The problem of evil * Flashcards
types of evil
Natural evil - evil and suffering caused by non-human agencies
Moral evil - the evil caused by deliberate misuse of human free will.
Epistemic Distance
a distance in knowledge and understanding
Inconsistent Triad
J.L. Mackie
He formulated the problem of evil into an inconsistent triad:
- God is omnipotent
- God is omnibenevolent
- Evil exists.
It is logically inconsistent for these 3 statements to exist simultaneously
Privation = privation boni
- augustine
Evil is the absence of goodness - therefore evil doesnt exist (god isnt bad)
The evidetal problem of evil
Hume puts forward an evidential problem of evil - a posteriori evidence of evil in the world:
– Animal suffering. Why shouldn’t nature be created so that animals feel less pain, or indeed no pain at all?
– Why doesn’t God intervene to prevent individual natural disasters?
Quote for evil consequences
“Evil came from the world, not from God”
- Augustine in his book ‘confessions’
Criticism of the Augustan Theodicy
- Schleiermacher says this is a logical contradiction. Either the world wasn’t perfect, or God enabled it wrong.
- Was the world really made perfect? Augustine view / The creation story contradicts evolution.
THE AUGUSTINE THEODICY
- Evil is not something created by God
- Its a lack (or privation) of goodness, caused by the disobedience of human beings
- Therefore God does not cause evil but allows it so that human suffer the consequences of sin.
Felix culpa
The relationship of human and God through the redemption by Jesus in an even better relationship than the perfect one that existed in creation.
Strength of Augustinian theodicy
- values free will
- God is therefore not responsible for man’s evil choice and evil is not part of Gods creative work
Irenaeus: ‘soul-making’ theodicy
“Let us make mankind in our image” Genesis 1:26
- Humans are not made perfect. morality is developed and isnt innate
- God brings in suffering for the benefit of humanity and eventually everyone will be in his likeness
- Without evil there will be no spirtual growth for an individual. This justifies temporary evil.
Irenaeus Theodicy
Epistemic distance
God created humans imperfect and at a ‘distance’ from him so they could decide for themselves whether to follow him or not.
- We would automatically believe and obey as God would be looking at humans every move
- To have distance God allows humans to choose freely
Why are evil and suffering necessary?
- Character building: Evil offers the opportunity to grow morally. If we were programmed to ‘do the right thing’ there would be no moral value to our actions.
- ‘We would never learn the art of goodness in a world designed as a complete paradise’ Swinburne.
Hick: Developments
humans develop in 2 stages
Hick argued that human beings were not created perfect but develop in two stages:
Stage 1: Spiritually immature:humans can develop into spiritually mature beings.
The Fall is a result of immature humans who are only in the image of God.
Stage 2: Grow into a relationship with God via responding freely to the challenges of this world.
comparing Augustine & Irenaeus
For Augustine, evil is a privation of good. For Irenaeus, evil exists but allows for our moral development.
For Augustine, the world was created perfect, and disharmony was introduced through the Fall. For Irenaeus, the world was made imperfect to allow for moral development.
For Augustine, humans were born in perfect harmony, and then fell down. For Irenaeus, humans were born in the image of God, but are imperfect, and only later develop into the likeness of God.
