The Problem Of Evil Flashcards
What is the problem of evil?
An argument against the existence of God that suggests an all loving and powerful God cannot exist with evil. As we know evil exist, God must not exist.
What is moral evil?
Evil caused by the free actions of humans
What is natural evil?
Evil caused by nature that humans cannot control, e.g earthquakes.
What is the logical problem of evil?
Evil is logically a problem for believers as it challenged the belief of an all loving and powerful God
- How can God be all powerful and not stop evil?
- How can God be all loving and not want to stop evil?
An all loving and powerful God cannot logically exist with evil.
Who first suggested the logical problem of evil and when?
Epicurus, in third century BCE
What is the evidential problem of evil?
Evidence for the existence of evil can be found in the seemingly unnecessarily extreme suffering of people, particularly innocent people. For example;
- Natural disasters cause suffering
- Moral evil causing humans to make others suffer
- Suffering between animals as they kill each other for food.
Why does God create such extreme suffering?
Name some philosophers that believed the problem of evil disproves God
- Epicurus
- John Stuart Mill
- Richard Dawkins
- Mackie
- Peter Vardy
What did John Stuart Mill say about the problem of evil?
Evil and suffering within the natural world is enough to prove there can be no benevolent God
What did Richard Dawkins say about the problem of evil?
Evil is present in nature, such as the dagger wasp that paralyses caterpillars to lay eggs in, killing it. Surely a loving God would not create this?
What did Mackie say about the problem of evil?
- Developed the inconsistent triad
- God cannot be all loving, knowing and powerful in evil exists.
- It is illogical that evil exists, though God knows about it, can and wants to stop it.
What did Peter Vardy say about natural evil?
Developed 5 different types of natural evil;
- Natural disasters
- Disease
- Phycological issues
- Human fruity
- Animal suffering
What is the issue with out definition of evil?
Are natural things really evil?
Are natural disasters really evil, if the natural disaster doesn’t know what it’s doing?
Are animals evil if they are just followed by their instincts?
What does Augustine believe is the cause of all evil.
The actions of Adam and Eve during the Fall
How does Augustine believe God made the world?
God could only make a perfect world, because he is perfect.
Summarise Augustine’s solution to the problem of evil.
- God created the world perfectly.
- However, all things fall short of this perfection due to the fall.
- This led to a loss of harmony in nature, which developed into natural sin
- The sin of humans led to moral evil
- Because God is just, he cannot stop evil as this would be interfering with human free will.
What are some positives of Augustine’s theodicy?
- It fits with our experience of the world; free will often leads to suffering.
- Natural evil may be only evil because of the way we perceive it. Are animals killing other animals out of necessity evil?
What are some negatives of Augustine’s theodicy?
- The idea of sin being transferred to us from Adam and Eve seems unjust. Why are we being punished for actions we did not take?
- Requires a literal understanding of Genesis
- How could everything be made perfect, but then go wrong?
- Some may argue the omission of not stopping evil is as bad as creating it
What is the analogy of the picture?
- In the same way that good use of shadows improve a picture, evil is too a necessary part of the natural balance of the universe.
- A world with genuine free will and evil is better than a world with no evil but also no free will.
What concept does McCabe support?
Privation
He suggests that what makes something ‘bad’ varies depending on the thing.
What is the concept of privation?
God does not create evil, but rather not create good in some places.
What did Aquinas suggest about natural evil?
Natural evil may only be evil due to the way we perceive it.
For example, to us a cat killing a mouse to eat may be evil, but to the cat it is just acting according to its nature
Explain the criticism of Augustine’s theodicy from evolution
It requires a literal interpretation of Genesis that isn’t always accepted by Christians today.
Evolution suggests we are moving towards perfection, but Augustine suggests we are moving away from it.
Explain Hick’s theodicy
- We are made in God’s image, but must develop into his likeliness
- We can only truly do this with free will, and if God stopped evil we would not have free will, so he separates himself from us (epistemic distance)
- We need to use suffering in this process. Our response to suffering develops our virtuous which make us closer to God.
- Suffering therefore exists in our world, but for the greater good
How does Hick view hell?
A place people go to to develop their soul before entering heaven.
