1.7 problem of evil and suffering

Question 1

Descfibe moral and natural evil

Answer 1

Moral evil
- the actions of human beings which csuse suffering
- occurs when humans misuse their freewi
- humans choose to do evil humans have a choice to either do something good or bad
-suffering for a person or persons, usually results from more evil
EG) WAR RAPE MURDER BURGLARY

Christian Understanding
- refer to moral evil as sins, going against gods wishes

Natural Evil
- natural features of the world which csuse suffering, which have nothing go do with hyman beings
- kften results in massive amounts of human suffering, caused by the natural world
EG) earthquakes floods volacnoes drought tsunamis
- said to be evil bc of the vast amounts of suffering caused by natural disasters

Question 2

what does the inconsistent triad have to do with evil and suffering and causing people go question Gods existence

Answer 2

in the bible god is omnipotent, omnibenevolent, and omniscient
main idea is either god does not exist or he exists vut has none of all these three qualities

1. a god who is omnipotent would be able to stop evil from happening this god has clearly failed. He isn’t omnipotent.
2. A god who is omniscient with no every evil before it is going to happen, and therefore, with omnipotence, he will be able to stop such things from happening clearly, God has not stop evil from happening, so he’s neither omnipotent or omniscient

3.
and Omni, believing in God is all good, so he wouldn’t even let evil take place in this world, and with omnipotence, she would remove evil before it could even take place

Question 3

describe theodicy

Answer 3

an arguement designed to defend the idea that god is still righteous despite the existence of evil and suffering in the universe

Question 4

What sre the different arguements of evil in this world?

Answer 4

1. Augustinian Theodicy
2. Irenean Theodicy
3. Best world arguement
4. perspective arguement

Question 5

describe Augustinian theodicy in detail

Answer 5

• evil and suffering are not the fault of God but the fault of humans themselves as a result of humans miss using free will in someway
• humans are responsible is not God’s fault as God gave us the ability to have free will, and choose what we do
• The fall of the human race the garden of Eden with Adam, and Eve was because of free will more than evil. It’s our fault God cannot be blamed

Limitations of Augustinian Theodicy
- If god is the ultimate creator, omnipotent, then surely he had the power to design us like this. so then why didnt he create us differently without the ability to do wrong and created evil and suffering?

Question 6

describe irenaen theodicy

Answer 6

• in disagreement with the free will response, so called “Fall” was not a disaster
• more like the start of a journey for humans, humans must learn to he Good
• in ordee for humans to improve their souls, they need to face evil and suffering to become loving, generous and courageous
• by removing sufferinf from the world God would remove the chance of humans to become good people
• christians believe that in heaven they will be rewarded for their goodness on earth

Limitations
- it is hard to justify the sheer amount of suffering being at the hands of god
- a truly benevolent God would not cause so much pain for millions of people, there must be another way for humans to become moral without having to suffer first

Question 7

Describe the best possible world arguement

Answer 7

• we have to have natural evil in order for the universe and our earth to exists
• against the idea that all natursl disasters are gods fault, and that he should have created a better universe
• the universe we have is the best it could be, and natural disasters are just an unavoidable part of that
• all the energy in the universe creates but it also destroys, you cannot hsve creation without a possible destruction
• the world could not be any better, natural evil is inevitable, ir is not gods fault

Question 8

Describe the perspective arguement

Answer 8

made by thomas aquinas
- when humans suffer they lose any idea of perspective in the situation that has happened.
- they do not rver think that suffering or dver will lead to anything good for them or others affected by the same or similar things
- god is outside time and he had a wider perspective thst encompasses our past present and future
- god may ve able to see the good that comes from suffering so allows it to take place

limitations of thomas aquinas arguement
- very often no good comes from suffering
- is it really worth God letting suffering happen to millions of people in the hope that some good will come out of it for a few people?

Question 9

what is the practical christian responses to the problem of evil and suffering

Answer 9

suffering exist it is unpleasant. The important thing is to try to alleviate it.
Christian aid- educate tell people about the need Third World countries
Short term iaid
long term aid