The Problem of Evil Flashcards
Where does the concept of the inconsistent triad originate?
In Epicurean thought
What is moral evil?
A morally negative event caused by the intentional actions of an agent.
What is natural evil?
An event that cannot be blamed on a conscious being as they would have to control the laws of nature.
What is the inconsistent triad?
The idea that the qualities of omnibenevolence, omnipotence and omniscience cannot exist together in the qualities of a God.
Basic outline of the argument
- God is Omniscient….he should be able to see all aspects of suffering ever going to occur
- God is Omnibenevolent…he should not wish this to happen
- God is Omnipotent…he should have the power to stop the suffering of humanity
Quote from Stephen Fry?
“It is utterly, utterly evil. Why should I respect a capricious, mean minded, stupid God who created a world which is so full of injustice and pain?”
What did Hume state about the inconsistent triad?
The God of classical theism can never be proven if it does not hold these qualities.
What is a theodicy?
An argument that explains the existence of evil in the world while allowing for the qualities of classical theism.
What is the personalist’s objection to the argument against God’s omnipotence?
That God is finite in power as he is everlasting but still within time, he can only act with the most possible power over that moment in time. (Held by most Protestants)
What is Hicke’s counter objection to the omnipotence argument?
That limited power contradicts biblical faith - this is not the God of classical theism.
What is the argument against God not being omnibenevolent?
Hicke - Evil is necessary for an individual to exist. Otherwise we would not be soul-making, just ‘pet animals’ in a cage.
Mackie - God cannot create wholly good people, it is logically impossible (eg. advancements in medicine). There is a distinction between higher and lower orders of evil and these create a balance of evil in the world that still allows for free will.
What does Hick add to Mackie’s argument (quote)?
“A wholly good person is a logical impossibility - a conjugation of words”…humans have an innate nature to be flawed and to grow from this.
What did Augustine say about the existence of evil?
Evil is merely a ‘privation of good’, an illusion that we mistakenly see as a presence rather than an absence of good. Like darkness is the absence of light.
What did Hick say about the Biblical nature of evil?
It is contradictory to biblical faith to believe evil does not exist. Eg. the origin of evil in the fall.
What does Christian Science say about the presence of evil?
We cannot see the bigger picture of evil and there is a greater good that we cannot realise.
How did J S Mill contradict the Personalist’s belief?
He saw that nature is what drives suffering not the omnipotence of God, who is in fact trying to save us from nature.
What are 2 objections to the traditional Christian position?
- God could have created wholly good people
- Evil is a long-term good
What are are the supports and issues with God creating fully good individuals?
a. Hick argues this would limit an individual’s free will.
b. Mackie says this is false, God could have created a world in which we always happen to choose good from out perspective. (quantum mechanics)
c. God is outside of our universe and so does not focus on the individuals but the bigger picture.
d. Hick responded saying this was merely a delusion and if we were to prove the existence of free will then the problem of evil would be solved.
How does Hick argue for evil as a greater good?
- the world is for soul-making, if we can only do good this is not possible.
- idea centres around the need for Judgement day, how can God send us to heaven or hell if we did not choose to act morally? (this is a Negative Theodicy)
Essential quotes from the Bible referencing evil?
Romans 5:12 - “Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned…”
Genesis 3:22-23 “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.”
Acts 17:31 “For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. “
Outline the Iranean Theodicy.
- Humanity is immature and has an immense capacity for spiritual growth, we are not brought into the world perfect.
- We are in the process of being transformed into the ‘children of God’.
All acts of ‘goodness’ result from the presence of an imperfect world which we can choose to respond to in a moral or immoral way. We must therefore have free will, allowed for by the epistemic distance of our creator as we choose good instead of performing it for the sake of getting into heaven.
By living at a distance from God evil exists in the world and the world is not yet the ‘likeness’ of God.
What is the counterfactual hypothesis?
The act of looking at the potential alternative, if this does not exist then there is no counter explanation.
Quote from Mackie about omnipotence
“If God is really omnipotent, then he must have power over all ‘causal laws’”
