Why Does Evil Exist If God Is Good?
Augustine of Hippo asked why we do what we know is wrong, why nothing ever satisfies us, and where evil comes from if God is good. This episode tells the complete story of the philosopher who shaped Western thought more profoundly than almost any other figure. It follows Augustine from his African childhood to the streets of Carthage, through nine years with the Manichaeans, to the garden in Milan where everything changed. The episode explores his revolutionary ideas: evil as the absence of good, the will divided against itself, time existing only in the mind, memory as a palace larger than the world, grace that breaks chains human effort cannot loosen, and the two cities built on two loves that have been at war since the beginning of history. It also confronts the difficult dimensions of his legacy, including his teachings on predestination, original sin, and the endorsement of coercion against religious dissenters.
