Problem of Evil Flashcards
Privation
A lack of an essential characteristic or property; blindness is a lack of sight
Theodicy
Justification of God in the face of evil and suffering
Inconsistent Triad
God cannot be omnipotent and omnibenevolent or evil would not exist
Epistemic Distance
The knowledge of God’s existence is not obvious to humans in order to allow free will
Eschatology
The end times or last days of the Universe; often a reference to the afterlife
Soul-making
Hicks phrase referent to growing from the image into the likeness of God
Soul-deciding
Augustine- the individual decides where their souls will go depending on their response to Jesus
Moral Evil
Evil and suffering caused by humans
Natural Evil
Evil and suffering caused by natural events
Dysteleological Evil
Evil and suffering that doesn’t have a purpose
Logical Problem of Evil
How can God be all powerful and all loving yet evil exists
Evidential Problem of Evil
The sheer amount of evil in the world
There is too much evidence that evil exists which makes God…
impotently he wants to prevent evil but cant or malicious as he is able to prevent evil but wont - the logical problem of evil
Augustines Theodicy
Humankind was seminally present in Adam and therefore disobedient causing an imbalance in natural order - this therefore being the fall
Schleiermachers logical errors
If God created a perfect world, where did evil come from? The essence of perfection is surely unchanging. Why would anyone rebel in a perfect world, if humans chose evil then they must’ve had a knowledge of her, which could’ve only come from God
Hicks theodicy - humans were created in the image of God (we have the potential to be good)
but we have not grown into his likeness
If God created us as perfect humans then we would be like robots and our love would be valueless
Perfection cannot come ready made, it must develop through free choice so God had to give us the choice to disobey
Problem with Hick
it seems unfair that everyone ends up in heaven as mother Teresa and Hitler would both then be perfect