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A-Level Philosophy > The Problem of Evil > Flashcards

The Problem of Evil Flashcards

1
Q

The Problem of Evil

A

Evil and suffering pose a threat to the issue of wether God exists
We hear of both natural and moral evil
it raises the question: does the occurrence of evil and suffering disprove the existence of God?
David Hume has called the problem of Evil the ‘Rock of Atheism’.

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2
Q

Natural Evil

A

the apparent malfunctioning of the natural world.
includes natural disasters
“Natural evil is the evil that originates independently of human actions, in disease…in earthquakes, storms, droughts, tornadoes”- John Hick ‘Evil and the God of Love’

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3
Q

Moral Evil

A

arises as the result of human actions that are moral wrong (murder, war, cruelty)
“Moral evil I understand as including all evil caused deliberately by humans doing what they ought not to do, or allowed to occur by humans negligently failing to do what they ought to do,nd also the evil constituted by such deliberate actions or negligent failure”- Richard Swinburne ‘is there a God?’

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4
Q

John Hick on Evil and Suffering

A

“physical pain, mental suffering, and moral wickedness. The last is one of the causes of the first two, for an enormous amount of human pain arises from people’s inhumanity…”

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5
Q

St Augustine on Evil and Suffering

A

“Either God cannot abolish evil or he will not: if he cannot then he is not all-powerful; if he will not, then he is not all good”

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6
Q

Richard Swinburne on Evil and Suffering

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“There is a problem about why God allows evil,and if the theist does not have a satisfactory answer to it, then his belief in God is less than rational” the Existence of God

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7
Q

Elie Wiesel (Holocaust Survivor)

A

“Never shall I forget that smoke…the little faces of the children…those flames which consumed my faith forever…never shall i forget those moments which murdered my God and my soul…”

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8
Q

The Inconsistent Triad

A

-God is omnipotent
-God is omnibenevolent
-Evil exists
This logical problem be solved if we:
-accept God is not perfectly good
-accept God is not all-powerful
-deny the existence of evil
-find a sufficient explanation for the existence of evil and suffering

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9
Q

Further examination of the Problem of Evil

A

-God created the universe out of nothing (ex nihilo) and is totally responsible for it. He is capable of removing evil yet doesn’t
-He is omniscient. He knows how to stop evil and suffering.
-He is omnibenevolent and therefore would wish for us to not suffer.
-As suffering exists, God cannot be both omnipotent and omnibenevolent. David Hume argued this

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10
Q

(Answers to the problem of evil) Evil is a punishment

A

-Suffering is sent by God to punish our sins
-“The Lord will send on you curses… until you are destroyed and come to sudden ruin because of the evil you have done in forsaking him” Deuteronomy 28:20 (a similar idea in Isaiah)

However, Job 38:4, God claims there to be no link between Job’s sins and his suffering.

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11
Q

(Answers to the problem of evil) Evil is a test

A

-gives us the opportunity to show love, courage and other traits
-builds character and brings us closer to God
-“though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so your faith…may result in praise, glory and honour” (1 Peter 1:6-7)
-there is a similar belief in Islam

However, it may be difficult to see suffering in this way when it may seem like nothing but torture

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12
Q

(Answers to the problem of evil) Evil is inevitable

A

-while there is imperfection, this is still the best world possible
-there could be no good without evil
-growth comes from overcoming difficulties
-“He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning…for the old order of things has passed away” (Revelation 21:4)

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13
Q

(Answers to the problem of evil) Evil allows God’s love to be displayed

A

-God can care for those who suffer, showing his love
-God made himself vulnerable to evil and suffering (as Jesus) to prove his love for us and to show his forgiveness

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14
Q

Theodicy

A

literally ‘righteous God’. An argument that suggests that God is right to allow the existence of evil and suffering because they are necessary

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15
Q

Theodicy examples

A

A punishment from God: St Augustine, humans carry the sin of Adam and must bear the consequences of his wrong doing

An Illusion: Mary Baker Eddy, the founder of the Christian Science Movement, said that God is completely good and that only goodness was real. Evil and suffering are the failure to understand the loving nature of God.

Perspective: if no one is in danger then a volcano erupting can be seen as a beautiful part of nature. It is only a natural disaster when lives are lost.

