There are many objective truths that exist in the world. Among them is one that has been torturing the depths of man for centuries. This is the fact that there is great pain and suffering. How does a God that represents the supreme good allow evil to exist? If he is good and all that he creates is good then how can evil be so widespread. This is an extremely important aspect of the characteristic of God for if God were able to create evil than people would lose their motive to pursue the good. Even Plato contended that this is imperative to a proper education in the belief of good (Plato, 379c) Saint Augustine, who was a pivotal figure in merging Greek philosophy with Judeo-Christian tradition presents a good argument for the justification for evil, however it is somewhat flawed. It is out of this flaw that comes a reconciliation to justify the evil that does prevail in this world and maintain God's supreme good.
             Augustine's argument against the fact that a supremely good God could allow evil to exist focuses on the fact that evil does not exist. Corruption harms by diminishing the good, otherwise no harm would be done. So Augustine states that all things that are corrupted suffer privation of some good. (Augustine, VII.xii(18)) He then says that if they were to be deprived of all good they would not exist at all, for if they did exist and were immune from corruption they would be superior because they would be permanently incorruptible. (Augustine, VII.xii(18)) So evil doesn't exist because it is ridiculous to think that something losing all good should be made better. However Augustine's argument is eristic in that it is conditional. It is conditional on the fact that to be incorruptible is always better than to be corruptible. In nature the fact that incorruptible is always better is found to be erroneous. This is illustrated by the evolution of organisms. We can say that with regards to being ...