Augustine, perhaps the most important and most widely read Father of the Church, first became preoccupied with the problem of evil in his boyhood, and this preoccupation continued throughout his life. Augustine's ideas about evil were to mark out the boundaries of the problem for those who came after him; his influence was greater and more widespread than any other early Christian thinker and is still of importance both with those who agree with him and with those who do not. Augustine's personality, so loveably and intricately revealed in his Confessions, has always made him a figure of intense interest.

"A brilliant, stimulating, and engagingly written volume which loses nothing of its scholarly interest by its general appeal."

"Dr. Evans' book can be recommended to anyone seeking a way into the Augustinian world in general; and its epilogue, relating Augustine to the whole involved story of mediaeval and Reformation debates about evil, grace, and liberty, will be very valuable to the student of doctrinal history...[it] fills a notable gap in the literature."