Unit 3

Question 1

Types of evil

Answer 1

• moral: caused by humans actions
• natural: caused by occurrences in nature

Question 2

Inconsistent triad

Answer 2

• it seems inconsistent that evil can exists with an omnipotent and benevolent god
  1. Evidence for evil cannot be denied
  2. The omnipotence of god is central to Christian teaching
  3. The benevolence is also central

Question 3

J L Mackie

Answer 3

• argues that these 3 principles are inconsistent and cannot be made compatible
• no valid solution has been found that does not compromise or remove one of them, most commonly gods omnipotence

Question 4

Hume

Answer 4

• problem of evil as a good argument against the existence of god

Question 5

General religious responses

Answer 5

1. Punishment for sin (problem: suffering seems random, those who commit evil often seem to get away with it)
2. Test from god (problem: if god is omniscient, why would he need to test a believers faith?)
3. The devil (problem: if god is omnipotent, he should be able to stop the devil, and would’ve created the devil making him responsible for evil)

Question 6

Augustines theodicy

Answer 6

• argues that evil is a privation - a lack or absence of something. Evil is therefore not an actual phenomenon
• privation is the result of the fall, as recorded in genesis 3, when humans disobeyed god, causing origina sin to enter the world and cause corruption in humans and in natural order

Question 7

Strengths of Augustines theodicy

Answer 7

• consistent with classical theism
• responsibility for evil given to huamns
• free will as reason for suffering
• evil + suffering - price worth paying for freedom?
  -explanation for natural evil

Question 8

Weakness of Augustine’s theodicy

Answer 8

• isn’t scientifically possible all of humanity was seminally present in Adam
• original sin not fair as we suffer from Adam’s actions
• if the world was created perfect, how did Adam find out about evil
• gods omnipotence + omniscience is still challenged by Augustine’s solution

Question 9

Irenaeus’ theodicy

Answer 9

• like Augustine, he believed evil was the result of free will - to allow us to develop MORAL AND SPIRITUAL PERFECTION - to become truly in the image of god
• having the choice betweeen good and evil was essential for this perfection. If god made it so that humans could only every choose good, then their morality would be as a result of COERCION and therefore not truly good
• ETERNITY IN HEAVEN would make up for the suffering humans experience, would achieve moral perfection
• if god created a world with no evil, good characteristics needed for perfection could not be developed e.g. courage, love, compassion

Question 10

Hicks soul making theodicy

Answer 10

• argued the existence of good and evil helps humans develop good attributes and characteristics (soul making)
• this makes the existence of evil justified, and slo relates to the idea of EPISTEMICALLY DISTANCE - god created humans at a distance so they could know god but also choose to believe in him
• ESCHATOLOGICAL JUSTIFICATION: since this process is rarely completed in 1 lifetime it must continue into the afterlife

Question 11

Strengths of hicks soul making theodicy

Answer 11

• eases the experience of evil and suffering if there is a greater purpose
• we can confirm from experience humans have free will
• places the responsibility on us

Question 12

Weaknesses of hicks soul making theodicy

Answer 12

• doesn’t explain why it allows such extreme suffering
• why wouldn’t such a loving god give us longer than a human life to grow
• if Jesus was a perfect man, he would’ve been morally good before he suffered

Question 13

Process theodicy

Answer 13

• whitehead and hartshorn
• gods nature is somewhat limited, and so is in a way responsible for evil
• god is part of the world and a FELLOW SUFFERER, good occurs when the natural order works as it should + vice versa
• the world is always changing and there is natural order

Question 14

Leibniz

Answer 14

• theory of the best of all possible worlds
  P1: god can conceive of infinite universes
  P2: only one of these universes can exist
  P3: god has a reason fro doing what he does
  P4: god is good + benevolent
  C1: therefore of all possible worlds, he would choose the best one
  C2: this world is the best possible world, despite the existence of suffering