Augustine, evil and eternal damnation (oh so cheery)

First, I want to discuss Manichaeism, the dualistic theology that maintains that there are two opposing forces in the world of good and evil, with two ultimate creators. All that is good is created by God which manifests in the human spirit, while all that is evil is created by the Devil and gives the human body. Throughout life, there is a constant struggle between these forces, however ultimately the good is triumphant because the human body is finite and inferior to the spirit. As evil is the creation of the devil and not the product of free will, humans are not responsible for any evil they commit.

St Augustine was a believer in Manchaeism but rejected the religion after converting to Christianity and creating his Doctrine of Original Sin. He believed that God's creation was perfect and the existence of evil is as a result of the fall of Adam. For Augustine, evil is not an entity in of itself, but a privation, or lack, of the good (e.g. sight is good, therefore blindness/lack of sight is a privation of the good). When man was created they were given free will and it is the abuse of this free will that caused all of humanity to be enslaved by sin. 

According to Genesis, all moral evil is punishment for the disobedience of Adam and Eve:

To the woman he said,

“I will make your pains in childbearing very severe;

with painful labor you will give birth to children.

Your desire will be for your husband,

and he will rule over you.”

-Genesis 3:16

This reveals the introduction of pain and suffering to a previously untarnished paradise that will be passed down to the whole of humankind. The rest of humanity is said to be deserving of this punishment because we were seminally present in Adam, therefore we inherit his sin and are born even as children as wicked. 

This punishment for sin is never-ending because only a select few receive the virtue of the undeserved Grace of God and enter the kingdom of Heaven. The inescapable fate of eternal damnation is not constructive for theologians who wish to resolve the problem of evil, as Hell is eternally filled with evil and becomes in built into the structure of the Universe. God is seen to arbitrarily give Grace and allows the majority of humanity to suffer. It seems that an omniscient God who created the world with absolute power would have foreseen the Fall and prevented the introduction of suffering into the world. In addition, an omnibenevolent God should be understanding of the human condition (i.e. finitely imperfect) and forgive our sins.