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A Level RE > The Problem of Evil > Flashcards

The Problem of Evil Flashcards

1
Q

What is natural evil?

A

This is suffering caused by events that have nothing to do with humans, and which are to do with the way the world is. For example, natural disasters such as volcanic eruptions, floods or earthquakes. This type of evil causes problems for Christians theologians as the nature of God suggests he is an omnipotent and benevolent creator. If God is both a powerful and loving creator then it can be argued that God is the cause of all natural evil in the world.

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2
Q

What is moral (human) evil?

A

This is suffering caused by humans acting in a way that is considered morally wrong. For example, bullying, murder, rape, theft or terrorism. This type of evil is often attributed to the free actions of human beings. Christian philosophy teaches that God created humanity with the ability to make free and moral decisions. If this is the case then moral (human) evil is caused by humans and not by God.

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3
Q

The logical problem of evil is deductive, what does this mean?

A

if the premises of the argument are true then the conclusion is also true.

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4
Q

Who put forward and developed the logical problem of evil?

A

This was first put forward by the Greek philosopher Epicurus, and later developed by David Hume and the Australian Philosopher J.L. Mackie.

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5
Q

What does the logical problem of evil argue?

A

that God’s qualities are inconsistent with the existence of evil in the world.

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6
Q

Essentially, what is the logical problem of evil and suffering?

A
  • If God is omnipotent (all powerful) he could stop all evil and suffering in the world
  • If God is omniscient (all knowing) and omnipotent (all powerful) he would know about and could stop all evil and suffering in the world
  • If God was omnibenevolent (all loving) he would want all evil and suffering in the world to stop
  • Therefore, God is either not omniscient, not omnipotent, not omnibenevolent or God doesn’t exist
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7
Q

What is a paradox?

A

an absurd or contradictory statement i.e. God cannot be omnipotent and omniscient and evil exists

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8
Q

Who is epicurus?

A

a Greek philosopher, put forward the first version of the Problem of Evil

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9
Q

What is Epiricus’ argument?

A

Is God willing but not able? Then he is not omnipotent. Is God able but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil? Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?

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10
Q

What is the inconsistent triad?

A

An argument put forward by J.L. Mackie, 3 points on a triangle (evil exists, God’s omnipotence and God’s omnibenevolence), the triangle does not work, it is inconsistent

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11
Q

Explain the inconsistent triad

A

The triangle is inconsistent, the parts are not consistent or compatible with each other, so therefore one has to be false. Evil does exist, so that part must be true. Resultantly it must be believed that God is neither omnibenevolent nor omnipotent – or he doesn’t exist.

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12
Q

What is the evidential problem of evil?

A

The evidential problem of evil argues that evil is evidence (rather than logical proof) against the existence of God.

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13
Q

What does Rowe believe about the existence of evil, with quote

A

m Rowe argues that the existence of evil makes God’s existence unlikely or improbable. Rowe points out that there are many examples of ‘intense human and animal suffering’ that occur on a daily basis.

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14
Q

Examples of evil that make God’s existence unlikely or improbable

A

.Holocaust
.Moors murderers
.Serial killers

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15
Q

What does Rowe say about evil around us?

A

Rowe disagrees with the Christian argument that God could have sufficient reason for allowing evil. When we look at the world around us, we find pointless evils from which no greater good can result.

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16
Q

Rowes example of evil

A
  • Fawn in a forest fire

- Fiver year old girl who was abused, raped and beaten to death

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17
Q

Richard Dawkins belief on evidential evil

A

Richard Dawkins argued that the world contained far too much suffering to believe that there is not God (the digger wasp). He argues that evil and suffering is part of evolution. Human and animals do all they can to survive. If there was a God he would not have created a world with this much suffering.

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18
Q

John Stuart Mill on the problem of evidential evil

A

JSM argues that evil and suffering is the strongest proof against the idea that God is the creator of the world. He says if God did exist then he would have created a much fairer world. His argument can also be used to refute the design argument.

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19
Q

What is a theodicy?

A

a defence of the justice of God in the light of evil. It tries to explain the existence of Evil in the world and at the same time keep the three characteristics of the God of classical Theism – omnipotence, omnibenevolence and omniscience.

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20
Q

What do theodicies generally argue?

A

that God is fair to allow the existence of evil and suffering because they are in some way necessary.

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21
Q

What did Augustine base his theodicy on?

A

He based his theodicy on traditional philosophical ideas and the Bible, especially the accounts of creation and the fall of Adam and Eve in Genesis.

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22
Q

Why does Augustine believe that Evil can’t have come from God? And why doe he allow it to stay?

A

as God’s creation was perfect. As evil did not come from God, he is justified in allowing it to stay.

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23
Q

What basic things does Augustine believe about God?

