Natural And Moral Evil

Question 1

What is Evil?

Answer 1

Evil is the direct cause of suffering

Question 2

What is natural evil?

Answer 2

Events that are brought about by the physical forces of nature

Question 3

What type of evil is hardest for theists(believers of God) to explain?

Answer 3

Natural evil —> moral evil can always be put down to human free will but natural evil is not usually blamed on humans expect where a natural disaster is made worse or caused by human activity

Question 4

How may people use the Bible to argue that God is to blame for natural evil and how would a theist respond to this?

Answer 4

•In the Old Testament, God is depicted as directly using natural evils as a form of punishment. Examples include the plagues in Egypt found in Exodus and the Flood in Genesis used to punish widespread evil.
•In the New Testament, Jesus reverses natural evils through miracles—In Mark he calms a storm, heals diseases like leprosy and blindness, and multiplies food. Jesus also conquers death through his resurrection and raises Lazarus from the dead (John 11)
•The key challenge for theists: If God controlled nature and performed miraculous interventions to relieve suffering 2,000 years ago, why does God not stop natural disasters today? Why allow suffering if God can intervene?

Question 5

What may be a theists response to the idea that God should be able to control and stop natural evil as he did in the Bible?

Answer 5

:Jesus explains in the New Testament that a man’s blindness is not due to sin but so that “the works of God might be made manifest in him.” This suggests suffering may serve a divine purpose, shifting the focus from why natural evil occurs to how God might act through it.

Question 6

What is Moral Evil?

Answer 6

Refers to any action where the moral agent uses their will to bring about bad consequences