Chapter 13 Theodicies Flashcards
The Instrument Argument
God uses evil to punish sinful people. Some fundamentalist Jews and Christians believe this as they find support in the Bible that say that God uses natural disasters for their disobedience.
Life is a test Argument
Ireanaeus explained Gods love means he does not provide a perfect world, but a challenging one which forces us to grow into the sort of people we can become. Evils are to be overcame, coped with and learned from. Muslims and some Christians believe these ideas
The Process Argument
Done by A N Whitehead this suggests God evolves just like the human race so he does not have the power nor ability to rid the world of the things which cause suffering and pain
Augustinian Theodicy
Most modern Christians,the theodicy argues that suffering does not exist,that everything created is good but something evil is a depravation,”privation of good”.
They happen when people abuse their freedom at the expense of others.
God made the world perfect so everything is perfect in it.
Big picture Theodicy
A small picture may seem meaningless but the whole picture could make sense. Such as if a death of a small child or a sudden tsunami could be non-explainable,but it could all make sense. People often look back on difficult times and make sense of it.
Suffering is the devils fault
Before Jesus, Zoroaster a Persian said there are two forces, good and bad. They are at a constant war and when there are times of suffering evil is winning, and the opposite when there are good times. Zoroaster taught that these two forces are equally matched.
Counter-Argument “Suffering is the devils fault”
Judaism,Christianity and Islam reject this as it implies the existence of two Gods,as they believe in only one. It also contradicts the idea of a loving God which is at the heart of these faiths
Counter -Argument “The Instrument Argument”
Most Jews and Christians reject this idea as they know this is a reference to the great flood and they say it is not meant to be taken literally. Also God would never use a Flood or army to achieve purpose (contradicts a loving God)
Counter-Argument “Life is a test”
Jews,Christians and atheists as they believe that it seems overly harsh i.e the holocaust,so they think the idea is not wholly satisfactory. Although they agree that some people can grow through challenge
Counter-Argument “Process Theodicy”
Not popular with religious groups as it is so far removed from the teachings over 1000 years. Also seems to be tailored for scientific evolution, although most do accept the theory. But they believe that God started the process and is above the process
Counter-Argument “Augustinian Theodicy”
Christians argue because of Gods omnipotence he could choose to give us freedom, because he makes sure it works out in the end.
Jesus is also the revelation of God, Jesus quenched evil of its power (used all of the evil up) and when he died proved his power when he rose
If Augustinian is right a perfect world would have not gone wrong so the world is either not perfect or he enable it to go wrong
World is not perfect as animals have to kill to survive
Privation is not the proper terminology for evil
God did not make us perfect or we would not do evil
