RS Problem Of Evil Flashcards
Ireneaou argued against Gnosticism who said?
God was imperfect
Ireneaous based his theory on
The original sin in genesis
Genesis 3:21 ‘so The Lord god banished him from the garden of Eden’
Against heresies book 3 quote ?
Man who had been captured was loosened from the bonds of condemnation
- advocated free will- if god had created us perfectly it wouldn’t eb our choice to develop into his likenes
Childlike beings to children of god allows our souls to?
2-stage process 1)created in the likeness of God but spiritualy/morally immauture
Souls ahve to become noble
2) Immature state to develop grow mature to potential fulfillment of God
Swinburnes quote on the problem of evil
We would never learn the art of goodness designed as a paradise
Why does god not interfere with evil according to john hick in
Evil and the god of love
God purposefully distances himself an epistemic distance (gap of knowledge) from humanity to allow us to character build- choose to fulfill his wishes- shown by God’s absence in the empirial world’ religious ambuigitty’
Virtues are Better hard earned than ready made- can’t morally grow woithout making our own decsions
John Keats compares the universe to
A vale of soul-making
Suffering works on 3 levels?- justifying natural evil
Best possible world- wouldn’t challenge us to make the right decisions
1) humans have a physical pain to feed
2) prompts desire to feed
3) forces us to help others (moral growth)
Evil gives humans liberty to ascertain their own moral goods while also enabling a predictable environment with natural lawsthat are nothing to do with human needs but are indepdnmant- that humasn ahve to folow to aviouid danger and devlop human intelelct
Hick’s coutner-factual hypothesis- argues if we lived in a paradise state- no earthquakes/shooting people didn’t hurt them- we would never learn whatactions are right and what aren’t, no-oen got hurt- we would never feel the need to help people
Why do people suffer more than others- Hick used CE hypotheis- if good acts were rewarded and bad oens punished, peope would onyl act out fo goodwill to be rewarded/ avoid punishement- wouldn’t be becuase they want to fulfill god’s purpsoe
Irenaous belived your soul could only be completely made noble in?
Heaven- afterlife with god
Humans are directed towards it by bible Jesus reincarnation and Old Testament prophets
‘makign peace and freidnship with thsoe who repent and turn to him’
since justification for evil si universeal, salvation msut be universal too
Strengths of ireanous?
Provides an explanation for evil and why innocnet people suffer
Keeps with the theistic view of god
Explanation for free will
Weaknesses of ireanous
No biblical support for thodice/universal salvation
1) sontag- argues some evil is too intense to eb called a ‘training ground’ e.g Pakistan Tsunami (2004)
2) Griffin- human developemnt doesn’t take into account animal/environment suffering
3) Dostoyesky- through his charcter Ivan- argues heaven isn’t worht the price of innnocent lives- ‘returns his ticket’
4) Dawkins argue its arrogant to think of humans as hgihest point in creation (greater purpsoe?)
Inconsistent triad
God is not omnipotent
Descartes said of could do literally anything- why didn’t he program us to do good
Mackie said although this would contradict our free will- doesn’t amtter since god is omnipotent
Modfications to the cocept of God ato answer the problm of evil: God ISN’T omnipotent
Aquinas- God can do anything logically possible- easy to confuse greek god of philos (plato and Aristotl belived) with the perosnal god of theism
Greek god - he didn’t feel pain (immutable)
Bible- Jesus became human and weak through the crucifixion Juergen moltmann- Jesus was the sacrificial lamb ‘dies to take away the sin of the world’ john 1:29
Consequently human beings are genuinely free
Keith Ward agreed that God suffers with humans
God acts though persuasion not force- tries to convince us to dright but repsects autonomy of every individual
No guarantee of will come over evil
Swinburne ‘this is not a toy world’
Quote for where does evil come from
If god us willing and able what source is evil from
Hume’s problem of evil/Epicurean problem/hypothesis is..
If God is both omnipotent and omibenevolent how can evil exist in the world (question that Ireanous and Augustine [and process theodicy] try to answetr
Modifications tot he problem of God: God ISN’T omnisicent- everlasting or timeless?- keith ward
Keith Ward argues that God isn’t imeless- 1500 discoveries fo science and empiriism- proved that evrythign real is within time and space
God is evelastign but withi tuime ans space
He knws the past presnet but can’t know the future- since it is not logically ossible for a god within tim to know the future it si not a slef-contradiction
