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This paper examines the transformation of Augustine’s doctrine of free will and evil from his early work On the Free Choice of the Will to his mature work The City of God. While Augustine initially attributes the origin of evil to the misuse of human free will in order to defend God’s justice, this early position faces philosophical inconsistencies—especially regarding divine foreknowledge, the nature of free will, and its compatibility with grace. In The City of God, Augustine reformulates his position by emphasizing divine predestination and introducing a historical-philosophical framework, wherein God permits evil temporarily to fulfill a greater good in the divine order. The paper argues that this doctrinal evolution reflects not only Augustine’s polemical and exegetical needs, but also an inherent philosophical movement toward greater internal coherence. Nevertheless, Augustine’s mature doctrine also raises new theological and existential dilemmas, such as the limited scope of salvation and the burden of moral uncertainty under predestination.
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