Early Christian Views on the Problem of Evil
Early Christians usually taught that evil comes from human choice, sin, and the devil, not from God’s own nature. Writers like Justin Martyr, Tatian, Archelaus, Novatian, Victorinus, and Lactantius argue that people are accountable for evil because they can choose good. They also say God is just, permits evil for a time, and will judge it. Some passages are about suffering or divine punishment, so the wording is not always the same, but the main line is clear.
129 early-church witnesses · 224 source quotations · compared with Scripture
What did early Christians believe about the Problem of Evil?
Early Christian writers mainly taught that evil is not God’s own work, but something that comes from free will, sin, and turning away from the good. Justin Martyr, Tatian, Archelaus, Novatian, Victorinus, and Lactantius all say people are responsible for evil choices, and several also blame the devil or evil spirits for leading people astray. A second strong line says God allows evil and judges it, but is still good and not the source of evil itself.
The evidence is broad across the 2nd and 3rd centuries, though some writings also use “evil” in other ways, like suffering, punishment, or the evil one, so the topic is mixed in wording even when the main teaching is clear. Many more early Christian quotations, Bible passages, and source links are gathered below so you can study the evidence for yourself.
Key Takeaways
- Early Christian writers commonly said evil comes from free will, not from God.
- Justin Martyr and Tatian connect evil with human choice and blame.
- Archelaus, Novatian, Victorinus, and Lactantius reject the idea that God is the author of evil.
- Many writers also say the devil or evil spirits play a real role in temptation and sin.
Questions Answered by the Sources
Did early Christians teach that evil comes from free will?
A major theme in the sources is that people are accountable because they can choose good or evil. Evil appears when a person wills what is wrong, turns from obedience, or fails to keep the law that was given.
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Justin Martyr, The First Apology Direct teaching
...g would be within our control. For example, if it were destined that one person be good and another evil, the first would not be deserving of praise nor the second deserving of blame. Furthermore, if humanity did not have the power to avoid evil and choose good through free will, they would not be responsible for their actions. We demonstrate that both virtuous and flawed actions are made by free choice. We observe people switching between good and bad behaviors. If it were destined for someone to be either good or bad, they would not be capable of such changes. Moreover, not everyone would be good or bad, as this would make fate responsible for evil and contradict itself; or it would imply that neither virtue nor vice truly exists, and that things are considered good or evil merely by opinion, which the truth reveals as the greatest impiety and wickedness. However, we assert that it is inevitable fate that those who choose good receive worthy rewards, and those who choose the opposite receive due consequences. Unlike trees or animals that cannot act by choice, God created humans with the ability to choose. Thus, a person is deserving of reward or praise for freely choosing good
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Justin Martyr, The First Apology Supporting witness
And again, unless the human race have the power of avoiding evil and choosing good by free choice, they are not accountable for their actions, of whatever kind they be.
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Tatian, Address to the Greeks Supporting witness
... will has destroyed us. We who were free have become slaves. We have been sold through sin. Nothing evil was created by God. We ourselves have shown wickedness. But we who have shown it are also able to reject it again.
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Novatian, Treatise Concerning the Trinity Direct teaching
.... And the things that are the work of a good Ordainer cannot be anything but good. Therefore, every evil is a departure from God. For it cannot be that He is the originator or architect of any evil work, He who claims for Himself the name of the Perfect, both Parent and Judge, especially since He is the avenger and judge of every evil work. Moreover, evil does not come to man from any other cause than by his departure from the good God. This very thing was shown in man, not because it was necessary, but because he himself willed it. From this it also plainly appeared what was evil. And lest there should seem to be envy in God, it was made clear from where evil had arisen. He, then, is always like Himself. Nor does He ever turn or change Himself into any form, lest by change He should seem to be mortal. For the change involved in turning from one thing to another is understood as a part of a certain death. Thus there is never in Him any addition or increase of any part or honor, lest anything should seem ever to have been lacking in His perfection. Nor does He suffer any loss, lest some degree of mortality should seem to have been suffered by Him. But what He is, He always is. An
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Methodius, From the Discourse on the Resurrection Supporting witness
but whatever failed to keep the law, which He in all justice ordained, after being made by Him with the faculty of free-will, for the purpose of guarding and keeping it, is called evil.
