Problem of Evil Flashcards
What is the problem of evil?
Discovered by Epicurus: If God is omnipotent he is able to stop evil, if he is omnibenevolent he wants to stop evil, so why does evil exist?
Developed by J.L.Mackie: the Inconsistent Triad, a series of propositions that cannot be true at the same time.
1 God is all loving
2 God is all powerful
3 Evil and suffering exist
Therefore God is not one of the first two statements, or he does not exist.
Logical problem of evil
Logically, the combination of any two positions leads to the third being impossible. So there are only three options:
1 evil does not exist
2 god does not exist
3 create a defence/explanation
Evidential problem of evil
The sheer amount of evil and suffering present within the world cannot be reconciled with the God of classical theism.
There is a possibility that evil could be tolerated to distinguish between right and wrong, to provide motivation for believers to ‘do the right thing’, or to highlight God’s goodness. But it is hard to justify events like the Holocaust. The evidence of unnecessary evil suggests that God does not exist.
Moral evil
Evil caused by free moral agents- evil committed by the direct acts of human beings.
Natural evil
Suffering caused by natural events.
Suffering
The result of evil.
Theodicy
God-Justification. An explanation of how belief in a good, omnipotent God can be maintained in the face of evil and suffering in the world.
Augustine’s Theodicy
Evil is caused by creatures using their free will. Soul-deciding.
The Bible shows that God is wholly good and created a world perfectly good and free from defect. Therefore, evil cannot be a thing. It is instead a lack or privation of good- privatio boni- a result of turning away from God. Man was also created in a state of perfection, but the Fall began a cycle of us turning away from God. As we have free will, we are able to choose to do good or not. Without the possibility of corruption, we would not be able to understand goodness. We act out of condition, not programming, and so we can be rewarded. The privation of goodness allows for the character of goodness to be appreicated more.
Criticisms of Augustine’s theodicy.
Hard to accept that we share in the sin committed by Adam and Eve.
Why would a perfect world go wrong, can true perfection contain the possibility of corruption.
Can natural evil, natural disasters really be considered our fault, and if so, does this retain the notion of a loving and merciful God.
The Irenaean Theodicy
Evil is a necessary mans for people to develop moral qualities. Soul-making.
Humans are created in the image of God, but not in the links of Him, for we are immature and imperfect. Life is a testing ground where man can grow into the likeness of God. We must have free will so as to genuinely choose right from wrong. There is necessary suffering so that we can come to know God.
Hick’s development of the Irenaean Theodicy
Argues that Augustine’s theodicy lacks plausibility, in terms of the idea of original sin, the existence of natural evil.
Any successful theodicy must be logically coherent and plausible in the modern age.
Applaudes the two-stage conception of the creation of humankind: the image of God, the likeness of God (growing into a relationship with God). Perfection in the future, not the past. The ideal state is not something already enjoyed and lost, but is a future and as yet unrealised goal.
Epistemic distance- importantly, we were created in a way that we can freely come into the knowledge of God by acting morally- as we mature, the distance lessens. But on earth, the distance cannot be completed. Eschaton- the day at the end of time when God will decide the fates of men. Eschatology.
Criticisms of Irenaeus/Hick
J.L.Mackie on free will
God could have chosen to create a world where people always freely choose good things over bad.
If it is logically possible for him to choose to do good on any one occasion, it is the same for every occasion, and the same for any individual thought their life. God can create any logically possible world, so He could have created a world in which we were all genuinely free, yet we all chose to do good, but He did not.
Process Theology
Whitehead. We have misunderstood God’s nature- He is not omnipotent. He did not create ‘ex nihilo’, but created order out of pre-existing chaos, and is continually a part of the unfolding process of creation. He tries to coax us into choosing good but does not process total control of us. When the world suffers through evil, God does too, with us. He remains responsible for good and evil but has created enough good to outweigh evil.
