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AQA A Level Religious Studies - Philosophy > Evil and Suffering > Flashcards

Evil and Suffering Flashcards

1
Q

What does Hans Kung call the Problem of Evil and Suffering?

A

‘The Rock of Atheism’

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2
Q

What are some examples of biblical evil in the Old Testament?

A
  • Genesis 3 - The Fall
  • The Flood
  • Egyptian Plague
  • Exodus
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3
Q

What is suffering?

A

The mental/emotional/spiritual/physical pain and distress that humans and animals experience as a result of moral and natural evil

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4
Q

What is Natural Evil?

A

Natural evil refers to things beyond human control such as the laws of nature or diseases.
- Essentially, evil that happens as a result of things that Christians believe is under God’s control making it hard for them to accept it

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5
Q

What are secular examples of Natural Evil?

A
  • A small child dying of cancer
  • 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami that killed over 230k people
  • Animals caught up in a forest fire with no means of escape
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6
Q

What are some religious examples of Natural Evil?

A
  • The Flood
  • The Egyptian Plagues
  • The Exodus which saw many Egyptians drowning
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7
Q

What is Moral Evil?

A

Moral evil refers to the hurtful and harmful acts that humans as moral agents either carry out or to human inaction when some is in need
- Many question why God would permit so much evil to be carried

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8
Q

What are examples of Moral Evil?

A
  • An act of unkindness
  • Holocaust
  • Pedophilia
  • Sexual Violence
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9
Q

What is the logical problem of evil?

A

The Inconsistent Triad by Epicurus:
1. God is Omnipotent
2. God is Omnibenevolent
3. Evil Exists
- All 3 statements cannot be correct

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10
Q

What problems do Christians have in resolving the logical problem of evil?

A
  • Denying God’s omnipotence would suggest for them a God that is not worthy of worship (eg. Roth)
  • Denying God’s omnibenevolence would contradict the teaching of Jesus and destroy the basis of Christian belief
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11
Q

How have some Christian theologians answered the logical problem of evil?

A

Denied the existence of evil
- Augustine: evil is the absence of good just like how darkness is the absence of light
- Aquinas: evil is the lack of something good that is natural to something (eg. blindness in human would be evil but blindness in a rock would not be)

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12
Q

What are the two main arguments for the evidential problem of evil?

A
  1. The sheer quantity and quality of both natural and moral evil are overwhelming
  2. The pointlessness of so much evil serves no useful purpose
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13
Q

What are some examples of the overwhelming nature of evil?

A
  • Millions of creatures destroyed in the Great Dying in the Permian Period
  • The terrible cruelties seen in the Dostoyevsky’s Brother Karamazov which is enough to make Ivan claimed that evil is too high a price to pay for the joys of heaven
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14
Q

Finish the Quote from the Brothers Karamazov - ‘It’s not God that I don’t accept Alyosha…

A

…only I most respectfully return my ticket’

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15
Q

What is Rowe’s example of the pointless evil seen in the world?

A

A fawn suffering a slow and agonising death under a tree in a forest fire - It serves no good in terms of enabling human development so why would God allow for it to happen?

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16
Q

What quality of God does the evidential problem of evil question?

A

God omniscience (his all knowing). Why would an all knowing God allow for the world to exist if he was aware of the terrible suffering that would be caused by the laws of nature and humans

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17
Q

What does the Free Will Defence need to show?

A
  1. Humans cannot have free will without the existence of moral evil
  2. Having free will is worth it in the terms of suffering
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18
Q

Who rejects the Free Will Defence?

A

John Mackie

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19
Q

What is a first order good/evil?

A

a good or evil at the basic level of human experience
good: happiness or pleasure eg having a nice meal with happiness
evil: misery or pain eg,. having an accident and breaking a leg

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20
Q

What is a second order good/evil?

A

our response to first orders either maximising them or minimising them.
good: responding to suffering with kindness, love and compassion.
evil: responding to suffering with cruelty, hate and spite

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21
Q

What is a third order good and it’s significance?

A

The ability to choose between two things (freewill). Pain and suffering are needed to help us develop the capacity for sympathy allowing us to morally grow - the downside is simply that many will choose the opposite

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22
Q

What is the fourth order good?

A

God creating humans with free will teaching us to be morally responsible

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23
Q

Why did Mackie reject the Free Will Defence?

A

He said logically it is possible for someone to freely choose good at every point of choice yet because we don’t God is a flawed designer compared to the descriptions of classical theism.

