St. Aureluis Augustine
(354-430), Bishop of Hippo (now Annaba, Algeria)Augustine -- God is not the author of the evil a man does though he is the author of the evil a man suffers.*---------------------
Evodius -- Is there some other author of the kind of evil which we do not attribute to the action of God?
Augustine -- There certainly is, for we cannot say that it happened without author. But if you ask who that is I cannot tell you. For there is no one single author. Every evil man is the author of his evil deeds. If you wonder how that is, consider what we have just said: evil deeds are punished by the justice of God. They would not be justly punished unless they were done voluntarily.
From, "On Free Will".
*Augustine's conception of evil might vary from that of the modern man. The evil that he says God does to evil men is only an execution of justice. Augustine rightly refuses to affirm that God ever commits or causes moral evil, even though He is often responsible for causing destruction, or has good reasons for allowing moral evil to be committed by other agents.
Although my Calvinist brothers claim Augustine for their own, he comes through for me in the clutch. Here we find him denying that God is the author of the evil a man does, a position contra modern compatibalist Calvinism. Moreover, he affirms that punishment is only just when the action being punished was committed voluntarily.
Before you jump to conclusions read the rest of his work, wherein he likes to do things such as solve Epicurus' puzzle. And remember that he is only here making relatively broad strokes, not trying to elaborate all at once on why destruction and evil often befall men who practice good deeds, or follow Christ. He also delves into the pathology of evil decisions, and the psychology of atheism.
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Also note that when he says that every evil man is the author of his evil deeds, he is not taking a position on tricky cases like when a mentally insane person commits a crime. In fact, his affirmation that acts which can be punished are those that are voluntary, distinguishes him from those who dogmatically assert that every individual is necessarily responsible for his actions, whether committed freely or not. So the bad parenting and abuse that drove a person mad consisted of most likely free actions, and will be punished by God. But as to the freedom of the crime itself, only God can judge the nuanced forces operating upon the criminals spirit.
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