Sin as the Absence or Corruption of Good: Augustine’s Timeless Insight

The Augustinian View of Sin: A Corruption of What Is Good

Augustine of Hippo (354–430 A.D.) developed one of the most influential understandings of sin in the history of Christian theology. For him, sin is not a “thing” or substance in itself but rather the privation or corruption of what is good. This view draws deeply from both Scripture and philosophy, especially his interaction with Neoplatonism, and has shaped Western theology ever since.

Sin Is Not a Substance

Augustine argued against the Manicheans, who taught that evil was an eternal, independent force opposing good. For Augustine, this created a theological problem because it seemed to make evil co-eternal with God. Instead, Augustine insisted that only God is eternal and good, and all creation, as Genesis 1 affirms, was made good. Therefore, sin cannot be a substance; it cannot exist on its own apart from good. Rather, it is the misuse or twisting of something originally created good.

Sin as Privation (Privatio Boni)

Augustine used the Latin phrase privatio boni (“privation of good”) to describe sin. Just as darkness is not a substance but the absence of light, so too sin is not a created thing but the lack or corruption of goodness. Every act of sin involves the will choosing a lesser good over a greater good, or turning away from God, the highest good (summum bonum), toward something lower. For example, lying corrupts the good gift of speech; lust corrupts the good gift of human desire; pride corrupts the good order of love by putting the self in God’s place.

The Role of the Will

For Augustine, the essence of sin lies in the disordered will. Sin is not merely a mistake or weakness but the willful turning away from God toward the self or created things. In his Confessions, Augustine described sin as amor sui usque ad contemptum Dei—“the love of self even to the contempt of God.” By contrast, righteousness is amor Dei usque ad contemptum sui—“the love of God even to the contempt of self.”

Implications of Augustine’s View

1. God remains sovereign and good. Since sin is not a substance, God is not the author of evil. He created everything good.

2. Sin is parasitic. It cannot exist on its own but only as a corruption of what God has made.

3. Redemption is restorative. Salvation is not the destruction of creation but its renewal—restoring what was corrupted to its intended goodness in Christ (Romans 8:21).

Biblical Grounding

• Genesis 1:31 – God saw all that He had made, and it was “very good.”

• Romans 7:18-19 – Paul laments the struggle of the will: the good he wishes to do, he does not do.

• John 3:19 – People loved darkness rather than light, showing sin as a turning away from what is good.

👉 In summary: For Augustine, sin is not a “thing” God created, but a privation of good, a corruption of the created order through the misdirection of the will. It is parasitic on what God has made and ultimately healed only by God’s grace in Christ.