A

Augustine believed that God is omnipotent and omnibenevolent and he created a perfect world.

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24
Q

Quote from Bible about creation and perfect world

A

The Bible states that ‘God saw all that he had made and it was very good.’

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25
Q

Where was evil and suffering at the point of creation, according to Augustine?

A

At the point of creation, suffering and evil were unknown; they were not a part of God’s creation.

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26
Q

For Augustine why is it impossible for God to have created evil?

A

Augustine argued that it would have been impossible for God to be responsible for evil because evil is not a ‘substance’ which has been created, but a ‘privation’.

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27
Q

What is a privation?

A

the absence or lack of something.

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28
Q

For Augustine, what is evil?

A

the privation of good, it is ‘privatio boni’, a lack of good.

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29
Q

What analogy does Augustine use for privatio boni, explain it

A

Augustine used the analogy of blindness, it is not itself a thing, just a lack of sight.

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30
Q

How was moral evil brought into the world, according to Augustine

A

The fallen angels and Adam and Eve used their freewill to deliberately turn away from God and in doing so brought moral evil into the world.

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31
Q

How was natural evil brought into the world, according to Augustine

A

When the angels and humans sinned, the delicate balance and order in the universe was destroyed, bringing natural evil into the world.

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32
Q

Augustine saw natural evil as a fitting punishment for human sin, what is a quote from him to back this up?

A

‘all evil is either a sin or the punishment for sin’.

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33
Q

Where did Augustine argue original sin came from?

A

all humans inherit the ‘original sin’ of Adam and Eve.

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34
Q

Since, according to Augustine, all humans have original sin, what does this mean for humans?

A

as all humans are tainted with sin and both moral and natural evil are punishments for sin, God is right not to intervene and put a stop to suffering.

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35
Q

Augustine says that God is believed to be just, so Augustine believed that ___ must be ________

A

sin

punished

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36
Q

Augustine pointed out that if God were simply just, he would allow everyone to go to their rightful punishment in ____.

A

hell

37
Q

For Augustine, God is also omnibenevolent and merciful, so he sent ____ to ____ us through his death on the cross.

A

Jesus

Save

38
Q

For Augustine, who will be saved, and who punished in hel?

A

Those who believe in Jesus Christ will be save, while those who reject God by their own free will, will be punished in hell.

39
Q

So for Augustine, where does the fault of evil and suffering lie?

A

the fault lies with the sin of angels and humans

40
Q

For Augustine, how can God can therefore be seen as omnibenevolent and omnipotent even though evil exists?

A

Evil and suffering are fully deserved punishments for sin, God can therefore be seen as omnibenevolent and omnipotent even though evil exists.

41
Q

Brian Davies strength of Augustine’s theodicy

A

supports the claim that evil cannot be called a substance, therefore agreeing with Augustine that evil was not created but is a privation of good. This means God is not responsible for evil, so he can still be omnipotent and omnibenevolent.

42
Q

Swinburn strength of Augustine’s theodicy

A

argued that most religious believers would argue that people most turn to God out of their own free choice, otherwise the whole concept of faith is meaningless. Meaning that free will is so valuable that is justifies the risk of evil. Showing that free will is one of the greatest strengths of Augustinian theodicy as it demonstrates God’s omnibenevolence and highlights his omnipotence.

43
Q

Modern philosophers strength of Augustine’s theodicy

A

generally support the belief that if God gave humans genuine free will, then evil is necessarily possible. Plantinga argues that although humans sometimes freely choose good, if God had designed them to always choose good, they wouldn’t be truly free. Their ‘choices’ would be predetermined, like the ‘decisions’ made by robots.

44
Q

Successfuly accounting for natural evil strength of Augustine’s theodicy

A

Augustinian theodicy successfully accounts for natural evil as a result of the loss of balance in nature caused by sin. As Augustine states ‘all evil is sin or the punishment for sin’. This means God is not responsible as responsibility lies within human action.

45
Q

Biblicl authority strength of Augustine’s theodicy

A

Augustinian theodicy is based on the Genesis account of creation and therefore has biblical authority. It therefore appeals to Christians who believe that the Bible is the direct word of God. Many Christians argue that the Bible is the direct word of God so we should accept the teaching of the Bible.

46
Q

Judgement day strength of Augustine’s theodicy

A

Augustinian theodicy is also supported by the Christian belief in judgement day, when good people will go to heaven and sinners will go to hell. Because evil will be punished, God’s world can be seen as perfect in the end. This means that Augustine’s theodicy shows the actions of God are fair and just.

47
Q

Darwin weakness of Augustine’s theodicy

A

Scientific error, Augustine’s view that the world was made perfect then was tarnished by human sin goes against Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution. Scientists believe that the universe began as a chaos and has been developing continually.

