The nature and origin of evil

For two things equal to each other in opposition will be entirely destructive of each other's constitution; and they will have and provide unceasing trouble, forever locked in war with one another. And if one of the opposing forces surpasses the other in power, it becomes entirely consuming of the one overcome. So if they say the opposition of evil to good is equally balanced, they introduce unending war and perpetual destruction, with each side conquering and being conquered in turn. But if the good surpasses in power, what is the reason that the nature of evil has not been completely destroyed? And if evil is unbegotten—which is not lawful to say—I wonder how they do not flee from themselves, submitting themselves to such unlawful blasphemies.

Nor is it pious to say that evil has its origin from God, because none of the opposites comes from its opposite. For life does not give birth to death, nor is darkness the source of light, nor is sickness the maker of health. In changes of conditions, the shifts are from opposites to opposites; but in origins, each thing that comes to be proceeds not from opposites but from things of the same kind. If then, someone says, evil is neither unbegotten nor made by God, where does it get its nature? For no one who shares in life will deny that evils exist. What then do we say? That evil is not a living and ensouled substance, but a disposition in the soul opposed to virtue, coming to be in the careless through the falling away from the good.

Do not then look for evil outside yourself; do not imagine some original nature of wickedness. Let each person recognize himself as the originator of his own vice. For of the things that happen to us, some come from nature, such as old age and weaknesses; some from chance, such as irrational misfortunes that befall us from outside causes, often gloomy or sometimes brighter—like the man digging a well finding treasure, or the man hurrying to the marketplace meeting a rabid dog. But some things are in our power, such as mastering desires or not restraining pleasures; such as holding back anger or laying hands on the one who provoked us; telling the truth or lying; being gentle and moderate in character, or puffed up and exalted by arrogance. Of these things, then, of which you yourself are master, do not seek their origins elsewhere, but recognize that evil properly so called has taken its beginning from deliberate falls. For if it were involuntary and not in our power, such great fear from the laws would not hang over wrongdoers, nor would the punishments of the courts be so inexorable, measuring out to criminals what they deserve.

Let this be said by me about evil properly so called. For sickness and poverty and dishonor and death, and all the sorrows of human life, are not yet worthy to be counted in the class of evils, because their opposites are not numbered among our greatest goods. Some of these come from nature, and some appear to have befallen many people for their benefit. So now, silencing every figurative and allegorical explanation for the present, let us receive the meaning of darkness simply and without over-elaboration, following the intention of Scripture.