PHILOSOPHY - Problems Of Evil And Suffering

Question 1

What would we call the logical problem of evil?

Answer 1

An a priori deductive argument.

Question 2

What is Natural Evil?

Answer 2

suffering caused by events that have nothing to do with humans, and which are to do with the way the world is, eg, natural disasters such as volcanic eruptions, floods or earthquakes.

Question 3

What is Moral Evil?

Answer 3

suffering caused by humans acting in a way that is considered morally wrong eg, bullying, murder, rape, theft or terrorism

Question 4

What is the main problem with evil considering the existence of God?

Answer 4

The monotheistic God of Christianity, Judaism and Islam assumes the divine qualities of omnipotence, omniscience and omni benevolence. However, the existence of evil and suffering in the world provides a challenge to the loving God of classical theism.

Question 5

What is the inconsistent triad?

Answer 5

The three (omnipotent, omnibenevolent, omniscience) are logically inconsistent. If God is omniscient, he is aware of the existing evil and suffering and knows how to put a stop to it. If he is omnipotent then he has the power to stop it. If God is omni benevolent he will want to put a stop to it. Yet evil and suffering does exist. Mackie talks about this.

Question 6

St Augustine recognises this Problem. What book did he write it in and what is the quote he said?

Answer 6

He acknowledged this problem in ‘Confessions’ saying: “Either God is not able to abolish evil or not willing; if he is not able then he is not all-powerful, if he is not willing then he is not all-good.”

Question 7

What does David Hume think about this?

Answer 7

The atheist David Hume argued that only three possibilities exist: I. God is not omnipotent II. God is not omni benevolent III. Evil does not exist Since we have sufficient direct experience to support the existence of evil, if God exists he is either an impotent God or a malicious God; not the God of classical theism. Hume concluded that God therefore does not exist.

Question 8

What is Augustine’s theodicy described as?

Answer 8

Soul-deciding.

Question 9

What is the Augustinian theodicy based on and what does Augustine say about It?

Answer 9

Based on the narratives of Genesis 1-3, Augustine’s theodicy argues that God created the world and it was perfect, without the existence of evil or suffering.

Question 10

What is a quote from Genesis that shows and supports that the world God made was perfect?

Answer 10

Genesis 1:31: “God saw all that he had made and saw that it was very good”

Question 11

How does Augustine describe evil?

Answer 11

Augustine defined evil as the privation of goodness, just as blindness is a privation of sight. Since evil is not an entity in itself, just like blindness is not an entity in itself, God could not have created it.

Question 12

Where does evil come from according to Augustine?

Answer 12

Humans have free will. Sin and death entered the world through Adam and Eve, and their disobedience. This brought about ‘disharmony’ in both humanity and Creation. The whole of humanity experiences this disharmony because we were all ‘seminally’ present in the loins of Adam. God is justified in not intervening because the suffering is a consequence of human action.

Question 13

Why do we have Natural Evil according to Augustine?

Answer 13

Natural evil is consequence of this disharmony of nature brought about by the Fall.

Question 14

What are the disadvantages when it comes to the Augustinian Theodicy and science?

Answer 14

The concept of the Fall is difficult doesn’t fit in with modern scientific thought as now there is the theory of Evolution.

Question 15

What are other disadvantages of the Augustinian theodicy?

Answer 15

People question how something perfect can go wrong.

The existence of Hell questions God’s omnibenevolence.

Question 16

Who criticises Augustine’s theodicy?

Answer 16

F.D.E Schleiermacher

Question 17

What does Schleiermacher say about the Augustinian theodicy?

Answer 17

Schleiermacher argued that there is a logical contradiction in the idea of a perfect world going wrong

Even if evil is a deprivation it is still present in the world

A further contradiction appears by saying that people with no knowledge of ‘good and evil’ can choose to do evil.

This implies that knowledge of evil had to be given by God

Question 18

What is the Irenean Theodicy described as?

Answer 18

Soul-making theodicy

Question 19

Why is Evil and Suffering useful for us according to Irenaeus?

Answer 19

Evil and suffering are:

Useful as a means of knowledge. E.g. Knowledge of pain prompts humans to seek to help others in pain.

Character building. Evil offers the opportunity to grow morally. If we were programmed to ‘do the right thing’ there would be no moral value to our actions.

Question 20

What is a quote from Swinburne that tells us about the good thing about not living in a perfect world?

Answer 20

‘We would never learn the art of goodness in a world designed as a complete paradise’ Swinburne.

Question 21

What are the main points of the Irenean Theodicy?

Answer 21

Irenaeus argued that evil is the consequence of human free will and disobedience. However, unlike Augustine Irenaeus believed that God was partly responsible for evil and suffering. Irenaeus argued that God created the world imperfectly so that imperfect immature beings could develop through a soul-making process into a ‘child of God,’ in his perfect likeness

Question 22

How did Hick develop the Irenean theodicy?

Answer 22

1. Obstacles do not always result in strengthening character – they can be damaging / detrimental
2. The process of soul making must continue on after death if it is to be successful
3. Heaven must be sufficiently good to justify the magnitude of evils suffered in this world & others
4. All human beings must achieve their potential & become “children of God”

Question 23

What is the idea of epistemic distance?

Answer 23

God keeps a distance from humanity in order not to overwhelm it.

John Hick included epistemic distance as he says that if God showed himself then we would not have a choice but to believe in him because we would know his existence is true. God doesn’t want to force us to love him.

Question 24

What is meant by “soul making”?

Answer 24

This means the world is a place where we are allowed to develop as spiritual beings and learn from our mistakes.

Exercising free will enables a human to make a difference to their environment.

Question 25

What is a quote by John Hick about soul- making world?

Answer 25

“A world which is to be a person-making environment cannot be a pain-free paradise.”

Question 26

What are some disadvantages of the Irenaeus/Hick’s theodicy?

Answer 26

• Some people suffer considerably more than others, why has God singled them out? Is he bias?
• Would a loving God use evil? Surely there are more humane ways about allowing people to develop in the likeness of God?
• Some people are unable to benefit from suffering (babies/disabled people) and so they do not learn a lesson or develop
• God could teach lessons with a lesser degree of pain as the ends don’t seem to always justify the means

Question 27

What is the basic idea of Free Will Defence?

Answer 27

God gave us free will but this leads to evil.

The goodness of free will outweighs the evil.

Question 28

Who talks about FWD?

Answer 28

Swinburne

Question 29

what does Swinburne mean by the love of robots?

Answer 29

If God didn’t give us free will then we would have no choice but to love him. This means it would be questionable if we really do love him. We would be programmed to love him.

Question 30

The atheist David Hume argued that only three possibilities exist:

Answer 30

I. God is not omnipotent
II. God is not omni benevolent
III. Evil does not exist

if God exists he is either an impotent God or a malicious God; not the God of classical theism. Hume concluded that God therefore does not exist as evil evidently does exist.