Here is a conversation between Jimmy Stephens and some random person on the Privation theory of evil.
Jimmy Stephens:
The privation theory of evil is useless here. What Tyler intends to be a problem in the status is unaffected by saying evil is a privation of good.
Like, okay great, but that *positive state* of lacking good is just then the issue.
This is ironically like defining atheism as lack of belief. It’s frustratingly irrelevant.
the privation theory is a half-right attempt to avoid a non-problem of God “creating” evil. Well, if we didn’t follow Aquinas’ bastardized Aristotelianism, God “creating” evil isn’t a problem to solve in the first place.
this isn’t a “bastardizing of aristotle” by Aquinas but a view held by the church fathers like Gregory of Nyssa and Augustine lol.
If evil is a thing it is created. It has a form which it conforms too. It has substance. It has parts. It has accidental qualities.
All things you have to wrecked with.
Jimmy Stephens:
no, it does not follow that because evil is created said metaphysical baggage is on board. It only follows *if* you use the same hylomorphic or Platonic views Aquinas and Augustine laid out.
Evil is a thing. It *is* created. But it’s not an essence or a substance or teleologically natural, so that’s no threat to Christianity.
Random Guy:
we’ve gone from a bastardization of aristotle to blaming Plato.
Please keep your story straight lol.
Sin isn’t a thing and the Bible uses privation language to describe it. I’m sorry to disappoint.
“really it’s all Socrates fault asking all those questions”
Jimmy Stephens:
bastardization of Aristotle is hylomorphic, so… Augustine wasn’t a Thomist, so of course I bring up a more relevant influence: Platon. Not sure how that’s failing to keep my story straight.
The claim that sin isn’t a thing is very hard to line up with the fact that the Bible talks about it that way from page one to the end.
Random Guy:
unrighteousness. Trespass. Unholiness.
Falling short of the glory of God
Jimmy Stephens:
What is a trespass is except the following *thing*: an act out of accord with some law?
What is unholiness except carnality, wordliness, etc?
Sure, evil is unrighteousness the same way that a room’s darkness is unlit and sin is falling God’s glory short in the same way that a kid who jumps 9ft doesn’t jump 10ft.
You’re just giving words for *things* and then pretending I should be just as confused as you are about them that they’re not things.
Guys, existence is now not a thing. It’s just the lack of nonexistence.
I’m a genius.
Random Guy:
unholiness is a lack of holiness. To trespass is to refuse to keep the law. It is a privation of law keeping.
The effect of lacking holiness is carnality and wickedness. Just like the effect of lacking sight is not being able to see. L
It’s not confusing and you should not be confused by it.
existence is a thing, it’s the state of being when it is United to an essense.
if you want to get really technical about what existences is, God is existence
Jimmy Stephens:
Nothing you said contradicts my positive characterizations of sin. You’re just using words to speak negatively.
Cool. I can play wordgames too. Existence is a lack of nonexistence.
I note that my point about the positive characterizations being in Scripture and conceptually indispensable went unaddressed and instead we got unintelligible Aristotelian nonsense about God being the thing everything that exists is.
Random Guy:
God exists so existence cannot be non existance.  these are not word games but realities.
All things get their existence from God himself who is existence. His essence is existence. Sin cannot exist or else God gives it existence at every moment and as such is the author of sin.
The fact that you decide not to take the conversation. Seriously does not belay the fact that it is a serious conversation.
Jimmy Stephens:
God is the author of sin in the sense that He gives it existence. Nothing unfortunate follows from that unless you believe in pagan metaphysics wed to Christian religion.
Random Guy:
oh yes, dismissing things as nonsense as an argument. I was supposed to address that?
if you believe God is the author of sin then I don’t think we have much more to discuss
Jimmy Stephens:
so now you haven’t address my point about positive characterizations of sin, you misrepresented me as saying existence is nonexistence, and you have confused Thomism (one take on theism) with the whole house of Christendom for the dozenth time.
Further Recommendations:
https://spirited-tech.com/2022/09/04/does-evil-exist/
The Council 