A test of faith: God may allow suffering in a person’s life in order to test and strengthen our faith.

Gods’ plan: God is all loving and all powerful, yet allows evil to exist as part of his greater plan of love.

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16
Q

Alvin Plantiga on the Free Will Defence

A

“God’s creation of persons with morally significant free will is something of tremendous value. God could not eliminate much of the evil and suffering in this world without thereby eliminating the greater good of having created persons with freewill with whom he could have relationships and who are able to love one another and do good deeds”

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17
Q

Strengths of the Free Will Defence

A

Uses the idea of humans needing freewill in order to have a meaningful relationship with God

Justifies the existence of evil as we can’t really have free will if evil is not an option

Includes natural evil. Evil exists in nature so that we can observe and understand it.

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18
Q

Weaknesses of the Free Will Defence

A

An all loving God could have made us free but without the will to sin

Not everybody is able to exercise their free will

Large scale sufferings (e.g the holocaust) could be called unnecessary

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19
Q

Richard Swinburne on natural evil

A

“if men are to have knowledge of the evil which will result from their actions or negligence, laws of nature must operate regularly…there will be victims”

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20
Q

J.L Mackie against the free will defence

A

“There was…[the] better possibility of making beings who would act freely but always go right. Clearly, his failure to avail himself of this possibility is inconsistent with his being both omnipotent and wholly good”

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21
Q

John hick on free will

A

“These humans would be no more satisfying than robots because their actions would have already been concluded when they were made”

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22
Q

The logical problem: God is not perfectly good

A

-if God is all powerful and there is still suffering, then how can he be all good?
-If God is morally imperfect, is he worthy of worship?

-It may be argued, however, that God’s goodness is not the same as human goodness and that our suffering serves a greater good.

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23
Q

The logical problem: God is not all-powerful

A

-If God is all-good, surely he’d destroy evil. The fact that he doesn’t suggests that he doesn’t have the power to.
-This would mean that there is no guarantee of God’s goodness prevailing over evil ever.
-Is this God worthy of worship?

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24
Q

The logical problem: God is not all loving

A

Anthony Flew: “God does not really love us”

-Believers tend to say that we don’t understand God’s love and that it is different to human love instead of giving a reason for why God wouldn’t intervene on Earth.

25
Q

Examples of evil and suffering (details in folder)

A

-2004 Tsunami
-1986 Chernobyl
-1912 Titanic

26
Q

St Augustine

A

354-430, had a child out of wedlock before converting to Christianity.
Bishop of Hippo in North Africa for 34 years
Important Church father and theologian
In his works confessions and City of God, he drew on his own sufferings and wrongdoings
Augustine became a Christian after reading St Paul’s letter to the Romans and, then, became a well-known preacher and writer

27
Q

Aquinas on Evil

A

God allows evil to exist as part of a greater plan of love. There is no contradiction in God still being regarded as all-loving and all-powerful.

28
Q

Augustine’s Theodicy

A

The universe is the creation of a good God for a good purpose. In Genesis 1:31 “it was very good”.
Evil itself is not a thing, but rather a privation of good.
Evil only exists through the disobedience of angels and humans who settled for lesser goods. A by-product of creation rather than originating in God.
The state of perfection was ruined by human sins in Genesis 3.
The sin of Adam is passed on seminally.
God is right not to intervene as the punishment is justice. The penalty of sin corrects the dishonour of sin.
Despite this, God sent his son in infinite love and grace so that those who believed in and accepted him could be saved and have eternal life. This is more than just.

29
Q

Strengths of the Augustinian Theodicy

A

-Justifies the existence of evil and solves the triad
-Places responsibility on humans and angels
-Explains natural evil: if nature was given freedom then natural evil might just be how it is demonstrated
-God wants a loving relationship, requiring us to have the freedom to accept or reject him
-uses the Christian understanding of the Bible
-doesn’t focus on Satan as an independent demonic power

30
Q

Weaknesses of the Augustinian Theodicy

A

-Friedrich Schleier Macher: a perfectly created world with flaws is a contradiction. It would mean that evil came out of nothing. God could have let free creatures have no evil in them.

-If we initially had no knowledge of good or evil, how could we have disobeyed God in the first place

-Science: the universe began in chaos and has been developing since, contrary to the idea that all began perfect and was damaged by humanity. Primitive man had only limited moral awareness.

