Chapter 3 Flashcards
What are the three sections of the Chapter 3?
- The Problem of Evil
- Developments of the Problem of Evil
- Religious Responses to the Problem of Evil - Augustinian and Irenaean
What are the two types of the Problem of Evil?
- The Logical Problem of Evil
- The Evidential Problem of Evil
Who are the key scholars for the Problem of Evil?
Logical: Epicurus
Evidential: Charles Darwin, J.S. Mill, Bertrand Russell
How is the God of Classical Theism defined?
creator, omnipotent, omniscient, omnibenevolent
What are the two types of evil?
moral - humans committing evil
natural - world created with evil
What is Epicurus’ Logical Problem of Evil?
- contradictory nature of God
- Evil exists so all-loving, all-powerful God cannot exist
What examples are there for the Evidential Problem of Evil?
Charles Darwin: some animals only exist to cause suffering to others
J.S. Mill: nature commits offences that harm humans - disease and famine
Bertrand Russell: scale and intensity of suffering proves all-loving, all-powerful God doesn’t exist - KKK and fascists
What does David Hume say about the PoE?
“Is He willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is impotent. Is He able, but not willing? Then He is malevolent. Is He both able and willing? Whence then is evil?”
What does J.S. Mill say about the PoE
“Nearly all the things which men are hanged or imprisoned for doing to one another are nature’s everyday performances”
Who are the key scholars of Developments of the Problem of Evil?
Logical: J.L. Mackie
Evidential: William Rowe, Gregory S. Paul
What is J.L Mackie’s development of the logical Problem of Evil?
Inconsistent triad - belief in God is irrational - belief in contradictory things
What is William Rowe’s development of the evidential Problem of Evil?
- intense suffering
- case of bambi - no one will learn from it
- case of sue - pointless
What is Gregory S. Paul’s development of the evidential Problem of Evil?
holocaust of the children - scale of death of children by natural disease
difference in levels that some people suffer
Who are the key scholars for religious responses?
Augustine
Irenaeus - developed by Hick and Swinburne
What is Augustine’s theodicy?
- Evil as privatio boni
- variety in the world
- original sin of Adam and Eve
- Christ’s atonement is soul-deciding
- free choice of humanity brought evil
What are the challenges to Augustinian theodicy?
- literal interpretation is unpopular
- science does not support original sin or Garden of Eden
- God is not Omnipotent
- scale of human suffering cannot be privatio boni
- variety argument is insensitive to those with congenital disadvantages
What is Irenaeus’ response to the Problem of Evil?
- Good and evil is soul-making theodicy
- God’s image and likeness - grow into likeness
- First-order evils and Second-order goods - good comes from evil
Humans shaped by God - humans continue to grow to reach heaven after death - Pinocchio
Genesis 1:26
“Then God said ‘Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness’”
Isaiah 64:8
“Yet you, Lord, are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand.”
What is Hick’s development of Irenaean theodicy?
- epistemic distance - police in car
- continued spiritual journey after death
- eschatological justification
- vale of soul-making
What is Richard Swinburne’s development of Irenaean theodicy?
- mortality allows people to choose to do good
- limited life encourages freedom to develop second-order goods
What are the Challenges to Irenaean theodicy?
- insensitive
- scale of suffering
- ends do not justify means
- suffering does not always create good - loss of faith or lack of intelligence to learn
- no evidence for life after death
- omnipotent God should be able teach in another way
