Augustine, the fourth-century Christian philosopher, is perhaps best-known for his spiritual autobiography Confessions. Two aspects of the problem of evil are arguably critical for comprehending his life in Books 1 through 9 of the work. His search for the nature and origin of evil in the various philosophies that he encounters (the intellectual aspect) and his struggles with his own weaknesses (the experiential aspect) are windows for understanding the actual dynamics of his sojourn. I defend the idea above by providing a fuller examination of the key role that both aspects play in his spiritual journey. Examining relevant events from Augustine's life chronologically, I analyze his philosophical wanderings from his encounter with Cicero's work Hortensius through his eventual disillusionment with the Manichaean religion, and finally, his move in the direction of Christian teachings with the help of Neo-Platonism. Along the way his philosophical questions (the intellectual aspect) and his struggles with his own depravity (the experiential aspect) have an effect on each other until his ultimate move toward Christianity resolves both problems of evil.

Several commentators make the claim that Augustine is not a systematic thinker. The purpose of this thesis is to refute that claim in one specific area of Augustine's thought, the metaphysical foundations underlying his solutions to the problem of evil. Through an exegetical examination of various works in which Augustine writes on evil, I show that his solutions for both natural and moral evil rely on a coherent metaphysical system, conceived of and expounded upon within a Platonically influenced Christian context.

Thesis (M.A.)--Missouri State University, 2008. / "May 2008." Includes bibliographical references (leaves 93-96). Also available online.

Thesis (Th. M.)--Dallas Theological Seminary, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves [56]-68).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Graduate Theological Union, 1983. / Includes bibliographical references (p. [928]-537).

Zugl.: Berlin, Freie Univ., Diss., 2005/2006

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Baylor University, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 190-212).

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:23:36Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2011-03-22Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T20:30:27Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 terra_r_me_mar.pdf: 9152143 bytes, checksum: cc95145c6e50aab382df89e4f0a2a7d7 (MD5) / O presente trabalho propõe uma interpretação do campo religioso brasileiro, a partir do kardecismo e sua teodiceia. Essa abordagem se justifica devido aos elevados índices de supostos adeptos da reencarnação apresentados por pesquisas de opinião pública no Brasil, à intensa exposição da cosmologia kardecista na mídia e ao fato do país ser o centro de propagação do espiritismo. O ponto de partida é o permanente debate entre teóricos da religião sobre os eventuais processos de secularização e desencantamento das sociedades contemporâneas. Ao se demonstrar uma série de evidências históricas relativas aos hibridismos e adaptações religiosas no Brasil colonial, foi possível relacionar a tendência atual de religiosidade “descentralizada e errante” com a modernidade e as tradições locais. O segundo passo desta pesquisa visa investigar o surgimento da doutrina espírita no século XIX, a metodologia adotada pelo codificador Allan Kardec na organização de suas obras, a teodiceia kardecista fundamentada na noção de carma e a trajetória de perseguições e adequações religiosas do espiritismo no Brasil. Ao sugerir o pressuposto teórico de continuum elaborado por Camargo para definir o universo das religiões mediúnicas no Brasil, pondera-se que a teodiceia kardecista centrada no evolucionismo e na reencarnação, tem como função racionalizar o segmento espírita. No entanto, a descentralização do kardecismo ortodoxo e a fluência de sua teodiceia entre movimentos dissidentes indicariam sua reinterpretação tanto em âmbitos seculares como religiosos. Essas tendências, provavelmente, estariam contribuindo para a expansão da cosmologia espírita e o aumento de adeptos da reencarnação no Brasil. A título de exemplo, foi analisada a “noção de pessoa” na Projeciologia, uma paraciência sistematizada por um ex-espírita, o médico Waldo Vieira. / This dissertation proposes an interpretation of the Brazilian religious scenario, from Kardecism and its theodicy on. Such an approach is justified due to the the high rates of presumed believers in reincarnation shown in public opinion poles in Brazil, to the vivid exposure of the Kardecist cosmology in the media, and to the fact that Brazil is the center of dissemination of spiritism. The point of departure is the continuing debate among religious theoriticians about the contigent secularization processes and the disenchantment of contemporary societies. After showing a series of historical evidence concerning hybridisms and religious adaptations in colonial Brazil, it was possible to relate the current trend of “decentralized and astray” religiosity with modernity and local traditions. The second step of this research aims at investigating the emergence of the spiritist doctrine in the 19th century, the approach used by its codifier, Allan Kardec, in the organization of his works, the Kardecist theodicy based on the concept of the karma and the course of harassments and religious adaptations of spiritism in Brazil. By proposing a theoretical presupposition of continuum developed by Pedro de Camargo in order to define the universe of mediumistic religions in Brazil, one ponders that in Kardecist theodicy centered on evolutionism and on reincarnation is intended to rationalize the spiritist segment. However, the decentralization of the orthodox Kardecism and the fluency of its theodicy among dissident movements might indicate its reinterpretation both in the secular and religious fields. Such trends would probably contribute to the development of the spiritist cosmology and to an increase in the number of believers in reincarnation in Brazil. On pretence of providing an example, one carried out an analysis of the “concept of person” in Projeciology, a systematized... (Complete abstract click electronic access below)

