). When Adam took and ate the fruit from the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil (Genesis 3) this was not due to the temptation of Satan but because he already had a corrupted heart ('For when the will abandons what is above itself, and turns to what is lower, it becomes evil - not because that is evil to which it turns, but because the turning itself is wicked' (Hick quoting Augustine p.60)). Now within the Divine order of things the angels in heaven partake of the highest degrees of goodness yet Augustine believed that some of these also revolted against God before the creation of humanity. Thus there exists two rival camps in the heavens and the earth. One seeking to follow the ways of God (the City of God) and one seeking to follow their own desires (the City of the World) and here we have the foundation of Augustine's theodicy. God, although omnipotent, omniscient and all-good, and despite creating the world and everything in it good, is innocent when it comes to the presence of sin and evil in the heavens and the earth as this occurred as the result of God-given freedom of choice for both humanity and the angels. Furthermore, God's love is shown in that although all of humanity stands guilty before God (Romans 5) God will bring some to salvation (despite the fact that no-one deserves this 'act of grace').
Augustine believed that although the world looks imperfect to us this is because we look at things from a limited (or distorted) perspective. From the standpoint of God things are still good and even the apparent evil in the world contributes to bring about the perfection of the whole. In other words, all degrees of good and evil have a place within the Divine Will. Our concerns about imperfection and evil are merely relative to our own viewpoint ('the universe with its sinister aspect is perfect' (Hick p.84)). If this were not so then God's sovereignty would have to be questioned for events would have transpired to bring about that which is beyond God's control (or outside God's Will). For Augustine this would be anathema and his theodicy is designed to protect not only God's sovereignty but also God's perfect goodness. So, as far as the natural order is concerned, although it displays imperfection this is because the universe is ordered in such a way that the transitory (impermanent) nature of things is a part of the natural process of bringing forth new life.
However, if despite the appearance of evil the universe is in fact perfect, then does evil exist? Augustine's response would be "Yes!". Furthermore, moral evil, although brought about by the corruption of our will, does not upset the moral order of creation as sin will always be punished. Thus, 'A universe in which sin exists but is precisely cancelled out by retribution is no less good than a universe in which there is neither sin nor punishment' (Hick p.87). This means that although sin is a blemish on God's creation, the fact that it is punished means it also is used by God to further God's own purposes. However, this brings us to the notion that if God has pre-ordained sin to be a part of the world (and human experience) God is responsible for the presence of sin and moral evil in the world. Furthermore, despite that fact that within Augustine's theodicy God is sovereign, and that God has chosen (predestined) some of humanity to be saved, the vast majority of humankind is dammed and will remain a blemish in God's creation forever. So although Augustine denied that sin has an independent existence apart from God, and is merely the privation of the good, it seems in the end that evil does exist apart from God after all.
Augustine's theodicy has been largely adopted by the Western Church and has become the touchstone of orthodoxy with regard to addressing the problem of evil and suffering. But despite this it is not without its problems. For example, in critiquing Augustine John Hick argues whether an innately good creature is capable of sinning ('If the angels are finitely perfect, then even though they are in some sense free to sin they never will in fact do so' (Hick p.63))? If a perfect being sins then they were not created perfect in the first place and God is to be held responsible as their Maker. In response to this charge Augustine adopted a predestination view of the fall of the angels, and subsequently the fall of humanity. As far as Augustine is concerned God created us in the full knowledge that humanity would fall (sin) even though it was not God's desire for us to do so. So although God is our Maker (and the Maker of the heavens and the earth), and God knew we would fall, God is absolved from blame. As far as the angels are concerned Augustine is clear that God simply predestined some of them to fall ('... their blessedness was designed to come to an end' (Hick p.64)). Thus it was never God's intention that all the angels remain in a state of perfection. Yet if this is so then, as we discussed earlier, God is therefore responsible for the presence of evil in the world for on the one hand God created beings God knew would sin and on the other chose only some of the angels to remain good. Even more problematic for Augustine is that if God desired to keep some of the angels good (and did so), why didn't God desire all of them to remain good; and if God decided to save some of humanity (and has done), why doesn't God save all of humanity? The fact that God can do this for some invites us to ask why it has not been the case for all
