Date of Award

2024

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

College

Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary

Program

Religion, Theological Studies PhD

First Advisor

John C. Peckham

Second Advisor

Roy E. Gane

Third Advisor

John W. Reeve

Abstract

Augustine of Hippo’s Privatio Boni concept—the idea that evil is not a substance, but the privation of good in a substance—is the most influential early systematic theodical attempt within Christianity to exculpate a good God from responsibility for evil. By approaching Privatio Boni as the intricate interplay of Augustine’s views on evil, ontology, and Scripture, this dissertation aims to clarify misunderstandings surrounding the concept and determine if there is biblical warrant for it. Chapter 1 addresses issues of background, problem, purpose, and justification before introducing a delimited three-staged methodology of establishing context, engaging in diachronic analysis, and conducting a comparative study.

Chapter 1 also establishes a historical-contextual benchmark by analyzing Augustine’s autobiographical Confessions to reveal the basic contours of Privatio Boni with its chronological and logical order of Ontology—Evil—Scripture. Proceeding diachronically, Chapters 2, 3, and 4 examine the evolution of Augustine’s privative understanding of evil relative to that benchmark by thoroughly mining the entire extant corpus of his works, sermons, and letters for relevant data throughout six periods of historical and theological development. More specifically, Chapter 2 investigates his time as a freshly converted Christian lay person, Chapter 3 as a newly ordained priest and bishop, and Chapter 4 as an established and influential leader in the Catholic Church. This extensive diachronic analysis demonstrates that Augustine bolstered his extrabiblically- originated ideas with three biblical proof-texts in support of privative ponerology (Genesis 1:2-4, Genesis 1:31, and Isaiah 45:7), one text in support of timeless divine ontology (Exodus 3:14), and one text in support of ecclesiastically-mediated epistemology (Isaiah 7:9).

In order to ascertain the probability of biblical warrant for Privatio Boni based on Augustine’s interpretation of these Bible texts, Chapter 5 compares his interpretation with a sampling of interpretations by more recent scholars who utilize historical-textual hermeneutical methods. Chapter 6 summarizes the findings of the dissertation, draws conclusions and makes recommendations for further study.

Subject Area

Augustine, of Hippo, Saint, 354-430; Good and evil; Theodicy; Ontology

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