3.2 Problems of evil and suffering: Theodicies and solutions Flashcards
What is a theodicy?
Arguments that try to make existence of evil compatible with the existence of an omnipotent, benevolent God
- A theodicy must not deny the existence of evil or suggest you should give up faith, but must offer convincing reasons as why a better state of affairs prevails by God not removing evil
How did Augustine of Hippo attempt to explain the existence of evil, whilst defending the GOCT?
- God is perfect and created a perfect world without moral or natural evil
- evil is not a thing in itself but the abscence of Good (privation of Good)
- God gave humans free will but then they chose to disobey and created an ‘absence of good’
How does the Augustinian theodicy overcome the problem of evil?
- Evil is a consequence of free will- result of human negligence to God’s commandments
- Evil is a consequence of a just God- God doesn’t intervene and allows us to experience the punishment of our wrong doings
What are the strengths of the Augustinian theodicy?
- For Christians it matches biblical teachings
- Free will justifies the existence of evil
- evil is a privation of good, evil wasn’t originally part of God’s creation
What are the weaknesses of the Augustinian theodicy?
- Many people don’t take the creation story literally
- was the world made perfect? evoultion would disagree
criticisms of the augustinian theodicy
Friedrich Schleiermacher- Logical contradicition either the world wasn’t made perfect to start with or God made it go worng (God at fault)
Peter Cole- a perfect world would have no knowledge of evil, how can God punish humans for exerting choice that he gave to them?, God shouldn’t hold us responsible for making immoral choices as he allowed the choice
Charles Darwin- Theory of evolution, world was not created perfect
Suffering as essential to survival- suffering is necessary for survival; calling it ‘evil’ calls into question God’s natural order; implies he should’ve created it differently
What is epistemic distance?
God mustn’t be so close to humans, as we would have no choice but to obey him, so God created humans at a distance- John Hick
What is eschatological justification?
All suffering will be** justified at judgement day**
What is the Vale of soul making?
This is the best possible world because here humans are able to develop (through dangers and suffering)
What is the Irenaean theodicy?
The world is this way because God has a plan to allow humans to develop qualities to become perfect, God didn’t create us in complete perfection because he wanted us to have free will
How does John Hick interpret the Irenaean theodicy?
If God had made us perfect we would have the ‘goodness of robots’ who would love God unquestioned and therefore it would be meaningless love
‘soul-making’ to achieve this God created humans at an epistemic distance
How does Richard Swinburne interpret the Irenaean theodicy?
Evil is a consequence of a world designed to promote human free will
a world which includes suffering is the best possible world for humans
God gifted us a world where humans could meaningfully contribute their free response to an imperfect world
given an oppurtunity to grow and make a difference
In the Irenaean theodicy what are the 2 stages of creation of humans?
- We were made in the image of God, intelligent but immature beings, w/ capacity for moral and spiritual perfection
- We will grow into the likeness of God by developing through our suffering into perfect moral/ spiritual beings
critics of the Iranean theodicy
Dewi Zephaniah Phillips- suffering can never be an expression of God’s love, if it has been ‘done for a purpose planned from eternity- that is the deepest evil’
The concept of heaven for all appears unjust- Why work so hard to be given the same reward as a less hard worker?
Quantity and gravity of suffering is unacceptable- some suffering appears so random and prolongued that it can’t possibly be for development
suffering appears to be an unreliable and inefficient method of soul making- some suffering only produces pain, why so long?, can it really create moral growth?
Some moral evil appears to be the consequence of mental illness- goes against free will, at the mercy of their mental disorder
Strengths of the Iranean theodicy
- avoids some of the problems associated with the Augustinian theodicy: notion that evil comes from nowhere, allows room for evolution
