Problem of Evil Flashcards
Evil in relation to human suffering
E.g. Nazi Germany
Civil war in Russia
Evil is the greatest objection to the existence of God
Two divisions of types of evil
- moral evil - that comes from human choices, raising the question of why God permits humans to behave as they do
- non-moral evil or natural evil - found in nature which owes nothing to human nature e.g. storms or earthquakes
What does the inconsistent triad consist of?
not an objection to an indifferent deist creator rather the God of Abrahamic faiths
- If God were omnipotent he would be able to abolish evil
- if God were omni-benevolent then he would wish to abolish evil
- but evil exists
What can be made of trivial responses such as the ‘darkness is needed to be able to see the light”
- morally inadequate and says nothing to the victim
- disregard for the real harm caused, not experienced that way by the victim
- D.Z Philips argues that these kinds of responses contribute to the evil in the world,
What do some theologians give as explanation for suffering in the context of Jesus?
Hans Kung - God suffered on the cross so he could look suffering humanity in the face
God does not remove suffering but shows the world he will never desert humans in their suffering
Explains how God relates to the world, but not why God allows evil to begin with
What is a theodicy?
What is a heresy?
an attempt to justify God’s goodness given the fact of evil
An opinion, viewpoint or practice at variance with established teaching
What were the main ideas of heresy of gnosticism?
that all physical matter is evil and that if God is good he cannot be responsible for matter
However,
If Jesus was the son of God he would not have a material form
Irenaeus- everything is from God
Who made evil if not God?
What were Augustine’s use of original perfection in justifying divine action or inaction in the face of evil?
“God saw everything that he had made, and indeed it was very good”
- God created the world in a goodness not the same as his own e.g. the goodness of a stone for building is not the same as the goodness of an author for writing
- variety means some things are more good or less good in different ways
COUNTER
something can be good for something (function) but not inherently good, seems like God just found his creation good, more of a judgement
How does Augustine describe evil ?
Evil is a privation of something good - is not denying the reality of Evil
Even a sinful human is more good - because more fully human - compared to a puppet
The fall
- The fall of the angels
- the fall of man
angels, led by lucifer chose to reject god and therefore fell to hell - introduced the evil of denying God
Adam and Eve rejected God’s command by eating the fruit from the forbidden tree of knowledge of good and evil
live by the ‘sweat of the brow’ and the anguish of childbirth
What kind of theodicy is Augustine’s and why?
Soul - deciding
Due to the fact we have free will, we decide whether to obey God or not
Evil is a test in our faith toward God
What does Augustine believe about the punishment of evil?
evil is either the result of sin or punishment for it
we are all punished because all of humankind was seminally present in the loins of Adam
bought by the original sin of ancestors
God doesn’t stop loving us, redemption offered through Jesus
What is Augustine’s theodicy of the free will defence?
we could know the good, yet still not do it
we have will and we can choose what to do, essential to goodness
- the responsibility of evil comes from us, not from the consequence of any choice by God
What did Mackie say in response to Augustine’s free will defence
some people have free will but because of their character will always do the right thing
why did god not make everyone to be with good character?
COUNTER
to them, they would be freely making decisions but they would not be free in their relationship with God, that matters
Objections to Augustine
- depends on a highly literal reading of genesis
-science is wrong, theory of homunculi which believed a mans sexual organs contained little people
we did not exist pre-conception and were not present in eden - if we were, unjust to bear the blame of someone else’s actions
- if creation were truly made perfectly, then it would not go wrong
- Augustine contradicts his free will defence - says that we cannot control our ‘wretched condition’ due to ignorance. If we are ignorant then we cannot possibly be making free, genuine and informed choices
- also contradicts in arguing predestination and our election to heaven being the will of God
how do modern theologians treat original sin
as the inclination in all people to get things wrong and sin, do not take it literally
What are soul-making theodicies
the idea that there is evil in the world to provide opportunity for people to develop in goodness and character
Irenaean theodicy is soul-making
What is the key text for the soul-making approach?
Genesis 1;26 “let us make man in our image, according to our likeness”
- we are made in God’s image but need to grow into his likeness
God wanted mankind to mature over time - not just in one lifetime
Irenaeus treats Adam and Eve as children - morally immature- their disobeying God is not some catastrophe
What is the role of evil in the soul-making theodicy?
God sent evil to help us learn the right way through experience e.g. Jonah learns repentance from his time in the whale
If everything required no relative effort, there would be no virtue
patience to give time to God to make the world as he choses
what does Irenaeus view God as?
a potter moulding his clay - the work of God is ongoing
what does Hick mean by an epistemic distance?
a gap in knowledge between ourselves and God allowing us to come to our own natural conclusions
what kind of thesis does Hick use to describe his view on natural evil?
what would a world we like without pain?
meaningless, empty haze, less capable of being
e.g. a cricket match that no one won or lost would be pointless
no suffering= a dull life
no one would grow into the likeness of God as we would lack creative freedom
what is instrumental good - hick
goodness depends on purpose
world with no possibility of pain may be good in itself but not for making us better people
Hick- the world is instrumentally good as it is on its pathway to being in God’s likeness
