Problem of Evil Flashcards
Define moral evil
Evil done as a result of human choices
Define Non-moral evil (natural evil)
Evil that follows from natural sources eg earthquakes
What is the inconsistent triad
God is all powerful, so he could prevent evil. He is all-loving, so that he would want to prevent evil, yet evil exists. How is it possible to have all three claims?
Define Deism
the belief that there is God who created the Universe but had no further interest in or connection with its affairs
What is Abrahamic religions
Judaism, Islam and Christianity - trace their history to the ancient figure of Abraham
Define theodicy
attempt to justify the goodness of God given the fact of evil
Define Heresy
an opinion, viewpoint of practice at variance with established teaching, particularly of a church or religion
what is the soul-deciding theodicy
sees evil as a test of goodness + faithfulness to God
What is Original Sin
disobedience of Adam and Eve lead to all humanity being flawed
What is a Pelagianis
A heresy from the fifth century, named after the Briton, Pelagius. It denies Original sin + believes that we can attain heaven by our own unaided effort - do not depend on God
Define Dysteleogical
something that serves no purpose
What is Instrumentalism
the belief that something’s value depends on its usefulness as a means to bring about something else
What does the logical problem of evil (Mackie) aim to show
the existence of evil is logically inconsistent with the existence of God of classical theism - God defined as omnipotent, omnibenevolent + omniscient
What is the modern logical problem of evil Mackie’s inconsistent triad explanation
P1. An omnipotent God has the power to eliminate evil
P2. An omnibenevolent God has the motivation to eliminate evil
P3. Nothing can exist if there is a being with the power + motivation to eliminate it
= God and evil cannot possible co-exist
Hume 4 posterior evidence of evil in the world
. Animal suffering (William Roe’s eg of the deer dying in a forest fire)
. creatures limited ability to ensure survival + happiness
. why does nature have extr3emes which makes survival and happiness more difficult
. why doesn’t God intervene to prevent individual natural disasters
What is Hume’s evidential problem of evil explanation
P1. we are only justified in believing what the evidence suggests
P2. We only have evidence of imperfection
C1. only justified in believing that imperfection exists
C2. belief in a perfectly powerful + good being is not justified
What is Irenaeus theodicy
God allows evil - serves good purpose of soul-making
biblical example - Jonah disobeyed God = thunderstorm + big fish to eat for 3 days - spat out fish = obey God
What is Hick theodicy
developed Irenaeus theodicy
Epistemic distance - God has to ‘hide’ himself because if we did know then we would follow his commands out of obedience - not right moral motivation for character development