No abstract available / Systematic Theology and Ethics / D. Th.(Systematic Theology)

Summaries in English and Afrikaans / Text in Afrikaans / Die boek Job verwerp vergelding as enigste verklaringsbeginsel van goed en kwaad, maar sluit vergelding en beloning nie heeltemal uit nie: Onmiddellike straf op sonde is onversoenbaar met God se genade, maar indien daar volhard word in kwaad, sal God dit uiteindelik straf net soos Hy uiteindelik die goeie beloon. Die klem op 'n histories-kritiese uitleg van die boek Job, het in die verlede daartoe gelei dat die moontlike literere eenheid van die boek dikwels uit die oog verloor is. Hoewel die boek sander enige twyfel saamgestel is uit verskillende bronne, impliseer dit nie noodwendig dat die auteur nie sy bronne tot 'n sinvolle geheel gei'ntegreer het nie. Die boek Job toon tekens dat dit hoofsaaklik die werk van een auteur was wat sy. bron(ne) net as 'n vertrekpunt gebruik het, maar nogtans 'n heeltemal nuwe werk gekomponeer het met 'n basiese eenheid in struktuur en inhoud. Histories-kritiese eksegete beskou gewoonlik die redevoerings met die drie vriende en die Godsrede as 'n eenheid, maar beskou die raamvertelling en die Elihu-rede as afsonderlike bronne met 'n eie siening van die teodisee-probleem. Die boek Job moet egter as 'n literere-eenheid verstaan word, met 'n enkele geintegreerde standpunt oor die teodisee-probleem. Die raamvertelling kan in sy huidige vorm slegs in samehang met die poetiese deel verstaan word en hied nie 'n afsonderlike siening oor die teodisee-probleem nie. Die Elihu-karakter vervul 'n antler funksie in die boek as Job se drie vriende. Die Elihu-rede vorm 'n hegte eenheid met die res van die boek en hied 'n inleiding tot die Godsrede. Die Godsrede kan gebruik word as 'n samevatting van die Job-auteur se standpunt oor die teodisee-probleem. / The book Job rejects retribution and reward as the only principle for explaining good and evil, but acknowledges it's existence: Immediate punishment for sinning can not be reconciled with the love of God, but repeated wrongdoing will ultimately be punished by God, just as the good will be rewarded. In the past the emphasis on a historical critical explanation of the book Job, possibly caused that the literary entity of the book was overlooked. Even though the book is definitely compounded from different sources, it doesn't necessarily mean that the author did not integrate these sources to a meaningful entity. There are certain aspects in the book that indicate that the book was written by one author who used his source(s) as a basis, from which he created a new narrative. In this new creation, the contents and structure of all parts form a basic entity. Historical critical exegetes usually see the speeches of Job's three friends and the Lords' Speeches as an entity. The framework and the Elihu speeches though, are seen as coming from different sources with it's own view on the problem of theodicy. The book Job must, however, be seen as a litermy entity with one integral viewpoint on the problem of theodicy. Although Elihu plays a different role from that of the three friends of Job, his speeches are tightly interwoven with the rest of this book and he can be seen as the forerunner of the Speeches of the Lord. The Speeches of the Lord can be used as a summary of the author's viewpoint on the problem of theodicy. / Th.D.(Old Testament)