3.1 Problem of evil & suffering

Question 1

Historical thoughts on why evil is problematic for belief in God

Answer 1

“Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil? Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?” - Epicurus

Question 2

State the key ideas of the problem of evil & suffering

Answer 2

• evil & suffering pose a great challenge to the issue of whether or not God exists
• we see & hear about terrible evil & suffering all over the world, both natural & moral
• it raises one of the most difficult of all questions: does the occurrence of evil & suffering show that there is no such thing as loving God?
• the problem of evil, according to David Hume is: “the rock of atheism”.

Question 3

What is ‘natural evil’?

Answer 3

the apparent malfunctioning of the natural world, which produces diseases, earthquakes, volcanoes, famines & floods

Question 4

What does John Hick say about natural evil?

Answer 4

“natural evil is the evil that originates independently of human actions, in disease…in earthquakes, storms, droughts, tornadoes” Evil and the God of Love, 1969

Question 5

What is ‘moral evil’?

Answer 5

moral evil arises as the result of human actions that are morally wrong, such as murder, war & cruelty

Question 6

What does Swinburne say about moral evil?

Answer 6

“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, and also the evil constituted by such deliberate actions or negligent failure…” Is There A God, 1996

Question 7

Describe the inconsistent triad (J.L. Mackie)

Answer 7

sides of a triangle are typically equal; in this way for each side: God is omnibenevolent, God is omnipotent & evil exists respectively

Question 8

Describe natural evil

Question 9

Describe moral evil

Question 10

John Hick on the problem of evil & suffering

Answer 10

“physical pain, mental suffering & 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…” Philosophy of Religion, 1993

Question 11

St Augustine on the problem of evil & suffering

Answer 11

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

Question 12

Richard Swinburne on the problem of evil & suffering

Answer 12

“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, 2004

Question 13

Elie Wiesel (Holocaust survivor) on the problem of evil & suffering

Answer 13

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