The Problem Of Evil & Suffering + A Loving & Righteous God Flashcards
Christians believe original sin caused humans to lose their immortality, a belief shown when Paul wrote to the Romans, explaining.. (quote)
‘…sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned’
Suffering caused by death is a direct result of…
Original sin
- humans continuing to disobey God means their sin is seen as creating further suffering
word used to describe everything opposite of good; good gone wrong/ lack of goodness
evil
- some people thought of it as a force working against all good in a personified form of satan
who is satan / the devil
- he was expelled from heaven by God when he sinned (Isaiah 14:12)
- he acts to tempt humans, leading to them disobeying God (according to the Bible)
- described as a dangerous enemy to Christians, destroyer & leader of a host of demons who help him in his attacks against God’s people (Ephesians 6:11)
what is natural evil?
suffering created through no direct fault of humans
- includes all natural disasters (hurricanes, earthquakes, etc.)
what is moral evil?
when suffering is caused by the actions of human beings
Mackie’s inconsistent triad shows…
the problem of evil
what does the Inconsistent triad include
God is omnipotent
Evil exists
God is omnibenevolent
The inconsistent triad states that if God is omnibenevolent…
He would care enough to stop the suffering caused by evil, but He hasn’t; maybe He isn’t omnipotent
The inconsistent triad states that if God is omnipotent & has the power to…
stop suffering & He hasn’t, perhaps He doesn’t care enough, meaning that is not omnibenevolent
Iranaeus argued that…
God allows evil and suffering to exist
Iranaeus believes…
- the world was deliberately created with good & evil so that humans can choose & learn what is right
- God wouldn’t interfere with human decisions as it would affect their free will
- the Fall was simply a stage in the human learning process (& not the disaster it seemed to be)
- if God gives people free will, they might choose evil, but would learn from it & choose the better path in the future; as long as they’re open to learning from their actions, they can go to heaven
St Augustine’s theodicy starts with the understanding of God making a…
He argues that evil is…
- perfect Creation in Genesis (there’s no evil in God’s reaction)
- the absence of goodness; when something good becomes corrupted & lacks its intended perfection
Augustine explains that when Adam & Eve make a bad use of their free will…
evil enters the perfectly good creation; so it’s through human free will that evil comes into existence - known as the Fall
Augustine believes that the Fall means that…
- all humans inherit a sinful nature described as original sin - God doesn’t intervene to stop Adam/Eve, because if he did, humans wouldn’t have free will
Augustine believes God provides hymns with the opportunity of salvation from their sin & the possibility of an eternal afterlife in…
His presence - He does this though the sacrifice of His Son
- humans remain free to accept/reject God’s offer of salvation
Some conservative Christians see suffering in the way…
Augustine did, as a natural result of humans’ sinful nature
- in this way, war, famine, etc. all come from the evil that is within humans
- however, this doesn’t explain why a loving God allows natural evils, nor does it explain why innocent people suffer
Other Christians see the world as a…
test
- humans are responsible for human evil & it’s something they should be able to deal with (esp. followers of Jesus’ teachings about loving others)
- without natural evil, there wouldn’t be an opportunity for people to show their love for others, as they are able to when people are in need
Others take the view that God has a purpose here that…
humans may not fully understood
- suffering has a purpose (which is not fully understood), but is an opportunity to share in the suffering that Jesus himself experienced
