Problem of evil Flashcards
What is a theodicy?
justification of god in the face of evil
What are the two problems of evil
logical problem(a priori) - an omnipotent god and a omnibenevolent god cannot logically exist if evil exists
evidential (a posteriori) - evidence of great evil and suffering in the world makes us question nature of god
What did Epicurus say?
if god is good and powerful - why evil?
if not good nor powerful - why call him god?
if not good but powerful - then not god of classical theism
What did J.L Mackie make ?
inconsistent triad
What was the inconsistent triad?
these three points cannot exist at the same time :
- god is omnipotent
- god is benevolent
- evil exists
Who created Augustian theodicy?
St Augustine of hippo
What did Augustine argue?
god is not responsible for evil it is our fault we need to decide whether to obey god or go against him
Is the ideology of Augusitine soul making or soul deciding?
soul deciding
What is Augustines main argument ?
“god saw all he had made and it was very good “ - god did not make evil but it is the absence of good also known as privatio Boni
How does Augustine describe evil to come around?
evil came around due to the fall of angels as a result of misusing freee will then convinced Adam and Eve to fall away
Quote from Augustine?
free will is the cause of our doing evil
What are the strengths of augustines argument ?
- allows him to be god of classical theism
- emphasis in human free will
- Christian belief
What are some weaknesses of Augustines argument ?
- we get blamed for something years ago
- not many people believe in angels
- perfect world would not have evil
- wouldn’t god know about the evil?
- based on genesis which might not be true
Who created the Irenaean theodicy ?
Came before Augustine - Irenaeus . At a time where christianity was new so question of evil was prominent
What is Irenaeus’ main argument ?
free will theodicy - evil is necessary to have good we need choices to have free will
Is Irenaeus’ argument soul making or soul deciding?
soul making - evil is for humans to improve god allows for evil and suffering so humans can develop and grow and have a free relationship with god
What did C.S Lewis?
a world full of robots would not be worth creating
Quote to use for Irenaeus ?
god made us in his image but we must grow into his likeness - we are not born perfect but must use our free will to grow to be perfect
Weaknesses of Irenaeus ?
- some scenarios we cannot learn from - holocaust
- we can imagine a world with less suffering
- why is natural world evil
- why is evil unbalanced
quote fro rabbi irving greenburg ?
no statement should be made not in the face of burning children
Who was Hick?
Hick was a pluralist and believed all people will reach salvation regardless of religious belief . He said augustines ideas were outdated as many now believed in evolution and not Adam and eve
what is pluralism?
believe all people will reach salvation
What did hick create?
epistemic distance - god is hidden from humanity so we have genuine free choice to make our decisions if god revealed himself we would be not free to make decisions
What did hick say was the most important part of god ?
his benevolence
What were some weaknesses of hicks argument ?
-allows for bad people to get to heaven
- if omnibenevolent then he would be just - just gods don’t let evil people go to heaven
- some suffer more than others
- how can he be benevolent if he lets people go through so much
Strenghts of hicks argument ?
gives evil purpose
death is less scary
explains why god cannot interfere
