In reading another section of this sermon I've come across some interesting notes about the usefulness of Heretics and a little bit on the Problem of Evil. First, onto the Heretics. Augustine writes "Odd thing, though. If we live piously, if we believe Christ, if we don't flop from the nest before we've learned to fly, then the Hecklers'll lead us - albeit unwittingly - to precisely where they don't want to go. That's to say, to the very mysteries they're trying to destroy" (Griffin, 19-20).
Now, Augustine was living in a very Christianized world. Of course Paganism hadn't been completely rooted out, but there were incredible amounts of heretical sects of Christianity around at the time that seemed only to want to argue with others about some of the mysterious natures of what it means to be a Christian. What Augustine is saying is that those heretics, whom he calls hecklers, are unwittingly leading the faithful (so long as they remain faithful) to a deeper understanding of Christ and God the Father. The Hecklers' arguments in effect force the faithful to retreat deeper into the mysteries of God to understand the points that the Hecklers are trying to jab them with. Of course some of these hecklers may be swayed by arguments by the faithful but others may not. These people aren't necessarily looking for answers, but are simply sitting in the seat of mockers - that is to say, they enjoy making others miserable to make themselves feel better. But, what Augustine is saying is that by jabbing at the faithful, God is using this evil to sharpen and draw the faithful closer to Him. (In essence He could also use the faithful to break the chains of bondage on the Hecklers, but sometimes people prefer their prison cells).
Today is a less Christianized world. The Hecklers might be heretical and lapsed Christians, combining the philosophies of the day with elements of the Christian faith or they might simply be avowed and evangelical atheists looking to destroy the mysteries of Christ. But, their purpose (and ours as the faithful) are thwarted and refurbished by God. While they seek to destroy, the faithful (as long as they remain faithful to Christ) will see the hecklers attacks turn into moments of deeper understanding of Christ and God the Father as they retreat into the Word to find the answers to these attacks. The skepticism of the world is not a sound argument against the faith, but serves as a prod to the faithful to understand the deeper mysteries of the faith. As was the case in the time of Augustine, God can use the faithful then as a means of breaking the bondage of the lapsed Christians or atheists and bring them into the fold of the faithful. But, also as was the case in the time of Augustine, the attacks of the hecklers will invariably lead the faithful into a deeper relationship with Christ.
This repurposing of the hecklers (be they atheist, heretic or something in between the two) by God to lead the faithful into a deeper relationship with Him is an interesting case study in the Problem of Evil. The attacks of the Hecklers are by definition, evil, in that they are aimed at separating man from God, which is the only Evil that exists. In essence, Evil is the separation of man and God though evil manifests itself in many ways. But though evil was the origin and the intent the outcome is turned into Good, that is to say, into a coming together of man and God among the faithful. This repurposing of Evil for Good is echoed throughout history and the Scriptures. In this particular sermon Augustine references Judas. Judas sold Jesus out and through the evil that Judas perpetuated the World was offered salvation through Christ.
Augustine resolves the problem of Evil in the case of Judas thusly, "God, therefore liberates the nations with His Suffering Son, and at the same time punishes Judas for his shameful crime" (Griffin, 20). He concedes that there are of course mysteries in this, but that "no one who has the least whiff of faith would get into an argument about them" (Griffin, 20).
So here then is the problem of Evil. If Evil exists then how can an all-Good, all-Powerful God also exist? Evil exists, therefore God cannot exist. Some have taken that evil is illusionary and resolved the problem of Evil. But, Evil is not illusionary as most human beings can easily attest to having been touched by Evil in various ways. The partial resolution of this paradox comes from the very fact that God repurposes Evil for good (proving both His goodness and His power). While this doesn't quite fully explain the existence of Evil it also shows that the paradox isn't quite as causally related, meaning that the existence of Evil doesn't negate the existence of an all-Good, all-Powerful God. It merely shows another mystery that the faithful would be wise to not argue about amongst themselves.
While it would certainly be better if Evil did not exist, the fact is that it does. Being all-powerful God can therefore repurpose the intent of the Evil done by the Evildoer. Being all-good, God therefore repurposes the Evil to achieve the ultimate Good, harmony and union with God.
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