mocks - good and evil

Question 1

what is suffering?

Answer 1

Pain or loss which causes harm to human beings. Suffering is sometimes caused by other human beings (moral evil) sometimes not (natural evil).

Question 2

what evidence supports the Doctrine of the Trinity?

Answer 2

St Augustine: 1 John ‘God is love’ to explain that God is the perfect example of unity and used an analogy of love: love lover and beloved. The Trinity is 3 persons united together in love. His analogy reminds us of the goodness of God. He also said that all parts of the Trinity are equal to each other and dependant upon each other as a result. The Baptism of Jesus/ The Nicene creed/ The great commission ‘go baptise all nations in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit’.

Question 3

what are the Catholic attitudes towards conscience?

Answer 3

The CCC describes conscience as ‘the Voice of God in our hearts’/ When faced with a complicated situation where there is no straightforward answer from the Church, Aquinas argued that our conscience is a valuable source of authority/ People can use their conscience to intuitively do the right thing. It is the ability of the mind to know the difference between right and wrong/ The existence of conscience is a gift from God/ It is one of the ways God communicates what he wants/ Catholics also believe that a person should always obey their conscience, the conscience can sometimes be wrong so it’s important to educate our conscience by listening to the moral teaching of the Church.

Question 4

what are the Jewish attitudes towards conscience?

Answer 4

There is no reference to conscience (matzpun) in the Tanakh or Talmud. Many Jews would consider conscience as the ‘small voice’ which guides actions but that it is the Torah that represents the ‘powerful voice’ directing actions. The inclinations of yetzer ha tov and yetzer ha mean Jews have the ability to make their own choices, and will all be held responsible for them. Humans are given free will whether to keep the mitzvot of the Torah or not

Question 5

why do Catholics say God is good?

Answer 5

Genesis: ‘God saw what he had made and it was good’ / God is still involved with creation (immanent) through answered prayers, numinous experiences and miracles/ Conscience and Natural law are evidence of God’s goodness/ omnibenevolence

Question 6

what challenges are there to God’s goodness?

Answer 6

Natural disasters/ the problem of evil – the fact that evil and suffering exists (inconsistent triad)/ John Mackie’s arguments/ Unanswered prayers/