Kevin Kambo: Theories of Divine Punishment in Augustine’s City of God

Augustine’s treatments of praise and blame, reward and punishment are central to his ethics and are areas of perennial interest. Kent sees these themes as the starting point for understanding Augustine on the will. Still, Augustine’s position on punishment has been criticized as cruel (Kirwan) and simply wrong (Schilling) in giving priority to retribution. Burt, however, argues that Augustine’s main motives for punishment are “therapeutic and rehabilitative.” More work needs to be done, then, to appreciate the internal consistency of Augustine’s position.In this short communication, I focus on investigating City of God’s principle of retribution (XIV.15) or reciprocation (XXI.11), that those who do evil should suffer evil. I argue that the metaphysics and psychology of City of God allow us to interpret Augustine’s principle as a chiastic structure. An evil act is an act of rebellion against the providential order of the universe (and, therefore, against God); the evils suffered as punishment are principally a ‘recoil’ wherein creation reacts against the perpetrator. Thus, disordered agents, in a perverse imitation of the act of creation, generate the disorders that they suffer.Augustine’s theory of punishment is not mere 'payback', simply repaying evil for evil (as with revenge), nor even primarily remedial (hence he criticizes the therapeutic view of the Platonists for, inter alia, not being universally efficacious); it is a counterpart to his metaphysics of creation. Understood in this light we can then correctly connect it to his views on penance, forgiveness and mercy.