Problems of evil

Question 1

What is evil(2)

Answer 1

a force or a negative power that is seen in many traditions as destructive and against God

the opposite of good

Question 2

What is the contradiction between an all loving God and the existence of evil(6)

Answer 2

all-loving means God wants best for its people

however there is evil and suffering

why doesn’t God limit the pain people can make?

why can’t God protect the innocent?

why does God allow natural disasters to happen?

is God uncaring and not bothered about the way people suffer?

Question 3

What is the contradiction between an all powerful God and the existence of evil(4)

Answer 3

all-powerful means God can do anything and has power over everything

why doesn’t God interfere to stop moral evil?

does God not have the power to stop the evil?
-if so, God may not be all-powerful

Question 4

What is the contradiction between an all knowing God and the existence of evil(5)

Answer 4

all-knowing means God knows everything

if God is all-knowing, he knows that there is evil + suffering in the world

does he know people are dying in great pain for no purpose?

• if so, why does he allows evil to hurt people?
• if not, can God be all-knowing?

Question 5

Name a quote on the contradiction between God and the existence of evil(2)

Answer 5

Augustine

“Either God is not able to abolish evil or not willing; if he is not able then he is not all-powerful, if he is not
willing then he is not all-loving.”

Question 6

What is natural evil

Answer 6

the harm or damage that is done to people and creation as a result of the forces of nature and the structure of the Earth

Question 7

What is moral evil

Answer 7

the harm that results from a bad choice made by human beings misusing their free wil

Question 8

Describe the Christian story about the origin of evil(4)

Answer 8

evil came into the world when Adam & Eve were tempted to eat the fruit from the tree of knowledge in the Garden of Eden

they were tempted to disobey God by snake (Devil in disguise?)

as punishment, they were forced to leave the Garden, death and natural evil came into the perfect world making it imperfect

metaphor showing what can happen when we are selfish and do not obey God

Question 9

Describe the Muslim story about the origin of evil(3)

Answer 9

Iblis refused to bow down and honour Adam + Eve and has since roamed the earth seeking to tempt humans as he is jealous of Allah’s affection towards them

Devil (Iblis) pulls humans away from God and we can only be saved through following the 5 pillars of Islam

similar to story of Adam and Eve

Question 10

Describe some problems with the stories about the origin of evil(6)

Answer 10

Why should God punish all humans for the mistake of Adam and Eve?

very unscientific

• snakes can’t talk
• science has shown the world has never been perfect.

only really provides a satisfactory explanation for Moral evil

Iblis/ Adam and Eve seem like scapegoats for God’s incapacity for perfection

Question 11

What are 4 explanations for the presence of evil

Answer 11

soul making, free will, karma, necessary contrast

Question 12

Explain necessary contrast(4)

Answer 12

put forward by Augustine and Aquinas

suggests evil is an absence of what is good

God only created good things but humans themselves brought evil in by doing things their own way

evil is a lack of good; we cannot value good without bad so evil is necessary to an understanding of goodness

Question 13

What are the strengths of the necessary contrast argument(3)

Answer 13

explains benefits of evil

we need natural evil (e.g. earthquakes) for the earth to exist with the capacity to sustain life.

if God takes us up to Heaven then this life is just temporary and death is not so awful

Question 14

What are the weaknesses of the necessary contrast argument(4)

Answer 14

evil is unneeded for contrast
-possible contrasting amounts of goodness

does not explain natural evil nor the excessive amount of evil in the world
-only a small amount of evil is required for contrast

Question 15

Explain soul making(4)

Answer 15

the belief that suffering makes it possible for people to grow into more mature individuals and prepares us for the afterlife

people learn/develop by making mistakes and experiencing hardships

Adam + Eve story as allegory: God made an imperfect world as he wanted us to grow up

John Hick developed the idea

Question 16

What are the strengths of the soul making argument

Answer 16

Fits with psychology - human learn through hard times and msitakes

Question 17

What are the weaknesses of the soul making argument(2)

Answer 17

why does suffering have to be so bad? surely we could learn from just a little bit of suffering

doesn’t justify suffering of innocent babies who won’t learn anything from dying due to terminal illnesses

Question 18

Explain free will defence(3)

Answer 18

believers think that God has given them freedom of choice

evil is required if anyone able to choose ‘good’, otherwise they are not real choices

God cannot interfere with human choices as it would destroy freedom

Question 19

What are the strengths of the free will defence(2)

Answer 19

allows God to remain loving and powerful

God is seen as sorting out problems created by human disobedience

Question 20

What are the weaknesses of the free will defence(3)

Answer 20

cannot account for the great extent of natural evil

• humans could use their freedom in a world where fewer things went wrong (cancer, hurricanes)
• these are not the result of human choices

Question 21

Explain karma(4)

Answer 21

the law of consequences

every action produces either good or bad karma

Hindus suggest we receive back the good/bad we have done through the actions of others and the state we are reincarnated in the next life

if evil happens, it must be consequence of what the person chose to do at an earlier time

Question 22

What are the strengths of karma(2)

Answer 22

acts as a fixed, inescapable system of justice

Because karma is the consequence of a person’s actions, all evil consequences are acceptable as they are the effects of what a person has done either in this life or in previous lives

Question 23

What are the weaknesses of karma(5)

Answer 23

requires reincarnation to make any sense

not obvious during human life times (no evidence)

may lead to oppression of the poor (it’s what they deserve)

who did the first bad thing and why did the person he did it to deserve it?

why should the person in this life be punished for what another reincarnation (which cannot now be remembered) did in a previous life?

Question 24

What are some arguments for the existence of natural evil(4)

Answer 24

People need natural evils for free will to be present, otherwise they are living in a world that cannot go wrong, and their own use of free will is limited
-this would mean that people were just God‟s puppets with no ability to affect things

they are just the result of the way the earth works
-if the earth existed in a way without natural evil it may not be able to support life

Question 25

What are some arguments against the existence of natural evil(4)

Answer 25

If God is the creator then God must have made natural evils but natural evils are bad and hurt people; does this mean that God is bad?

if natural evils come from a power of evil, e.g. the Devil, does this mean that God is not as powerful as the Devil

most explanations offered to justify the existence of evil (Free Will Defence) cannot account for the great extent of natural evil

humans could use their freedom in a world where fewer things went wrong

Question 26

What are some responses to evil and suffering(3)

Answer 26

providing or raising money to help obtain food, shelter, medication for those afflicted by natural disasters

Islam: stress on need for zakat (almsgiving) to help the need; Judaism: donating to religious charities via tzedakah

trying to improve the life of the homeless and drug addicts, as member of the Salvation Army do