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Philosophy of Religion > evil and suffering > Flashcards

evil and suffering Flashcards

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1
Q

what are the two types of evil

A
  • natural
  • moral
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2
Q

examples of natural evil

A
  • a small child dying from a disfiguring and agonising cancer
  • the 2004 boxing day tsunami that killed 230,000 people in 14 countries
  • animals caught in a forest fire with no way to escape
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3
Q

examples of god using nature to wreak havoc in the old testament

A
  • the flood was his punishment for the total corruption of humankind
  • the plagues were inflicted on the egyptians to force the Pharaoh’s hand
  • the exodus resulted in the escape of the Israelites but the drowning of many Egyptians
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4
Q

what is an example of natural evil in the new testament

A
  • when asked on one occasion about the cause of a mans blindness, jesus turned the question to the purpose of the mans suffering, saying that is was a chance for gods power to be seen
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5
Q

what is the problem of moral evil

A
  • moral evil becomes a problem when horrendous acts of evil are committed
    • holocaust
    • pedophilia
  • it raises the question of why god permitted such evils to be carried out
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6
Q

what are the two forms of the problem of evil

A
  • evidential
  • logical
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7
Q

what is the logical problem of evil

A
  • based on logic
  • based on two traditional christian teachings about god and one observed fact
    • god is omnipotent
    • god is benevolent
    • evil exists
  • epicurus came up with the inconsistent triad which shows that all three cannot be true
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8
Q

what is the evidential problem of evil

A
  • based on evidence from the world around
  • the sheer quantity of natural and moral evil is overwhelming
  • the pointlessness of so much evil that serves no purpose
    • rowes example of a fawn suffering a slow
      and agonising death in a forest fire
  • calls into question gods omniscience as he must have known the pain caused by laws of nature and humans
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9
Q

what are the three responses to the problem of evil and suffering

A
  • john mackies free will defence
  • john hicks soul making theodicy
  • griffins process theology
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10
Q

what is john mackies free will defence

A
  • needs to show that humans cannot have free will without the existence of moral evil and that having free will is worth the cost of suffering
  • first order good – experience of pain/pleasure
  • 2nd order good – how we respond to pain
  • 3rd order good – free will allows humans to
    choose between two things
  • 4th order good – god creates humans with
    free will which teaches moral
    responsibility
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11
Q

what is mackies rejection of the free will defence

A
  • logically it is possible for someone to freely choose good at every point of choice
  • therefore god could have made people so they have true free choice yet always choose good
  • he didnt so, so he
    • lacks power, or
    • lacks love, or
    • does not exist
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12
Q

what is plantinga’s defence of the free will defence

A
  • three possible worlds
    • free will + no determination = evil exists
    • no free will + determination = no evil
    • free will + determination = no evil
  • the first is logically possible
  • second is possible but we would be robots
  • third is logically impossible
  • natural evil is a punishment for the fall
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13
Q

strengths of the free will defence

A
  • plantinga shows that the free will defence approach is logically impossible in relation to both types of evil
  • a world with genuine free will has much more value than one without it
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14
Q

weaknesses of the free will defence

A
  • plantinga does not prove gods existence
  • we cannot prove that libertarianism is true
  • is free will worth the amount of suffering
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15
Q

what are the key points of hicks soul making theodicy

A
  • humans are at the high point of evolution (a long evolutionary process willed by God)
  • the world is a vale of soul making
  • two stage concept of humanity
  • god set an epistemic distance between himself and humanity
  • sin is inevitable
  • hick was a universalist
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16
Q

what is hicks two stage concept of humanity

A
  • creation in gods image means that humans have a special character
  • people have the potential for a conscious and personal relationship with god
  • that potential is fulfilled in the afterlife
17
Q

what is the human telos and how is it achieved

A
  • to have a conscious and personal relationship with god
  • this can be achieved only through a free and willing response based on experience of the world with all its good and evil
18
Q

what does it mean that the world is a vale of soul making

A
  • it is a world that enables spiritual growth rather than a soul deciding world where humans choice of good or evil decides their eternal fate
  • the world is geared to enable spiritual growth; it is therefore not a ‘paradise of pets’ but one which will enable humans to become the children of god
19
Q

what is epistemic distance and how does it apply to hicks soul making theodicy

A
  • the distance that god set between himself and humanity
  • the world is religiously ambiguous (as if there is no god)
  • this is to allow humans full freedom to choose to have a personal relationship with god
  • a loving relationship is only authentic and only has value if it is freely chosen
  • this means the world has to contain the full range of moral and natural evils, allowing humans to develop the second order virtues
20
Q

why does Hick believe sin to be inevitable

A
  • sin is a failure to live in the right relationship with god, which effects all human relationships with god, fellow humans and the rest of creation
  • alienation from god is a result of the struggle for survival in an often hostile environment
  • god permits this out of respect for human freedom but only he can put things right
  • this was done through christs redeeming life and death
21
Q

what does it mean to be universalist to hick

A
  • he rejected ideas of hell and eternal damnation as incompatible with the omnipotence and omnibenevolence of god
  • a final rejection of god that led to eternal seperation from him would mean that gods power and goodness had been defeated
22
Q

what are some objections to hicks theodicy

A
  • does not address the issue of animal suffering, since animals cannot develop spirituality
  • the concept of epistemic distance does not resolve the problem of the purposelessness of evil
  • the theodicy does not justify the very worst of evils
23
Q

what are hicks responses to the objections to his theodicy

A
  • pain is needed to warn animals of danger. unlike humans they do not fear future harm or death
  • the purpose of evil has to remain a mystery or the epistemic distance will not work
  • if the worst evils were removed then the next worst evils become the most evil. the more evils that are removed the less free humans are
24
Q

strengths of hicks theodicy

A
  • fits with current scientific thinking of evolution
  • epistemic distance justifies all kinds of evil and its extent
  • the claim that the concept of eternal damnation in hell is a defeat for the love of god males sense
25
Q

weaknesses of hicks theodicy

A
  • if humans are evolved animals, how is it that they are in the image of god
  • hicks attempted justification of animal suffering is weak. the end does not justify the means
  • many christians reject his rejection of hell as against traditional beliefs about the work of christ
26
Q

what are the key points in griffins process theology

A
  • both god and the universe have necessary, pantheistic and eternal existence
  • god is not transcendent
  • griffin uses the analogy of humans as embodied minds
  • god then is the soul of the universe
  • the universe is in god both existing necessarily and eternally as god and a world
27
Q

how does process theology explain the problem of evil

A
  • just as the human mind cannot control how the body works, god cant control the universe
  • over billions of years god persuaded chaos into order
  • had god avoided the process of what could lead to evil the result would be a world without value
28
Q

strengths of process theology

A
  • fits with our current scientific knowledge and with biblical criticism
  • the concept of god as a fellow sufferer means those who suffer have the assurance that god knows what they are going through
  • rejection of gods omnipotence means there is no conflict between the existence of an all loving god and the reality of evil
29
Q

weaknesses of process theology

A
  • some theists claim we cant be sure of the correct translation and interpretation of genesis
  • for many theists, such a god is unworthy of worship

Philosophy of Religion (8 decks)

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