48
Q

Fossil record weakness of Augustine’s theodicy

A

Scientific error, there is no evidence in the fossil record of a perfect time. All our written records show that people were more or less the same kind of people as the modern human except without the technology. Also, evolution seems to suggest there has been a slow increase in intelligence and cognitive ability rather than some kind of dramatic decrease. Augustine’s account implies that we were once rational super-people, but there is no evidence for this.

49
Q

Geneis myth weakness of Augustine’s theodicy

A

Scientific error, science shows that the biblical creation story is not literally true, and demonstrates that Adam and Eve and the Garden of Eden are myths and not historical figures. This destroys the idea of original sin as being caused by the misbehaviour of the first man and woman, and the idea of inheriting guilt or punishment for that misbehaviour.

50
Q

Friedrich schleiermacher weakness of Augustine’s theodicy

A

Logical error, he pointed out that there is a logical contradiction in believing in a perfect creation that could go wrong. If the world was perfect, with perfect creatures created in the ‘image and likeness of God’, then it should never have gone wrong. Evil cannot create itself out of perfection.

51
Q

God’s omniscience weakness of Augustine’s theodicy

A

Moral error, if God is omniscient, then he would have known that evil would result from his creation, surely it would have been better for him to not create the world at all

52
Q

Original sin weakness of Augustine’s theodicy

A

For modern people, the idea of being punished for a crime committed by someone else is unethical and unacceptable. Original sin belongs to each of us because of the sins of Adam. Is this fair?

53
Q

John Hick’s Soul-Making Theodicy is based on the ________________ written by ________ (130-202)

A

Irenaean Theodicy

Irenaeus

54
Q

How is Irenaeus like Augustine?

A

Irenaeus suggested that evil could be traced back to human free will

55
Q

How does Irenaues differ from Augustine?

A

by saying that God did not make a perfect world and that evil has a valuable part to play in God’s plan for humans

56
Q

Hick argued that humans were created ________, but had the potential to grow and develop into ________

A

imperfect

perfection

57
Q

Hicks ideas about human perfection are based on Genesis 1:26, where God said …

A

‘Let us make man in our image and likeness’

58
Q

Hick’s ideas about humans and image and likeness with God

A

Hick believed that at first, humans were made in God’s image and only later would they develop into his likeness

59
Q

Why does Hick think God gave humans free will?

A

In order for humans to grow into God’s likeness, God gave humans free will, to enable people to freely choose between good and evil.

60
Q

Hick claimed it is logically impossible for …

A

God to have made free beings who can only choose God.

61
Q

Hick said that if God had created perfect humans, they would be like ______, automatically ______ God without question. Hick said such love would be ________, so God had to give humans genuine freedom of choice.

A

Robots
Loving
Valueless

62
Q

How, according to Hick, did God achieve genuine freedom of choice in humans?

A

God needed to create human beings at an epistemic distance from himself – a distance in knowledge. This epistemic distance enables humans to choose freely without being overwhelmed by God and so have no choice but to believe and obey.

63
Q

God is omnipotent, and wholly good, so he could have created a world without evil. However, according to Hick, one of the main purposes of life is …

A

to enable us to become morally and spiritually mature in order to prepare us for salvation. Therefore the world is full of spiritual and moral challenges and evil pays an important part in these challenges.

64
Q

What does Hick believe about the existence of evil?

A

The existence of evil allows for humans to develop the positive qualities of love, honour, courage and so on, and so develop into God’s likeness.

65
Q

Hick suggested that the world is a ‘vale of soul making’, that is …

A

a world in which humans have to strive to meet challenges in order to gain perfection.

66
Q

Hick suggests God is ______ responsible for evil.

A

Partly

67
Q

Hick quote about vale of soul making

A

‘a world without problems, difficulties, perils and hardships would be morally static. For moral and spiritual growth comes through response to challenges; and in paradise there would be no challenges.’

68
Q

Hick claims that it is more valuable for us to _______________________ than just be given it by God.

A

earn our moral development

69
Q

Hick argued that everybody will be perfected and go to heaven, this he calls universalism. However, as many people do not appear to be morally and spiritually perfect when they die, Hick believes that …

A

the process of soul making continues after death

70
Q

So according to Hick, how is God justified in what he does in terms of evil and suffering?

A

Hick’s theodicy argues that God is omnipotent and omniscient. Both natural and moral evil are essential for ‘soul making’ so they have a good purpose. An all-loving God is therefore justified in making a world such as this and in allowing humans to perform evil acts.

71
Q

Explode the John Hick quote ‘A world without problems, difficulties, perils and hardships would be morally static. For moral and spiritual growth comes through response to challenges; and in paradise there would be no challenges.’

