What do you think about this teaching of St. Augustine's about good and evil: "is there really evil in the world or is there really just a lack of good?" If this is true, then does God admit to heaven someone who is simply less good than someone else?

Dear Sam,

St. Augustine answers that evil is not a being in itself. For instance blindness is not a being. It is a lack of or privation of sight in the eye which should have sight if it is a good eye. Similarly pride is not a being. It is a lack or privation of humility which should be in the soul. Now there are degrees of humility. Thus there are degrees of goodness. There are many degrees of goodness in heaven.

Dr. Geraghty

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