He also presents his own inconsistent triad (same as Epicurus)

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24
Q

Who defended the Free Will Defence?

A

Plantiga

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25
What was Plantinga's first possible world?
This was the world as it is with 'morally significant free will' and no causal determination with pain and suffering. This world is logically possible as it the world we supposedly live in now
26
What was Plantinga's second possible world and it's limitations?
The world without 'morally significant free will' but with God's casual determination to make people choose good meaning no evil in the world. -> Whilst this world is logical possible, it would mean humans are robots meaning there would be no point of God making us
27
What was Plantinga's third possible world and it's problems?
The world with both 'morally significant free will' and God's casual determination forced people so chose good - so no evil -> This world is logically impossible as the libertarian genuine free will is incompatible with casual determinism
28
What was Plantinga's response to Natural Evil?
- It is a response to the Fall - Logically possible that God created/allowed for natural evil in order to give Adam and Eve a choice in Eden
29
What are strengths of the Free Will Defence?
- Plantinga shows that the FWD is logically possible in relation to both types of evil - FWD address the issue of natural evil as nature has to be free to follow its laws of operation and our response allows for our development - A world with genuine free will has more value than a world were humans are just robots
30
What are some weaknesses of the Free Will Defence?
- Just because it is logically possible it does not mean it is true - It is dependent of the libertarian idea of what free will is but there is no way to actually prove this - Does being free justify the amount of pointless and excessive suffering we see in the world? Some may argue the world would have more value to it if we were simply just robots.
31
Whose theory is the 'Soul Making Theodicy'?
John Hick
32
What were the four key influences on Hick's thinking?
- Irenaeus Soul Making thinking (rejecting Augustinian soul deciding as 'theologically unsatisfactory' - Wished to apply modern scientific, theological and philosophical insights - Wanted to response to challenges made by atheism - Basis on his own personal experience
33
Hick's Soul Making Theodicy - Key Point 1: Humans are the high point of evolution. What does Hick mean by this?
- Evolution was willed by God as it had led to personal human life - Human telos or goal is to have a personal relationship with God - We can only have a personal relationship with God through a free and willing response based on experience of the world with all it's good and evil
34
Hick's Soul Making Theodicy - Key Point 2: The world is a 'vale of soul making'. Who originally says this and how does it support Hick's argument?
John Keats - The world allows spiritual growth rather than a soul deciding world where humans choice of good and evil determines their entire fate - The world is not perfect in order to allow spiritual growth as it is not a 'paradise of pets' (Hick) but one that will allow us to become children of God
35
Hick's Soul Making Theodicy - Key Point 3: Hick had a two stage concept for humanity (like Irenaeus) - what does this mean?
- Creation in God's image means that humans have special character - People have potential for a relationship with God and that potential is fulfilled in the afterlife
36
Hick's Soul Making Theodicy - Key Point 4: God is at an epistemic distance from humanity. What does this mean?
- The world is religiously ambiguous - 'as if we have no God' (Hick?) - Ambiguity is intentional in order for humans to have a free choice whether to have a personal relationship with God. A loving relationship is only valuable if it is authentic and freely chosen - The world has to have evil and good for us to develop and come closer to God
37
Hick's Soul Making Theodicy - Key Point 5: Sin in inevitable. What did Hick mean by this?
- Sin is a failure to live in a right relationship with God which affects all human relationships with God, fellow humans and rest of creation - Alienation from God is a result of the struggle for survival in a hostile relationship - God permits alienation out of respect for human freedom - God attempted to put things right with Christ's life, death , resurrection and ascension
38
Hick's Soul Making Theodicy - Key Point 6: Hick was a universalist. What impact did this has on his beliefs?
Universalists believe everyone will go to heaven and be united with God for eternity - Rejects the idea of hell and eternal punishment as incompatible with an omnibenevolent God - A final rejection of God that led to eternal separation from him would mean that God's power and goodness had been defeated
39
Objection 1 of Hick's Soul Making Theodicy - does not address animal suffering. What was Hick's response?
- Pain is need to warn of danger - Animals exist to remind humans of our 'special' nature and their suffering as a purpose but we simply do not know the purpose - Animals do not have to fear death or future harm like animals
40
Objection 2 of Hick's Soul Making Theodicy - concept of an epistemic distance does not resolve the problem of purposeless evil. What was Hick's response?
