Problem of Evil Flashcards
Is the Inconsistent Triad logical or evidential?
Inconsistent Triad = Logical
Name the three sides to the Inconsistent Triad.
What is the Inconsistent Triad?
The idea that God is, omnibenevolent, omnipotent and omnscient, yet allows evil to exist.
Take away one quality and either God doesnt exist or he isn’t the God of classical theism.
What is Mackie’s argument in reguards to the Inconsistent Triad?
God is (a) omnisicent/omnipotent and (b) omnibenevolent. However (c) still exists.
This means that either (a) or (b) must be logically inconsistent and therefore wrong.
Give evidence in reguards to Mackie to the Inconsistent Triad.
“A good omnipotent thing eliminates evil.”
What is Hume’s argument in regaurds to the Inconsistent Triad?
Either God is not omnipotent/omniscient or God is not omnibenevolent or evil does not exist and since evil does exist, then God does not.
Give evidence in reguards to Hume to the Inconsistent Triad argument.
“If God is omnipotent, omniscien and wholly good, whence evil?”
Give evidence in reguards to Epicurus to the Inconsistent Triad.
“Is he both able and willing? Then whence evil?”
4 solutions to the problem of evil
- Punishment : Augustine said we all inherited Original Sin from Adam and Eve so, evil is our punishment.
- Perspective : If no one is in danger, a volcanic eruption can be seen as beauty.
- Test of faith
- God’s plan : Greater plan of love, this links to unanswered prayers.
2 problems with the solutions to evil.
Solution One = Deny God’s quality
Problem One = This is unthinkable for most Christians
Solution Two = Deny evil’s existence
Problem Two = Most people have experienced the power of evil.
What is a problem with the LOGICAL problem of evil?
Since God is omnisciencent , all events that happen are known to God before the universe is created, meaning God would have known about the evil and suffering that was going to occur.
What are the 2 types of evidential evil?
- Evil that is overwhelming in quanity and quality.
- Evil that is pointless because it serves no useful purpose.
Give evidence for NATURAL evil for the evidential problem.
The Triassic Extinction
90% of marine species disappeared
79% of land species disappeared
natural disasters & asteroid strike
“some perpetrator committed murder on a scale of unequated in the history of the world.” - NASA
Perpetrator = God
Give evidence for MORAL evil for the evidential problem.
Rebellion - The Brother’s Karomazor
You can’t excuse evil from children as we have all inherited Original sin.
Evil in children doesn’t have a purpose.
“They’ve eaten the apple and know good and evil.” - Dostoyevsky
What is a problem with the EVIDENTIAL problem of evil?
An omniscient creator would know that both overwhelming and pointless evils would occur.
What is free will?
The idea that human beings are free to make their own choices in life.
What is a problem with free will?
Genuine free will necessarily includes:
- Permission to do evil.
- Ability to do evil.
- The opportunity to do evil.
Problem:
Take any of these three away, and free will in relation to God is an illusion.
Summarise Mackie’s Free Will Defence.
First Order Goods/evils = how you feel
Second Order Goods/evils = how you respond
Third Order Goods/evils = freedom
Second Order Goods minimise First Order Evils
Second Order Goods maximise First Order Goods
What does Mackie’s Free Will Defence teach us?
It teaches us to be morally responsible.
Summarise Mackie’s rejection of the Free Will Defence.
- Logically possible for a person to make free good choices all the time.
- God could have created free humans that only choose good.
- God didn’t do so.
- Either God is not omnipotent or omnibenevolent, either way, Free Will Defence fails.
Evidence for Mackie’s rejection of the Free Will Defence.
“His failure to avail himself of this possibility is inconsistent with His being omnipotent and wholly good.”
God could have done better.
What is Swinburne’s response to the Free Will Defence?
- Free will is allowed = risk of evil is worth it
- Remove evil = Remove free will
- Free will = Choice
- Moral Evil = Mistreating free will
Give evidence to Swinburne’s response to the Free Will Defence
“The less He allows men to bring about large-scale horrors, the less freedom and responsibilty He gives them.”
Plantinga’s response to the Free Will Defence.
If God designed us to always choose good, we would be like robots as our choices would be predetermined.
God may not intervene in certain situations because to do so would violate our free will.
