Solutions to the problem of evil and suffering

Question 1

What is a theodicy?

Answer 1

An argument which attempts to justify the existence of an all loving, all powerful and all knowing god in the face of the problem of evil and suffering.

Question 2

Give three points about the free will defense

Answer 2

1. A key point of Augustine’s theory is that evil is a result of human free will, removing the blame from god and placing it on humans. 2. For humans to have a meaningful relationship with god, it must be earned, with genuine free will comes the genuine possibility of evil, if god were to take away the possibility of evil, he would also take away our free will. 3. The problem of evil is solved by arguing that moral evil happens when we misuse our god given free will, god is not to blame.

Question 3

What was Augustine influenced by for his theodicy?

Answer 3

Manichaeism, the idea that god is all powerful, but the dark of sin corrupts the light of his creation and the Bible story of genesis, wherein god created the world ex nihilo.

Question 4

What does Augustine argue about creation?

Answer 4

It has a structured rank from non sentient things to angels, making it richer then a world with just one type of being. Evil is not an independent force within the world, merely a privation of good (privatio boni) in the same way that blindness is a privation of sight, the world created by god was perfect.

Question 5

How did evil come into the world according to Augustine?

Answer 5

As a result of free choices made by angels and humans, they turned away from god. Satan was envious of god, so was cast out of heaven, then used his free will to corrupt Adam and Eve and the natural order of the world. As a punishment for their disobedience, humans were made mortal and their sin corrupted god’s creation and its natural goodness.

Question 6

What are natural and moral evil, according to Augustine?

Answer 6

Moral evil is the voluntary turning away of free beings from god, natural evil is Satan using his free will to corrupt the world’s natural order and god using natural disasters as punishment for human evil.

Question 7

What does Augustine say about suffering?

Answer 7

It is a deserved consequence of human/angelic sin. All humans deserve to suffer as the original sin is passed down seminally from Adam.

Question 8

How does Augustine maintain god’s omnibenevolence?

Answer 8

He sent Jesus to atone for human sin and allow us back into heaven. This grace fills the gap between the moral weakness of humans and the certainty of hell, god can forgive us because we are weak and have been corrupted by the fall.

Question 9

List four strengths of Augustine’s argument

Answer 9

1. It matches with the ideas of the Bible and is the main theodicy of the Catholic Church. 2. It avoids thinking of Satan as an independent power, which could challenge god’s omnipotence. 3. Free choice is necessary for morality to operate, without it, faith in god would be meaningless. 4. It is clear that blindness is a lack of sight, so evil must just be a lack of good, it was not originally part of god’s creation, so he can remain all loving.

Question 10

List three weaknesses of Augustine’s argument

Answer 10

1. He interprets Genesis in a literal fashion. 2. Natural evil predates humanity, so we can’t be blamed for it. 3. It seems unjust that god creates us with free will, then punishes us for using it.

Question 11

List three more weaknesses of Augustine’s argument

Answer 11

1. He does not justify the eternal suffering of sinners in hell. 2. He does not explain why the god of classical theism allows evil to exist in this world and the afterlife. 3. It is a logical contradiction to claim that a perfect world went wrong, if evil did not exist prior to the fall, then Adam and Eve would not have had the freedom to disobey god. Their disobedience suggests evil already existed.

Question 12

What is the Vale of soul making theodicy?

Answer 12

A soul making theodicy argues that natural and moral evil are essential for soul making, so serve a good purpose. God made the world imperfectly to allow us to develop from him image to his likeness.

Question 13

What is the difference between the image and likeness of god?

Answer 13

To be in god’s image means to have taken his form, to be in his likeness is to be morally good and spiritually developed.

Question 14

What is the importance of free will in the irenaean theodicy?

Answer 14

It gives us the potential to grow into the likeness of god and make a difference to the world. Evil is necessary for good, it allows us to grow morally/spiritually and is a test of our souls. Virtue is impossible if there is no evil to respond to, through struggling and suffering we develop our souls.

Question 15

How are natural and moral evil seen in the vale of soul making theodicy?

Answer 15

They are necessary, the world is a place of soul making and the existence of evils works with the existence of the god of classical theism. He is good and wants us to become good, so wants a world where this is possible.

Question 16

How did Hick develop the irenaean theodicy?

Answer 16

The best goods come from free will, virtues developed through hardship are better then virtues god could have instilled in us from scratch. God did not create a perfect world, but we have a perfect world to look forward to, either in the future or in the afterlife.

