Problems of Evil and Suffering Flashcards
Give the general problem of evil and Augustine Quotation.
- the problem of evil is the challenge that the existence of evil poses for faith in a classical theist God
- if God is omnipotent, then God is able to eliminate evil if God wants to eliminate evil and can eliminate evil, then why does evil exist? We can conclude that since evil exists, God - at least an omnipotent, good God - does not exist.
- Augustine phrased the problem thus: ‘either God cannot abolish evil or he will not: if he cannot then he is not all-powerful, if he will not, then he is not all good.’
Give the logical problem of evil. Include JL Mackie quotes
what type of argument is it?
- “God is omnipotent; God is wholly good; and yet evil exists. There seems to be some contradiction between these three propositions.’
- it is a deductive argument which states that the mere existence of evil is logically incompatible with the existence of an omnipotent, good God (OCT)
Describe the Mackie’s Inconsistent Triad
- If God is omnipotent , he could do anything that is logically possible. This means that he could have created a world free from evil or put an end to evil.
- If God is omnibenevolent, he would want to protect his creation and end evil and suffering. An all-loving God would prevent unnecessary suffering.
- If God had these qualities than evil and suffering should not exist , yet there is too much evidence supporting the validity of evil’s existence to allow the supposition to be true thus God must be either impotent or malicious.
Describe the Evidential Problem of Evil
what type of argument is it?
- it claims that the amount and distribution of evil that exists is good evidence that an omnipotent. good God does not exist.
- It is a posteriori, inductive argument that argues that the amount of evil exists in the world makes it probable that the God of classical theism does not exist.
Describe William Rowe’s development on the Evidential Problem of evil
- Rowe believes that a God who is all-powerful would not allow evil to exist if it did not serve a greater good
- therefore the evidence of pointless suffering is evidence against God’s existence.
Define moral and natural evil.
give Hick quote.
- moral evil usually refers to intentional human action or inaction that results in suffering
- natural evil refers to suffering caused by natural events and processes.
- ‘It occurs independently of human action’ Hick
define a theodicy.
-an argument which tries to make evil compatible with the existence of an omnipotent , good God.
Give the 2 assumptions which Augustine’s theodicy rests upon.
1) Evil did not come from God since God’s creation was faultless and perfect
2) Evil having come from elsewhere , God is justified in allowing it to stay.
Summarise Augustinian’s Theodicy.
- God is perfect and so is his world (‘ And god saw everything that he had made…it was very good.’ Genesis 1:31)
- God cannot be blamed for evil since evil is not a substance but a privation of Good
- evil comes from fallen angels and humans who turned away from God due to their misuse of free will
- everyone is guilty as everyone is seminally present in the loins of Adam thus everyone should be punished
- natural evil came about as humans destroyed the natural order which is a fitting punishment
- therefore God is right not to intervene to stop suffering
Give the strengths of Augustinian Theodicy
there’s 8
- it fits with the Genesis account and so appeals to Christians who accept the authority of the Bible as the World of God.
- the existence of Heaven makes right injustice in the world. Suffering and evil experienced will be righted on judgement day.
- it is a classical theistic response, which preserves the goodness of God and places blame on humans. Humans have the choice to do good.
- Augustine accounts for natural evil as a result of the introduction of moral evil into the world.
- the view of Augustine that evil is ‘ABSENCE OF goodness’ as a result of human free will rather than by the design of God is supported by the view that human beings have free will which entails the possibility of moral evil.
Give weaknesses of Augustine’s theodicy
- dependent on the claim that the Fall was an actual event in human history. Augustine believed that the world was made perfect. Tis contradicts the evolutionary theory which claims that the world evolved from varying states of chaos - not the garden of Eden. Many Christians understand the Fall to be metaphorical but this means that the fall is not literally responsible for all natural evil and that God’s world contained flaws which make him responsible for evil.
- The assumption that each human was seminally present in Adam. This must be rejected on biological grounds which means we are not actually guilty for Adam’s sins. This means God is not just allowing us to suffer for someone else’s sins
- If this is true , it is grossly unfair . Why would a just God allow adults and children to suffer as a result of a choice two people made.
- God chose to create the world even though he knew that the fall would happen. Hick argues that this makes god ultimately responsible for evil because of his omniscience. The act of deliberately creating people so that they will spend eternity in Hell is an act of torture that is totally at odds with an omnibenevolent God.
- F.D.E. Schleiermacher said it was flawed. it was a logical contradiction to say that a perfectly created world had gone wrong, since this would mean that evil had created itself ‘ex nihilo’, which is impossible. If God is really all-powerful, then he must have created the world exactly as he wanted it to be - angels and humans should have no trace of evil in them and they would - since they do, the theodicy is flawed.
- Many religious people argue that evil is a thing and not just a ‘privation of good’ This takes the form of Satan. This also justifies the existence of Hell - which surely an all-loving God wouldnotallow?
Summarise the Free Will Defence
briefly mention Swinburne’s development
- it argues that evil is the result of our free will. It is better to have a universe with free will than without.
- Swinburne argues that God cannot intervene as even the worst evil is necessary for free will. If God intervened our freedom would be restricted.
- To develop a relationship with God people must freely choose to love him - ultimately this means they must have the choice to do good or evil
Give Soren Kierkegaard’s analogy to represent The FWD
- a king falls in love with a peasant girl. Although, he would have the power to force the girl to marry him, he instead chooses to win her round of her own accord since love cannot be created by compulsion.
- In the same way, God had to allow humans to develop for themselves if their love of God was to be genuine
Give the strengths of the free will defence
- it provides a logical reason for the existence of a moral evil in the world and removes the blame from God by placing it on humanity.
- if god gives humans free will , this necessarily entails the possibility of moral evil.
CA: Mackie takes the opposite view and argues that God could have created humans so that they had freedom of choice, yet still always chose good.
R: Plantinga agrees with Hick and argues that if God had designed them so that they would always choose good, they would not be truly free. Their choices would be predetermined, like robots. - the benefits of free will are sufficient to justify the level of evil in the world. Free will brings the reward of unity with God in heaven. This can only be achieved through the choice to follow Jesus’s path.
CA: can this justify high levels of evil exemplified - Holocaust. - it provides explanations for natural evil - the devil and Augustine
Give the weaknesses for the FWD.
- Vardy argues that the FWD only deals with moral evil and does not account for natural evil at all
CA: there are two replies which attempt to show that our free will causes both evils: - first we could argue that natural evil is the result of an evil supernatural being, such as the Devil.
- the 2nd reply is Augustine’s theodicy
- If all events are determined, then there is no free choice. This is the case for God’s omniscience.
-Mackie would argue that God should have created a world where HUMANS always freely choose good.