evil and suffering Flashcards
1
Q
what are the two types of evil
A
- natural
- moral
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
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
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
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
6
Q
what are the two forms of the problem of evil
A
- evidential
- logical
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
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
- rowes example of a fawn suffering a slow
- calls into question gods omniscience as he must have known the pain caused by laws of nature and humans
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