A

‘A world’ – our world
‘problems, difficulties, perils and hardships’ – the moral and natural evil in our world
‘morally static’ – no one would become good or bad
‘moral and spiritual growth comes through response to challenges’ – we change and develop as people, either becoming good or bad, because of the choices we make when faced with challenges (the moral and natural evil)
‘in paradise there would be no challenges’ – we aren’t in paradise yet, so we have to have challenges, if there was no evil, how would it be any different to heaven?

72
Q

Gil Edwards Strength of John Hicks Theodicy

A

qualities such as courage and trust can only come through suffering. This idea says that God is justified so that humans have an arena in which to develop.

73
Q

Peter Vardy using Søren Kierkegaard’s analogy of the king who falls in love with a peasant girl Strength of John Hicks Theodicy

A

Vardy argues that goodness and love that has been developed by free choice is infinitely better than the programmed goodness of robots. Vardy points out that although the king could have forced the girl to marry him, he chose not to, as love cannot be created by compulsion. In the same way, God had to allow humans to love and obey him for themselves if their love for him was to be genuine.

74
Q

Development of human perfection Strength of John Hicks Theodicy

A

If we accept that human perfection must be developed rather than ready-made, then other aspects of Hick’s theodicy must also be accepted. If we are to develop we had to be created imperfect, we had to be distanced from God and the natural world could not be paradise.

75
Q

Richard Swinburne Strength of John Hicks Theodicy

A

it is necessary for God to allow even the worst suffering in order for us to mature. If God were continually intervening in the world to remove evil and not allowing us to suffer, he would be like an ‘over protective parent who will not let his child out of his sight for a moment’. In such a situation we would be unable to develop our souls.

76
Q

Rational and Scientific Strength of John Hicks Theodicy

A

Provides a rational explanation as to why the God of classical theism allows for the existence of evil, and it agrees with the modern scientific approach of evolution as humans are developing from one stage to another, they were not created perfectly by God.

77
Q

The extent and severity of suffering Weakness of John Hicks Theodicy

A

would it not have been sufficient to kill 4 million jews instead of 6 million? Even if we accept that the world cannot be a paradise, does it have to be plagued with excessive evils such as earthquakes and tsunami’s?

78
Q

The challenges of the world do not always result in genuine human development Weakness of John Hicks Theodicy

A

evil often seems to produce nothing but greater misery and suffering, for example the holocaust. Also, much human suffering seems too great compared to the good, if any, which comes out of it. It also does not explain the seemingly pointless evils which benefit no one.

79
Q

D.Z. Phillips Weakness of John Hicks Theodicy

A

allowing suffering to happen can never be regarded as ‘loving’. How can the suffering and death of a child be justified as part of God’s loving plan? ‘If God is this kind of agent, he cannot justify his actions and his evil nature is revealed’.

80
Q

Evil and Suffering does not always result in soul making Weakness of John Hicks Theodicy

A

the evidential problem of evil highlights many examples of evil and suffering which bring about no further goodness. They simply cause misery.

81
Q

Suffering is not balanced Weakness of John Hicks Theodicy

A

Why would the God of classical theism distribute suffering so inconsistently? If suffering is essential to human development as Hick suggests then it is not fair to say that some miss out on suffering.

82
Q

What style of theodicy does John Hick adopt in ‘Philosophy of Religion’ 1963?

A

John Hicks adopts a negative theodicy, by arguing that it would be impossible to have a good God, understood as a loving God committed to soul making, if the world was created perfect.

83
Q

John Hick quote stating that a world whose purpose in soul making is one ‘in which …

A

free beings, grappling with the tasks and challenges of their existence in a common environment, may become “children of God” and “heirs of eternal life”’.

84
Q

Finish the John Hick quote ‘The divine purpose as it is understood in Judaism and Christianity could not …

A

be forwarded in a world which was designed as a permanent hedonistic paradise’

85
Q

Finish the John Hick Quote ‘Our world … is the sphere in which …

A

the second and harder stage of the creative process is taking place’

86
Q

Finish the John Hick Quote ‘The laws of nature would have to be extremely flexible … there …

A

would be no sciences, for there would be no enduring world structure to investigate’

87
Q

Finish the John Hick Quote Such a world … would be very ill adapted …

A

for the development of the moral qualities of human personality’

88
Q

Finish the John Hick Quote ‘To understand that this world … an environment so manifestly not designed …

A

for the maximization of human pleasure and the minimization of human pain, may be rather well adapted to the quite different purpose of “soul making”’

89
Q

Victor Greenberg, Auschwitz survivor quote

A

’No statement, theological or otherwise, should be made that would not be credible in the presence of burning children’

A Level RE (29 decks)

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