Free Will and Theodicy in Augustine: An Exposition and Critique

Abstract

Not only for Augustine, but for virtually all Christian theologians, the doctrine of free will is of critical importance for theodicy. The reason for this is easy to state: these theologians trace either all (as in the case of Augustine) or much evil to human sin, which in turn is understood as an abuse of the free will with which human beings were endowed by their Creator. Augustine sums it very well: ‘… all that we call evil is either sin or punishment for sin’. The argument of this paper is that, unfortunately, Augustine's statements about free will are not adequate to the great theological burden placed upon them. Such a critical judgement is of considerable consequence for Christian theology generally, since Augustine exercised such an enormous formative influence upon later thinkers.