- Purposeless evil has to remain a mystery otherwise the epistemic distance will be lost and everyone would choose God in order to gain salvation
41
Objection 3 of Hick's Soul Making Theodicy - theodicy cannot justify the very worst evils. What was Hick's response to this?
- If the worst evils are removed, then the next worst ones would be the worst - The more evils are removed, the less free and responsible humans are
42
What are strengths of Hick's theodicy?
- Fits with current scientific thinking on evolution - Epistemic distance justifies evil - the end justifies the means - Hick's rejection of hell is understandable as it goes against the idea of an all loving God
43
What are weaknesses of Hick's theodicy?
- If humans are evolved from animals, how are we in the image of God? - Does the end truly justify the mean? - If God saves us all then is there any point to traditional Christianity. Is he still the ultimate giver of justice if he saves everyone takes away human freedom?
44
What is Hick's response to Dostoyevsky?
'We believe or disbelieve...out of our own experience and must be faithful to the witness of that experience' - Evil and the God of Love (Hick's Book)
45
Whose originally developed the idea of Process Theology?
A.N Whitehead
46
What was Whitehead's quote about God?
'God is the fellow sufferer who understands'
47
Who developed Whitehead's theory taking into account quantum mechanics?
David Ray Griffin
48
What three traditionally held Christian beliefs did Process Theology reject?
- Creation 'ex nihilo' in Genesis 1:1 -> Process Theologians see it as a mistranslation and see God as creating ordered to existing matter (creatio ex materia) - God's omnipotence -> World already existed meaning God is not fully in control - So called truths of Bible, Church and tradition -> should only be accepted if they fit with our experience of existence
49
What do Process Theologians see as the mistranslation of Genesis and what do they belief is the correct translation?
'In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth WAS without form and void' vs 'In the beginning of God’s creating the heavens and the earth, the earth BEING without form and void'
50
Griffin argued that God and the universe exist 'panenthestically' - what does this mean?
Everything is in God - God is the soul of the universe, existing therefore within space and time and within the universe
51
If God exists panenthetically - what quality of God does this disprove?
God's transcedence
52
What is Griffin's analogy of humans as embodied minds?
After humans die, we exist in the mind of God as 'embodied souls'/ thoughts in the mind of God and continue our existence through that
53
Why does Griffin see 'no problem of evil'?
God cannot control 'his body' (the universe), just how like the human mind cannot control the body therefore God cannot intervene only persuade matter meaning there's no real problem of evil
54
What two possible and parallel results does the drive towards increased complexity lead to?
- Increased potential for enjoyment - Increased potential for suffering - The more complex the creature, the greater potential to work with God in harmony or reject his creation
55
Griffin argued that God is responsible but is not culpable for suffering - what impact does this have on Process Theologians views?
- God cannot influence entities at the 'lowest' level of existence as they cannot acknowledge God exists (cannot persuade them) - If God avoided evil then the world would have no value - God shares our suffering
56
What are some strengths about Griffin's Process Theology?
- Fits in with current scientific knowledge and with biblical criticism - God is a 'fellow sufferer' allows assurance that God understands our pain - Emphasis is on what we know from this world - no real speculation of what happens at death other than objective immortality (Griffin did also argue for subjective immortality based on parapsychology and near death exp.)
57
What are some weaknesses about Griffin's Process Theology?
- We cannot be sure on the correct translation - Suggests an unworthy God as it doesn't address pointless evil and suffering - why would God bother to persuade the world if there's still suffering and why didn't he abandon it - 'Jury is still out' on parapsychology and near death exp as we do not know if they are evidence - Objective Immortality existence is not enough for theists
58
What does John Roth say about Griffin's God?
'God though he may be, Griffin's God is too small' - In Roth's book Encountering Evil: Live Options in Theodicy
59
What theodicy do the Catholic Church and many Protestants adopt?
Augustinian theodicy - due to the emphasis on free will, judgement, heaven and hell
60
What do Christians favour over philosophical understanding of faith?
Christians follow examples such as - Job who accepts that the limitations of being a human means that he cannot understand suffering but he is prepared to trust God and believes God is good - Jesus who despite his fear in Gethsemane and his agony on the cross, he trusted there was a good purpose behind his death
61
What two polarising consequences has suffering lead to?
- Rise of atheism and agnosticism - Increase of new Christian sects such as Apocalyptic (end of world is near) and Millenarianism (after 1000yrs of Christ's reign, there will be universal resurrection)

AQA A Level Religious Studies - Philosophy (6 decks)

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