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Archelaus, Disputation with Manes Direct teaching
... its fruit. What do you say, then? From what time has this person been evil? An explanation of this problem seems necessary to us.” Manes said, “He has always been so.” Archelaus said, “Well then, from this very point I will also show, most excellent friends and most wise hearers, that his statement is not correct at all. For iron, to take an example, has not always been an evil thing, but only from the time of man’s existence, and since man’s skill turned it to evil by applying it to false uses. And every sin has come into existence since the time of man’s being. Even that great serpent himself was not evil before man, but only after man, in whom he showed the fruit of his wickedness, because he willed it himself. If, then, the father of wickedness appears to us after man has come into being, according to the Scriptures, how can he be unbegotten, when he has thus been made evil after man, who is himself a production? “But again, why should he show himself as evil just from the time when, on your supposition, he himself created man? What did he desire in him? If man’s whole body was his own workmanship, what was he longing for in him? For one who longs for or desires something,
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Archelaus, Disputation with Manes Supporting witness
For if man was his own, he was also evil himself, just as it holds with our illustration of the like tree and the like fruit;
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Novatian, Treatise Concerning the Trinity Supporting witness
but he was forewarned that evil would arise if perchance he should exercise his free will, in the contempt of the law that was given.
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Victorinus, Commentary on the Apocalypse Supporting witness
but he was forewarned that evil would arise if perchance he should exercise his free will, in the contempt of the law that was given.
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Lactantius, On the Anger of God Supporting witness
...authority and rule, and make use of all the benefits of the world. And yet God placed both good and evil things before him, since He gave him wisdom, whose whole nature is used to tell evil things from good. For no one can choose better things and know what is good unless he also knows how to reject and avoid the things that are evil. These two are connected to each other, so that if one is taken away, the other must also be taken away. Therefore, when good and evil things are placed before it, wisdom then finally does its work. It wants the good because it is useful, but rejects the evil for safety. Therefore, just as countless good things have been given for it to enjoy, so also evils have been given, against which it might guard itself. For if there is no evil, there is no danger, and in short, nothing that can harm man. Then all the material of wisdom is taken away, and wisdom will be unnecessary for man. For if only good things are placed in view, what need is there for thought, understanding, knowledge, or reason? Since whatever he reaches out his hand to will be fitting and suited to nature. So if someone were to place a most excellent dinner before infants who do not yet
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Lactantius, The Divine Institutes Supporting witness
Then man, having received the garment of immortality, will be wise and free from evil, as God is.
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Polycarp, Connection to 1 Thessalonians 5:22 Supporting witness
and that ye be chaste and truthful. "Abstain from every form of evil."
Did early Christians link evil to the devil?
Several sources connect evil deeds with the adversary, the devil, or evil spirits. The Bible texts in the set also say sin is of the devil and that the world lies in the power of the evil one.
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Cyprian, Epistles Direct teaching
For evil deeds do not come from the Holy Spirit, but from the prompting of the adversary, and lusts born of the unclean spirit constrain men to act against God and to obey the devil.
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Hippolytus, Refutation of All Heresies Supporting witness
... letters up and down, they have wandered into foolish trifles. For if they fail when presenting the problem, they say, "Perhaps this was not a family name, but one that was given," as they also argue in the case of the names Ulysses and Ajax. Who, taking his chance from this amazing philosophy and wanting to be called a heresiarch, would not be praised?
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Origen, Against Celsus Supporting witness
No one, moreover, who has not heard what is related of him who is called devil, and of his angels, and what he was before he became a devil, and how he became such, and what was the cause of the simultaneous apostasy of those who are termed his angels, will be able to ascertain the origin of evils.
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Ignatius of Antioch, Connection to John 8:44 Supporting witness
If any one preaches the one God of the law and the prophets, but denies Christ to be the Son of God, he is a liar, even as also is his father the devil, and is a Jew falsely so called, being possessed of mere carnal circumcision. If any one confesses Christ Jesus the Lord, but denies the God of the law and of the prophets, saying that the Father of Christ is not the Maker of heaven and earth, he has not continued in the truth any more than his father the devil, and is a disciple of Simon Magus, not of the Holy Spirit.
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Hippolytus, Refutation of All Heresies Supporting witness
Evil had no existence from the beginning, but came into being subsequently.
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John 8:44 Background
You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
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1 John 3:8 Background
He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.
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1 John 5:19 Background
We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.
Common Questions
Did early Christians think God created evil?
Most of these writers said no. They said God is good, while evil comes from human choice, sin, or the devil.
Did early Christians teach free will?
Yes. Justin Martyr, Novatian, Victorinus, and others say people can choose good or evil and are responsible for it.
Did early Christians blame the devil for evil?
Often yes. Several writers say the devil or evil spirits lead people into sin, even while people remain responsible for their choices.
Source Index for the Problem of Evil
The guided sections above show the strongest quotations. This compact index highlights 160 ranked source links from 224 compiled sources for deeper study.
Source index 160 ranked links shown
Early Christian Writings 80 shown of 129
Primary-source quotations from early Christian writers and church documents.
Bible Passages 80 shown of 95
Related Bible passages saved for comparison with the early Christian quotations.