problem of evil and suffering Flashcards
(15 cards)
key scholars
Augustine
Irenaeus
Hick
natural evil facts
3.1 million children die from poor nutrition and hunger every year
natural disasters kill on average 45,000 people every day
moral evil
6 million jews killed in holocaust
1 in 4 women and 1 in 20 men have been raped and sexually asssulted
logical problem of evil
inconcistent triad
god is omnnipotent, omnibenevolent and god is exists are 3 statements that cant all be true
logical problem of evil quote
“Is god willing to prevent evil, but not able? then he is not omnipotent. Is he able but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Then hence evil?
-Epicurus
how can logical problem be solved
- deny gods omnipotence
- deny Gods omnibenevolence
- Deny evil exists
- There is a sufficient reason why God allows evil to exist (FWD)
evidential problem of evil
The evidential problem of evil is expressed simply: There are known facts about evil that are evidence against the existence of God
- Evil that is overwhelming in quantity and quality.
- Evil that is pointless because it serves no useful purpose
evidential problem examples
William Rowe Fawn in a forest
suppose that in some distant forest a lightening strike causes a forest fire. A fawn is trapped in the fire, horribly burned, and lies in agony for several days before dying.
The fawns agony appears to be pointless; it suffers and dies alone and does not lead to any ‘greater good’ whatsoever
what do we refer to when talking about the evidential problem
omniscience
If God knew how much overwhelming and purposeless evil would occur, why did \god bother to create the universe?
free will defence
it is the argument that God has given humans free will to bring about a greater good. A world containing creatures who are significuntly free ( and freely perform more good than evil actions) is more valuable, all else being equal, than a world containing no free creatures at all
free will defence quotes
“For a runaway horse is better than a stone (Augustine)
“Free will, though it makes evil possible, also makes possible any love or goodness or joy worth having” CS Lewis
“The less God allows men to bring about large scale horrors, the less freedom and responsibility he gives them (Swinburne)
what do people who defend FWD have to prove
- That free will necessarily leads to moral evil - it is not possible to have free will and not moral evil in the world
- That the result of having free will are worth the price
free will defence Alvin Plantinga
reason 1
Free will is the greater good
“Gods creation of persons with morally significant free will is something of tremendous value”
being able to freely love and do good deeds makes it more valuable
free will defence Alvin Plantinga
reason 2
Natural evil was caused by humans
“God allowed natural evil to enter the world as part of Adam and Eve’s punishment for their sin in the garden of Eden
natural evil may be the result of original sin, which brought about disharmony
free will defence first criticism
Mackie rejects free will defence
“If God has made men such that in their free choices they sometimes, prefer what is good and sometimes what is evil, why could he noy have made men such that they always freely choose the good.”