-Some argue that evil is a real entity: satan. The existence of hell seems to contradict the existence of an omnibenevolent God.

-accepts the creation story as a literal truth

31
Q

Irenaeus

A

130-02CE leading Christian Theologian. Born in Asia Minor to an early christian family. Believed to have heard the preaching of Polycarp who knew John the Apostle as an old man.
Helped to form the new testament with his opinions on what should be included n the Bible, and has been cited the scholar who divided the Bible into the old and new testament.
dedicated work to clarifying the Christian doctrine. As Christians were persecuted at the time, he had to think about how God could allow suffering and evil. It is possible that he was killed for his faith.

32
Q

The Soul deciding Theodicy

A

Augustine’s. Evil and suffering are permitted to decide which souls go heaven or hell.

33
Q

The Soul Making Theodicy

A

The Soul making theodicy: Ireneaus/Hick’s, called the Irenaean type theodicy. Argues both natural and moral evils are essential for soul making and so serve an ultimately good purpose. We did not fall from perfection, but we were intentionally created to be imperfect. This is so that, through interaction with the world, we will grow into perfect beings who deserve heaven if we follow Jesus’ teachings. We develop through the soul making process.

34
Q

John Hick on the Soul Making Theodicy

A

“a world which is to be a person-making environment cannot be a pain-free paradise but must contain challenges and dangers, with real possibilities of many kinds of accident and disaster and the pain and suffering which they bring”

35
Q

Counter-factual Hypothesis

A

A hypothetical world, a ‘what if?’ scenario.

Hick’s was a world with no evil or suffering: “Life would become like a dream in which, delightfully but aimlessly, we would float and drift at ease.”

36
Q

Epistemic Distance

A

The distance that God deliberately maintains in order to permit our free will.

37
Q

Ireneaus: Humans in the image and likeness of God

A

God could not have created humans in complete perfection, because attaining the likeness of God needed the willing cooperation of human individuals.

Humans were made in the image of God, as intelligent but immature beings. We grow and develop morally and spiritually to attaint the likeness of God.

38
Q

Suffering produces character (Irenaean type theodicy)

A

Irenaeus: “How, if we had no knowledge of the contrary, could we have instruction in that which is good?”

We are given evil so that we can grow into perfection.

Romans 5:3 (Paul): “We also rejoice in our sufferings because we know that suffering produces perseverance…character…hope”

39
Q

Is this the best possible world (Irenaean Thodicy)

A

This world is the best possible world because it allows us to develop, allows science and discovery and dangers. It is a vale of soul-making.

Humans cannot achieve perfection is their earthly life. Sometimes suffering leads to the worsening of character. But Irenaeus argued that this would be justified in the end, as all achieve perfection in heaven, Heaven is necessary for perfection.

In Genesis, when God said that the world is “very good”, he meant that it is fit for purpose, that is, to develop the character of its inhabitants.

40
Q

Strengths of the Irenaean Theodicy

A

allows room for the theory of evolution

avoids the notion that evil appeared out of nowhere, a problem with the Augustinian theodicy

41
Q

Weaknesses of the Irenaean Theodicy

A

-If we need the afterlife to achieve perfection then perhaps God should have given us longer earthly lives

-The challenges of the world don’t always result in human development. It does not justify the extent of human suffering (The Holocaust).

-Many develop good qualities without suffering, many who have suffered have been made worse by their suffering.

-Many evil people were mentally disturbed and are thus not always held accountable for their actions.

-The process of development is taking a long time, surely God could speed it up.

-Evil seems random and people feel as if there is no reason for them to suffer, especially when it comes to children.

42
Q

Richard Swinburne and the Irenaean Theodicy

A

Argues that a world that includes suffering is the best for humans. God’s choice to make a world where humans can meaningfully contribute through their free responses to the imperfect world has given us the opportunity to grow in power, freedom and knowledge and to make a difference to our own lives. Suffering is a price worth paying for this.

43
Q

Biblical Theodicy

A

Job shows that God permits satan to test the patience of an innocent man. series of natural catastrophes and acts of vience befall his family and Job is bewildered. Traditional Judaism taught that we get what we deserve.

