Free will defence Flashcards
What do Catholics believe about evil and suffering.
Catholics believe that God is omnipotent, omnibenevolent and omiscient who created a good world. They do not agree that evil and suffering shows that God doesn’t exist.
evidence in the Bible
“God is love”
What is the free will defence?
Natural Evil is also the fault of moral evil as Adam and Eve used their free-will to eat the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. This then created chaos in the perfect world he created had created which causes natural evil.
What does swinburne argue?
He argues that moral evil is the result of human beings having a free will and being able to choose their own actions. Part of evil and suffering is therefore the result of us “misusing” our free will.
What did John Hick believe ?
John Hick developed the ideas of St Irenaeus. According to Hick and Irenaeus, humans were made in imago dei but are not perfect.
They need to grow to become spiritually perfect.
Suffering and Evil is the best way for humans to develop as through free choices they can learn to make the correct choices.
The process of soul making is response to evil in the world and this explains why God allows a natural evil as this type allows humans to grow and become better people.
God’s plan
Evil and suffering could be a part of God’s plan for us, we cannot possibly understand the reasoning of a being who is omniscient and omnipotent. We should instead trust in the plan God has set out for us, even when times are difficult.
How can this change a Catholics life?
Catholics will try to help those who are suffering by volunteering their time or money to charities like CAFOD.
