Problem Of Evil - Process Thought

Question 0

What is the Hebrew translation of Genesis 1:1?

Answer 0

“When God began to create the heavens and the earth, the earth was without form and void”.

Question 1

Why do scholars not accept it as a theodicy?

Answer 1

It does not defend the all powerful God in the light of evil, and so it is called a ‘process thought’. It starts from the assumption that God is good, but not omnipotent.

Question 2

What is Griffins argument from this translation?

Answer 2

That the universe was uncreated and eternal, and having within it the deity. As God did not create these laws then He must be bound by the,, therefore He is not omnipotent.

Question 3

God and the two kinds of goodness

Answer 3

In every situation God works by persuading and luring His creation a state of greater order in which two kinds of goodness are apparent: harmony and intensity.

Question 4

God’s lack of power and evil.

Answer 4

When his creation rebels, He does not have the power to impose His will, the corresponding evils of discord will result.

Question 5

God and the development of the creation process

Answer 5

The possibilities and good and evil increase, as both harmony and discord can be experienced in greater intensity.

Question 6

The development of humans

Answer 6

With the development of humans who exert their own influence on the world, God’s control is further diminished, since humans are free to ignore God. Their knowledge is limited of God’s will since He did not fashion them after His own likeness, thus God cannot completely control His creature.

Question 7

David Griffin quote about worldly beings

Answer 7

“God cannot coerce worldly beings, because the inherent they have cannot be overridden”

Question 8

Why does process thought not need to justify why God does not intervene to stop evil?

Answer 8

By admitting the limits of God’s power, process theodicy no longer needs to justify why God does not intervene to stop evil, for God is simply unable to do this. But this does not free God from responsibility for evil altogether. It was, after all, God who started off the process of creation, knowing He would be unable to control it.

Question 9

David Griffin quote about God’s responsibility for evil

Answer 9

“God is responsible for evil in the sense of having urged the creation forward to those states in which discordant feelings could be felt with greater intensity”.

Question 10

What is the main task of the process thought?

Answer 10

The main task of the process theodicy therefore is to explain satisfactorily why God took such a risk rather than allowing the original matter to remain chaotic and undisturbed.

Question 11

Griffin and the quantity and quality of good in the universe.

Answer 11

Griffin suggests that the universe has produced enough quantity and quality of good to outweigh evil, so that given a choice between the universe we live in and no universe, the former is preferable, this it is argued, justifies God’s will.

Question 12

God suffering?

Answer 12

God himself suffers along with the world every time His creative desires are frustrated, such as when moral evil is committed.
This follows from that God is part of the world, affected by it but unable to control it.

Question 13

Why is it unreasonable for humans to condemn God?

Answer 13

It is unreasonable for humans to condemn God for His role in creation when He has suffered more than anyone from the consequences, having experienced any suffering there has ever been.

Question 14

Whitehead quote about God being part of this world

Answer 14

God is a “fellow sufferer who understands”

Question 15

Whitehead, God in the world

Answer 15

God is an integral element of the world and participates actively in it’s struggles and concerns.

Question 16

David Griffin quote about why evil is required

Answer 16

“correlation between the capacity to enjoy and the capacity to suffer is a necessary, metaphysical correlation, inherent in the nature of things”.

Question 17

What is evil regarded as?

Answer 17

In the process thought, evil is regarded as discord in the world that brings about destruction.

Question 18

What does Whitehead describe evil as being?

Answer 18

Whitehead describes evil as “in itself destructive and evil” and concludes that “destruction as a dominant fact in the experience is the correct definition of evil”.

Question 19

What benefits are there from the discord of evil?

Answer 19

From this discord there can be benefits – it allows for the recognition of perfection and generates the desire for a better world.

Question 20

Griffin - evil necessary for experiencing good values

Answer 20

We cannot experience all the values if we have not experienced the opposite. For example we cannot experience enjoyment, happiness, goodness without experiencing misery and sadness and evil.

Question 21

David Griffin quote about suffering and sins

Answer 21

“Suffering and sinful intentions resulting in suffering are not the only forms of evil. Any absence of good that could have been realised is evil even if no suffering is involved”.

Question 22

How can natural evil be explained?

Answer 22

Natural evil is explained by the suggestion that all creatures can deviate from God’s will and this causes natural evil.
As God is not working with materials that were in a perfect state when He created the world then there is scope for natural disasters when these materials fail.