Job challenges God and eventually God answers Job by reminding who’s in charge: “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?…Have you commanded the morning since your days began and caused the dawn to know its place?”Job 38:4-12

Bad things can happen to good people and God is the ultimate power

44
Q

David Griffin

A

20th century scholar who developed ideas in process theodicy. He was strongly influenced by ideas from quantum mechanics, particularly the idea that at the sub-atomic level, the universe is in a constant process of change.
This led him to believe that creation being a “one-off ” event made no sense.

45
Q

Process Theology

A

the universe has always existed, God has always existed. Therefore the universe was not created by God.
The relationship between God and the universe s panentheistic, meaning that God is in the universe and the universe is in God.

46
Q

Griffin on Genesis 1

A

Griffin believes that Genesis 1 has been misinterpreted/translated. He believes the correct form would be, “the earth being without form and void”, supporting the view that God did not create the universe from nothing but that the universe and God have always existed together with the universe being in a chaotic state.
God tried to bring order to the chaos, but did not create it.

47
Q

Dipolar

A

God has two poles, one being the material world and the other, God.

48
Q

Strengths of the Process Theodicy

A

-accommodates scientific discoveries/theories
-exonerates God while explaining evil
-supports free will
-some may be comforted by the idea that God understands our suffering
-God can still guide us
-supports omnibenevolence

49
Q

Weaknesses of the Process Theodicy

A

-It is elitist: many suffer but only a few benefit
-Denies that God is all powerful
-It does not explain the nature of God in order to justify evil. Produces a few apparently marvellous human beings at the cost of millions
-Would this God be worthy of worship
-There is no promise of heaven

50
Q

David Griffin justifying evil

A

“No matter how bad the future actually turns out to be, it will not cancel out the worthwhileness of the human goodness enjoyed during the previous thousands of years”

51
Q

John Hick on the Process Theodicy

A

“The God of process theodicy is … the God of the elite …not the God of those millions who have been crippled by malnutrition and have suffered and died under oppression”

52
Q

Monism

A

The mind and body are one. They are manifestations of a single substance. Rejects the duality of the body and soul. The soul is rejected due to the lack of scientific evidence. In turn, this rejects the idea of life after death.

They summarise that all experiences, thoughts and emotions all derive from the brain adn can be explained by the brain.

The universe was made good by God and evil and suffering are just illusions. We feel suffering only because we cannot see the full picture, meaning that God may still be all loving.

53
Q

Dualism

A

the mind and the body are separate entities.

54
Q

Christian von Wolff

A

18th century philosopher. Wanted to remove the idea of a duality between the body and the mind. Developed Christian monism.

55
Q

Iris Murdoch

A

“I cannot imagine any omnipotent sentient being sufficiently cruel to create the world we inhabit”

God wouldn’t create real evil as dreadful as what we experience, thus it is an illusion.

56
Q

Peter van Inwagen

A

Put forward another formulation of Augustine’s theodicy.
Augustine’s theodicy is unable to answer local instances of evil (those specific examples which could be removed without disturbing God’s plan).

Inwagen responded by arguing that there is no arbitrary amount of evil necessary to fulfil his plan. As there is no minimum amount of evil necessary, God chose a specific amount of evil to fulfil his purpose.

In the case that one argues against this, claiming that there is a minimum amount of evil necessary, theists can say that God chose the minimum amount and that there is therefore no surplus of evil. All evil that God has permitted has a purpose.

57
Q

Augustinian Theodicy and Natural Evil

A

Natural evil came through the loss of order in nature and moral evil from the knowledge of good and evil. Evil is a corruption of the will given by God.

58
Q

J.L. Mackie

A

J.L. Mackie: Australian Philosopher, contributed to religious philosophy, metaphysics and philosophy of language.
He s most famous for ethics: Inventing Right and Wrong (1977) which opens with, “there are no objective values”
‘Evil and Omnipotence’ 1955, omnipotence and evil are incompatible
In this essay, he argues that the problem of evil fundamentally undermines the idea of an omnipotent, omnibenevolent God (omniscience is omitted from is argument)
‘The Miracle of Theism’ 11983 looks at arguments for and against God’s existence

Mackie outlines the problem of evil and the problem it poses to the classical God of theism.

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A-Level Philosophy (5 decks)

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