Problem of Evil Flashcards
What is the paradox of omnipotence and who argued for and against
Can god create something impossible for god to do e.g. create and unliftable stone
Descartes-god could both create and lift the unliftable stone
Aquinas-God can do the logically impossible, but wont, because of his nature
What are moral and natural evils
Moral evils-Evil as a result of human error; war, terrorism, theft.
Natural evils(non-moral evils)-Evil that occurs because of the world-floods, earthquakes etc
Who came up with the word theodicy and what does it mean
Leibniz-A justification for why a god will allow suffering and pain in his world
What different questions does moral and natural evil raise about the nature of god
Moral evil-Why would god let humans do evi(make human nature better) and why does he allow innocents to be affected
Natural evil-Why would gods let the world cause pain e.g. earthquakes illness, particularly to the innocent.
What is the epicurean paradox
If god is all loving- wants to prevent evil
If god is all powerful- can prevent evil
Yet evil and suffering still exist
Therefore, one of the three points must be wrong, and we can only verify one via sense-experience
(most refutations revolve around proving the premises as false e.g. allowing evil is more loving than not)
What did Bertrand russel say about the possible nature of a hypothetical god
If granted millions of years, omnipotent and omniscience, in order to produce a perfect world, the best you can come up with is the fascists or the klu kulx klan
Which Australian Philosopher reframed the epicurean paradox for modern audiences
J.L. Mackie in his essay Evil and Omnipotence, pointed out how it is irrational to believe in God, due to contradictory evidence(he called it the inconsistent triad)-written in 1955, experiences like auschwitz and hiroshima were particularly acute.
What does mackie say about any proposed solution to the inconsistent triad
It involves compromising on gods nature in some way e.g. universe is better with evil in-the fact that god couldnt create a better universe without evil is compromising on his omnipotence
What did William Rowe argue about the problem of evil
He discussed the evidential problem of evil, as he thought the logical problem relied on assumptions we simply can not make, e.g. that suffering in the short term will not result in a net positive in the future
However, Rowe argues that what he terms ‘intense suffering’ means that the god of classical theism existing is unlikely(talks a lot about a deer being burned alive slowly as opposed to quickly)
What points did Gregory.S.Paul raise about the problem of evil
In 2007, he bought in a statistical measure of why God is unlikely to exist, by coutning up the number of children who have died before reaching the ‘age of reason’ or consciousness, and so can not be said to have done anything to cause them to deserve to die. He puts this number at around 50 billion dead children throughout humanity’s lifetime, and believes god must be incongruent with this.
What common argument for evil is redundant to Paul’s dead kids
The idea of free will as the children died before being able to make any sort of decision
What are the two main theodicies that attempt to resolve the problem of evil
Augustine and Irenean Theodicies
What did Augustine think of evil
It was a privatio boni, or a lack of good, as opposed to being a concept in its own right (is blindness merely a lack of sight)
How did Augustine define goodness
As something fulfilling its purpose (a knife is good if it is sharp)
Why did Augustine believe that evil was present in the world
Original sin and the fall-Guilt was passed seminally on from Adam to all humanity
What role did Christ play according to Augustine
AS a second adam to reset humanity’s relation to god, so people could use their free will to decide to accept god(in mathews gospel, when jesus died, the curtain keeping people out the holiest place in the tempole was torn in two, representing the barrier being broken down)
Why does augustine absolve god of responsibility for evil in the world
It was humanity’’s free will, through adam, annd he took steps to recitify it, by sending jesus; nevertheless, suffering is still there due to those who reject god
Why is Augustine’s Theodicy referred to as soul-deciding
Becasue by using their free will as to whether or not to accept Jesus(Second Adam), they choose whether or not to go to heaven or hell
What does Aquinas state about the imperfect nature of the world, as an extension of Augustinian thinking
God created the world which is contingent(be definition, as it was created), and since contingent things are never perfect, God could not have logically created a perfect world
What are some challenges to Augustinians theodicies
Based on a literal interpretation of chapters 2 and 3 of the bible
No basis for a previously perfect world (no suffering) in scientific or archeological theory
Theologically, those not saved suffer in hell forever, how could a loving god allow this-john hick
Gregory Paul-Scale of suffering-evil cannot be a privatio boni
Who was Irenaeus
130-202 AD
From one of the first christian families
Helped to form the new testament
POssibly studied or knew polycarp, who in turn knew John the apostle
How does Irenaeus’s theodicy fundamentall differ from augustines in regard to evil
He doesnt try to argue that evil doesnt exist but instead acknowledges that god allowed evil in his creation
What is the process by which evil leads to certain benefits in the Irenaen theodicy known as
Second order goods-Things like patience, wisdom and compassion can only be born by experiencing pain, suffering or boredom
Why according to Irenaeus, did God create the world with evil in it
Without evil, there cannot be good-humans would just be robots
Therefore, evil needs to exist so humans can make valid choices in order to learn and grow
Hence, it is a soul-making theodicy
Why does Irenaeus point to Jonah as an example for his theodicy
He suffers being eaten by a whale, but still ends up at gods intended destination, having learnt about himself and god
What fairytale seemingly draws heavily from the Irenaen theodicy
Pinocchio- a puppet is created, but has no strings(free will) goes into the world, makes mistakes, but grows as a person, and eventually returns out of choice to have a freely chosen genuine relationship with his creator
Who is the most famous scholar to further develop the irenaen theodicy
John Hick
WHat does hick conclude about the nature of the world
That it exists to enable humans to learn and develop to their best ability, as intended by god, and evil is a part of that process
What does Hick name as the reason that god seemingly is indifferent to human suffering
Epistemic distance-God cannot be involved directly in human life otherwise our truly free choices would matter less
Where does hick mainly differ from irenaeus
Eschatologically-hick is much more developed, not believing in imminent judgement buit rather a continued journey(importnant for those who die young etc) and overall in universal salvation
His theodicy hinges on life after death as the reason for suffering
What does swinburne say about the choices god had for the world
Could have had infinite beings or beings with an infinite lifespan, or infinite work, or finite work, or finite creatures with a finite lifespan. Chose the last one because they are the only ones that can make impactful choices, opportunity cost etc
What are some challenges to Irenaen theodicies
Second order goods are flawed-God shouldnt need to rely on evil to do good
Some evils truly pointless-deer stuck in forest fire from S.Paul etc
Universal salvation unjust-adolf hitler-removes agency unbiblical etc
Sheer scale of human suffering
D.Z. Philips-suffering leads to more suffering, rather than 2nd order goods
No evidence for afterlife
Protest atheism a possibility