Question 17

What is epistemic distance?

Answer 17

A distance in knowledge/understanding between god and man, this allows the development of free choice because if we knew what god knows, we would have no choice but to do the right thing. It is important that we make mistakes and learn from them, one who has become good through dealing with evil is “good in a richer and more valuable sense” then someone who is just created good.

Question 18

What is the eschatological justification?

Answer 18

Virtuous people will be rewarded in the afterlife, the existence of evil will be justified after death and we have to have faith in god.

Question 19

Give three strengths of the vale of soul making

Answer 19

1. It accommodates evolution as part of the human struggle to perfection. 2. It does not take the creation story literally or lead to a wrathful god, irenaeus’ idea of a loving god who accepts all into heaven in much more in keeping with the god of classical theism the Augustine’s god. 3. It is an achievement to give humans the choice of how to act, even if the way that we choose to act is flawed.

Question 20

Give three weaknesses of the vale of soul making

Answer 20

1. Phillips argues that real love could never be expressed by allowing suffering to happen. 2. Hick accepts that the amount of pain and suffering in the world is too great to justify in line with the theory, but responds that all extremes of evil serve a purpose in god’s plan. 3. Mill points out that suffering seems random, it is not handed proportionally to good and bad people, also, eschatological justification in a weak argument.

Question 21

Give two more weaknesses of the vale of soul making

Answer 21

1. There is no epistemic distance, but a distance in existence, we exist and god does not? 2. Mackie and Flew ask what the point is of the journey to the likeness of god, he could have created us in a perfect world with a false memory of the journey and we wouldn’t have known the difference.

Question 22

What is process theodicy?

Answer 22

Developed by Alfred North Whitehead and inspired by the theory of relativity (which undermined the idea of absolute space and time) Whitehead was convinced that there were no truths in the world, only half truths. Events, not matter are the basis for reality and each entity is at the center of its own creative reality.

Question 23

In what three ways is god defined in process theodicy?

Answer 23

1. He is bipolar, he has one mental pole and one physical pole and is partially immersed in the world and partially distinct from it. 2. He is not fixed and is still developing. 3. He is not omnipotent, his role was not to create the universe, but to develop what was already there.

Question 24

Give four ways that process theodicy solves the problem of evil

Answer 24

1. It surrenders god’s omnipotence, but he is still omniscient because he began evolution, knowing how it would turn out. 2. He has persuasive power over his creation and is constantly guiding us to the right path, but can’t tell us what to do. 3. All of our suffering is also experienced by god as creation is a cooperation between god and other beings. 4. The universe has the materials for evil and the materials for good, we suffer, but can also enjoy life, the fact that we can do this is a world where suffering exists justifies god’s decision to allow evil in his creation.

Question 25

How does David Ray Griffin support process theodicy?

Answer 25

It resolves the problems presented by natural and moral evil and the process theodicy god is more worthy of worship as he can’t be accused of allowing preventable evil, he is “a fellow sufferer who understands.”

Question 26

Give three strengths of process theodicy

Answer 26

1. God is an inspiration to us, he struggles to make things better and so should we. 2. A co-suffering god is more personal and trustworthy as he would not have started the process of creation/evolution unless he knew it would turn out well. 3. God allows evil because he can’t prevent it, it solves the logical problem of evil as it shows how omniscience and omnibenevolence can work together. God is still worthy of worship.

Question 27

Give two weakness of process theodicy

Answer 27

1. It is not a theodicy as it does not defend the traditional definition of god in the face of evil. 2. There is no promise of heaven and we can’t be sure our efforts will be rewarded or that good will triumph over evil.

Question 28

What is Leibniz’s best of all possible worlds argument?

Answer 28

P1. God has the idea of infinitely many universes. P2. Only one of these can actually exist. P3. God’s choices are subject to the principle of sufficient reason, he has a reason to choose one thing or another. P4. God is good. C. Therefor, the universe god chooses to exist is the best of all possible worlds.

Question 29

What is good about Leibniz’s argument?

Answer 29

It could be argued that god could remove ‘evil’ in the world, but that this could potentially create a worse world. As we do not know what the world would be like without evil, we cannot argue that this is not the best of all possible worlds.

Question 30

What is bad about Leibniz’s argument?

Answer 30

It is overly optimistic, the amount of suffering in the world is too great. Plantinga argues that to make a better world, one need only add one more virtuous person.