1.1 The problem of evil

Question 1

What is the main blame for natural evil/disasters?

Answer 1

• God because an omnipotent God should be able to control forces of nature especially since most Christians believe He created laws of nature.

Question 2

Why is natural evil difficult for Christians to understand?

Answer 2

• God uses natural evils to punish people e.g. the plague to persuade the Pharaoh to free the slaves.
• However it can be debated that these are interpretations of events and not literally true.

Question 3

What are reasons of natural & moral evils?

Answer 3

• Moral evils are always human caused.
• Natural evil isn’t always human, but some natural events have been worsened by humans e.g. global warming.

Question 4

Why is natural evil difficult to understand in the New Testament?

Answer 4

• Jesus performs beneficial miracles over the world of nature e.g. curing the blind.
• God controlled natural evils 2,000 years ago (but He doesn’t now).

Question 5

What may theists say about suffering?

Answer 5

• It will eventually lead to the perfect harmony of life in heaven.

Question 6

How can moral & natural evil combine to cause suffering?

Answer 6

• Just about all suffering caused by nature can be brought by human agency e.g. fire can be used to burn.

Question 7

How can some evil be good?

Answer 7

• Most people accept some pain as it brings good in the future.
• E.g. Pain of a vaccine to protect, pain of surgery to restore health or a dentist visit

Question 8

How can suffering benefit human nature?

Answer 8

• We sympathise with people when they’re suffering.
• People willingly give time, money & donations to people suffering.

Question 9

What is the evidential problem of evil?

Answer 9

• A posteriori argument (sensory experience) & inductive.
• Based on what we observe about evil.
• Argues that the evidence of evil in this world makes belief of God unjustified.

Question 10

What does the evidential problem of evil argue?

Answer 10

• Less likely God exists due to evidence of evil.
• Evil is overwhelming in quality & quantity.
• Evil doesn’t always serve a purpose so is pointless.

Question 11

What is the logical problem of evil?

Answer 11

• The mere existence of God is logically incompatible with the existence of an omnipotent, omnibenevolent & omniscient.

Question 12

Who is Hume?

Answer 12

• An empiricist.
• Scottish philosopher.
• 18th Century.

Question 13

What does Hume believe about the problem of evil?

Answer 13

• God could’ve made this world without evil, so evidence is against a perfect God.
• Possible for a perfect God to exist but allows evil for reasons consistent with omnibenevolence.
• We are justified to believe in what evidence suggests.

Question 14

What are some important Hume quotes?

Answer 14

• “But they are unknown to us.”
• “There can be no grounds for such an inference when there are so many misfortunes in the universe”
• “The problem of evil is the rock of atheism.”

Question 15

Who is St Augustine?

Answer 15

• Theologian and Philosopher.
• 4th Century CE.
• Christian

Question 16

What is the Augustinian Theodicy?

Answer 16

• Belief that evil and suffering do not disprove the existence of an all-loving God because God is good, He created a perfect world & evil comes from people who chose to reject God.
• Evil is a privation of good.
• Evil and suffering is a punishment of original sin.

Question 17

Who is St Irenaeus?

Answer 17

• Christian theologian.
• 125-202 CE

Question 18

What is the Irenaean Theodicy?

Answer 18

• God made humans & the world imperfectly.
• Humans were created with the intention to develop (into the image of God to the likeness of God) so God gave us free will.