problem of suffering and evil

Question 1

moral evil

Answer 1

suffering caused by humans

e.g. murder, rape, crime

Question 2

natural evil

Answer 2

suffering caused by naturally

e.g. hurricane

Question 3

free will

Answer 3

christians believe that God gave them freewill which allows them to make their choice without God intervening

Freewill is a key argument for christians to argue that God does exist despite the suffering which exists in the world

Question 4

theist

Answer 4

someone who believes that God(s) exist

Question 5

agnostic

Answer 5

unsure if God(s) exist (50/50)

Question 6

atheist

Answer 6

does not believe that God(s) exist

Question 7

key attributes of God

Answer 7

• Omnipotent (all powerful)
• Omniscient (all knowing)
• Benevolent (all good/loving)

Question 8

Sin

Answer 8

the breaking of God law, doing the wrong thing and refusing to live as God intended

Question 9

‘The Fall’

Answer 9

when Adam and Eve picked an apple from ‘the tree of knowledge of good and evil’ despite the fact God strictly told them not to and so sin entered the world

Question 10

Gods Grace

Answer 10

refers to Gods free and unmerited love and forgiveness shown to sinful humanity

Question 11

theodicies

Answer 11

an argument in favour of God

the best known theodicy is the freewill defence argument

Question 12

Determinism

Answer 12

the philosophical idea that every event or state of affairs, including every human decision and action is the inevitable and necessary consequence of antecedent states of affairs

opposite of freewill, as we’re not as free as one might of imagined when making decisions as we make them based on certain factors/consequences for previous actions

Question 13

democritus and leucippus

Answer 13

law of cause and effect

«nothing occurs at random;but everything happens for a reason and by necessity»

Question 14

compatibilism

Answer 14

the belief that freewill and determinism are compatible ideas and that it’s possible to believe both without being logically incorrect

Question 15

devil or satan

Answer 15

most christians believe that as well as a lower for good(God) there’s also a power for evil(satan/devil)

some christians argue that the evil and suffering which exists in the world is caused by the devil and so isn’t Gods fault taking the blame away from him

Question 16

St. Augustine

Answer 16

4th century christian theologian and philosopher
his theodicy rejects the notion of evil existing in itself and instead regards it as a corruption of goodness caused by humanities abuse of freewill
Gods goodness and benevolence according to the augustinian theodicy remains perfect and without responsibility for evil and suffering
«evil has no positive nature; but the loss of good has received the name evil»

Question 17

alvin plantinga

Answer 17

philosopher from the 1970s who supports the freewill defence argument
he believes that God created being who are free to make their own decisions without him intervening and that good can’t exist without evil

Question 18

J.L. Mackie

Answer 18

an Australian philosopher from the 1950s
he believes that God cannot exist if evil does and created his own inconsistent triad which shows that evil and a God who is omnipotent, omniscient and benevolent are not compatible
mackie believes that we can prove evil exists and therefore God doesn’t meaning he’s not the cause of evil and suffering

Question 19

Epicurus

Answer 19

an ancient greek philosopher
supports logical problem of evil
«if a God is willing to prevent evil, but is not able to then he is not omnipotent. if he is able but not willing the his is malevolent, if he is both able and willing then whence cometh evil. if he is neither able nor willing then why call him God?»
Epicurus believes that if an omnipotent, omniscient and benevolent God exists then evil and suffering doesn’t, but there’s a lot of suffering and evil in the world and so God doesn’t exist

Question 20

Richard Swinburne

Answer 20

British philosopher of religion form the university of Oxford supports compatibilsm
he believes there’s a reason for evil and God has the right to allow evil due to the extreme dependence people have on him
Gods allowed people to have infinite good in the world and be with God forever and so swinburne believes that Gods provided people with a choice between food and rejection of good
responsibilities is upon the person not God
Swinburne rejects original sin and denies that God knows the future deee actions of creatures

Question 21

William Rowe

Answer 21

atheist philosopher asks the question of why we must suffer so intensely- even if suffering was necessary to suffer at the level we’re suffering at, as a result there cannot be such thing as an omnibenevolent being.
«an omniscient, wholly, good being would prevent occurrence of any intense suffering it could… therefore there does not exist and omnipotent, omniscient, wholly good being»