Problem of Evil

Question 1

What is natural evil?

Answer 1

Evil caused by the natural world outside of human decision-making, e.g. earthquakes and volcanoes

Question 2

What is moral evil?

Answer 2

Evil caused directly by human agency, e.g. murder/genocide

Question 3

What is the logical problem of evil?

Answer 3

The problem that the existence of evil rules out the existence of the God of Classical Theism

Question 4

Name a scholar associated with the logical problem of evil

Answer 4

J.L. Mackie

Question 5

How does Mackie illustrate the logical problem of evil?

Answer 5

Using the inconsistent triad: evil exists; God is all-loving; God is all-powerful

Question 6

What is the evidential problem of evil?

Answer 6

The problem concerned with excessive and pointless suffering, which makes the existence of God improbable

Question 7

Name a scholar associated with the evidential problem of evil

Answer 7

William Rowe

Question 8

Name one of the examples William Rowe gives to illustrate the evidential problem of evil

Answer 8

Fawn burning in a forest fire

Question 9

What is a theodicy?

Answer 9

From the Greek theos/dike (God/justice): a defence of God against the problem of evil

Question 10

What is the God of Classical Theism?

Answer 10

A monotheistic God understood as omnipotent, omniscient, and omnibenevolent; the figure found across the three Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam)

Question 11

Who gave the earliest version of the Free Will Defence?

Answer 11

St Augustine of Hippo

Question 12

What was the world like when it was created, according to Augustine?

Answer 12

It was perfect - as seen in the Book of Genesis

Question 13

What is the cause of moral evil, according to Augustine?

Answer 13

God gave humans free will so they could enter into a loving relationship with him, but they abused it and chose evil instead

Question 14

What is the cause of natural evil, according to Augustine?

Answer 14

The sins of humans and fallen angels disrupted the harmony of God’s creation and brought natural evil into the world

Question 15

Why, according to Augustine, are we all deserving of punishment?

Answer 15

We all carry original sin as we were “seminally present in the loins of Adam”

Question 16

What is Augustine’s proof that God is all-loving?

Answer 16

He would be justified in sending us all to Hell, but instead offers salvation through Christ

Question 17

Give a strength of the free will defence

Answer 17

It is faithful to the Biblical God and leaves all his attributes intact; it motivates us to address evil in the world as we recognise our responsibility for causing it

Question 18

Give a weakness of the free will defence

Answer 18

It relies on an overly literal interpretation of the Bible that would not be as appealing today; the idea of Original Sin is not backed up by our understanding of genetics/evolution; not everyone accepts free will

Question 19

What does Hick aim to improve upon from Augustine?

Answer 19

1) Augustine’s harsh view of the “fallen” human condition
2) The literal approach to the Bible that is incompatible with evolution and other modern beliefs

Question 20

Which classical theologian does Hick draw on in his theodicy?

Answer 20

St Irenaeus

Question 21

According to Hick, what was the world like when it was created?

Answer 21

Imperfect - humans were spiritually immature in the beginning

Question 22

According to Hick, we grow from the image of God into what?

Answer 22

His likeness: Hick is suggesting that we are designed with certain God-like qualities (we are creative, moral, etc.) but we do not FULFIL them straight away

Question 23

What is the ‘epistemic distance’?

Answer 23

The ‘knowledge gap’ that God created; we are aware of the possibility of his existence, but far enough away that belief is still a choice

Question 24

What is the purpose of the ‘epistemic distance’ in soul-making theodicy?

Answer 24

It shows that God does not coerce us, and plays the role of a loving father who gives us the time to chose to enter into a relationship with him

Question 25

According to Hick, what happens if soul-making is unsuccessful in life?

Answer 25

It continues after death (link to Replica Theory - see Self Death & Afterlife topic)

Question 26

What is universal salvation?

Answer 26

Hick’s belief that everyone will eventually get to reach Heaven

Question 27

Give a strength of soul-making theodicy

Answer 27

The idea that we show our greatest qualities in our response to evil and suffering is often seen in the world - we feel more proud when we have achieved something against all the odds; universal salvation is a more appealing idea than Augustine’s “two cities” of the saved and the damned, because it promises a final end to evil and suffering

Question 28

Give a weakness of soul-making theodicy

Answer 28

If Hick’s analogy is taken to its logical extreme, God would be an abusive parent for allowing us to face such pointless suffering which does not improve our souls (evidential problem); universal salvation removes the incentive to be moral & means even Hitler etc. will avoid the punishment of Hell

Question 29

How is Christian scripture used to support the idea of process theology?

Answer 29

Genesis - when the Earth was created it was “formless and void” - suggests that there was pre-existing material that God created the Earth from

Question 30

Who came up with process theology?

Answer 30

David Griffin (developing the ideas of Whitehead and Hartshorne)

Question 31

What is the name of Griffin’s process theology book?

Answer 31

Process Theology: An Introductory Exposition

Question 32

What does Griffin say about the nature of God?

Answer 32

He is omnibenevolent, but there are limitations to his omnipotence and omniscience (he cannot be certain about the future and cannot fully control the outcome of creation)

Question 33

How does Griffin support God’s omnibenevolence?

Answer 33

1) if God is to be in a loving relationship with us he must be movable (able to experience compassion), unlike the “immovable mover” of traditional theology
2) God takes in our experiences, positive and negative, and suffers alongside us
3) He “lures” rather than “coerces us”; he is persuasive, not abusive

Question 34

Why is Griffin a “panentheist”?

Answer 34

He believes that God exists within the universe and beyond it; he is part of the materiality of the world

Question 35

What does Griffin mean by describing God as “open to the future”?

Answer 35

He creates the future alongside us and responds to our choices as we make them (the process theologian Robert Mesle compares this to improvisational jazz)

Question 36

How does process theology explain/justify natural and moral evil?

Answer 36

God has only good intentions for the universe but cannot control the matter within it; sometimes it rebels which causes evil; but although God took a risk with creation, we should trust that it was a sensible decision and that it would have been worse for him not to create the universe

Question 37

According to Griffin, what happens when creation becomes more complex and developed?

Answer 37

We become able to feel both good and evil more deeply - greater heroism and greater evil will come to exist

Question 38

Give a strength of process theology

Answer 38

As a 20th Century theodicy it is a more practical response to the horrors of Auschwitz and Hiroshima - it acknowledges that the future may be bad and does not try to frame all suffering as good; by focusing on God’s omnibenevolence rather than his omnipotence, it keeps his most important quality intact

Question 39

Give a weakness of process theology

Answer 39

It is vague on the issue of life after death, suggesting that we are simply remembered in the mind of God - so is not a properly religious belief; a God who is not omnipotent is hardly worth believing in