Problem of evil

Question 1

Describe the beliefs of John Stuart Mill

Answer 1

There can’t be a God because evidence of evil disproves the omni-benevolence of God so we can’t look to him or nature as a guide of moral behaviour or worship him for goodness

Question 2

Augustine: God can’t make anything (1), during his youth he was a member of (2) which led him to believe people acted badly as a result of (3)

Answer 2

1 - imperfect
2 - a Manicheism cult
3 - evil forces taking dominance

Question 3

Augustine later referred to Christianity and created the idea of (1) which concluded evil is (2) because he could not accept the idea of (3) God.

Answer 3

1 - Privatio boni
2 - not a real quality
3 - a rivaling

Question 4

Augustine: Different abilities and variety are not evil, they are part of (1) and some creatures are more (2), evil entered the world as a result of the (3)

Answer 4

1 - a great diversity in nature
2 - limited than others
3 - Fall

Question 5

Why does Augustine believe angels began to distance themselves from God?

Answer 5

Angels were created perfect but given different grace so they distanced themselves from God as a misuse of free will not to worship him but instead to rival him so Satan is the chief of fallen angels so everything wrong with the world can be traced back to them

Question 6

Describe the theory of Irenaeus

Answer 6

• God permits evil so beings can grow and mature with a free relationship with God
• Evil exists so we appreciate the good
• Good is a qualitative judgement

Question 7

Why does Irenaeus believe humans have free will?

Answer 7

People are made in God’s image and have free will to be held accountable for their actions so being good comes from conscious decision, we are only in God’s likeness after death, without free will we are without purpose

Question 8

Define ‘theodicy’

Answer 8

An attempt to justify God in the face of evil and suffering

Question 9

What is the difference between natural and moral evil?

Answer 9

Natural is suffering not caused by humans whereas humans are the cause of suffering in moral evil

Question 10

Give three advantages of Augustine’s theodicy

Answer 10

• Reasons individuality as ‘lord of own being’
• Expresses individuality and limitations as a good thing
• Mirrors humans and angels to have superior worth

Question 11

Give some disadvantages of Augustine’s theodicy

Answer 11

• Rejects imperfection and evil as inequality
• Contradictory (Manicheeism and Christianity)
• Undermines significance of God
• Blames the Fall for all disasters and wrongdoing

Question 12

Give some advantages of Irenaeus’ theodicy

Answer 12

• Helped to write the new testament and so was friends of Jesus’ disciples
• Accepted existence of evil
• Logical with evident explanation
• Optimistic and doesn’t opress poor behaviour

Question 13

Give some disadvantages of Irenaeus’ theodicy

Answer 13

• Not clearly explained (how does evil benefit our relationship with God?)
• Only gain God’s likeness after death is demotivating

Question 14

Describe John Hick’s soul-making theodicy

Answer 14

• If we never experienced challenge we wouldn’t develop personalities or morals
• Rejected Augustinian theodicy and accepted Darwin’s evolution
• Evil is God-given so we can choose to build a relationship with God
• ‘Vale of soul-making’

Question 15

Give a quote from Hick

Answer 15

“A person-making environment cannot be a pain free paradise”

Question 16

Describe Keat’s theodicy

Answer 16

He described the world as a dark valley through which pain was endured so the soul could develop until it was worthy to meet God

Question 17

Define ‘epistemic distance’

Answer 17

God deliberately remains partially hidden from humanity so when we make moral decisions, we can be held responsible, we can make this distance between us and God closer or further away

Question 18

Give a quote from John Stuart Mill

Answer 18

“Killing is the most criminal act… nature does once to every being that lives”

Question 19

What does ‘privatio boni’ mean?

Answer 19

A phrase used by Augustine to mean the absence of goodness

Question 20

Describe the problem of evil as a logical problem

Answer 20

• The inconsistent triad
• Supported by J. L. Mackie and David Hume
• A priori

Question 21

Describe the problem of evil as an evidential problem

Answer 21

• John Stuart Mill
• Evil is evident in the world which goes against a loving God showing a sadistic nature
• Animals suffer too

Question 22

Describe the views of Mary Baker Eddy

Answer 22

• Christian scientist believe in non-reality of evil

- Evil is an illusion which disappears when understood as nothing compared to the allness of God

Question 23

Describe Friedrich Scheiermacher’s critique of Augustine’s theodicy

Answer 23

It is impossible to find a cause or motive for angels to sin unless they were first created imperfectly or evil would have come into the world out of nowhere unless God made it

Question 24

Give a quote from J.L.Mackie

Answer 24

“A logical problem… not a scientific problem… solved by a decision or an action”

Question 25

How does God oppose the problem of evil?

Answer 25

If God was omnipotent then he could eliminate suffering, if God was omnibenevolent he would want too and if God was omniscient he would know how to so God and evil cannot both exist alongside so God cannot exist because evil does

Question 26

What does Mackie believe is an adequate solution to the problem of evil?

Answer 26

Deny God is omni-benevolent or ignore evil exists in the world

Question 27

What does Mackie believe is a fallacious solution to the problem of evil?

Answer 27

He objects that suffering is necessary to appreciate good because it is a restriction to God’s omnipotence

Question 28

What is Mackie’s first and second order goods?

Answer 28

Evil (1) is pain and good (2) is happiness but good (2) is compassion and courage which isn’t possible without evil (1) but there is a ‘fatal objection’ which is cruelty as evil (2). If a theist argues that there is a good (3) which increases good (2) then there is also evil (3) which is also increasing into an infinite regress