The problem of evil Flashcards
Phillips on Problem of evil
Uses the Holocaust as an example for why evil cannot be justified
Universal Salvation
Hick: hell is purgatorial and temporary giving people the chance to develop before going to heaven.
One must accept God before they can be redeemed.
If one rejects God then we do not get eternal life- not allowing further improvement.
Augustine’s theodicy
Augustine uses the Fall of Man to explain why there is evil and suffering present.
Augustine believed in redemption therefore Jesus redeemed our inherited sin and God continued to be omnibenevolent.
Augustine believed strongly in free will therefore human choices bring about moral evil.
Augustine doesn’t believe that evil is something in itself but instead a lack of something.
Augustine criticisms 1
Literal: Augustine is reading genesis as history and not poetry
True perfection: if creation were truly perfect, it wouldn’t go wrong
Inconsistency: Augustine believed us to be ignorant, however, ignorant would mean that we were unable to make inform decisions- therefore punishment under ignorance is unjust.
Augustine criticisms 2
Predestination: if God has already made our paths then he is the only one who knows if we will go to heaven, not us.
Chose wrong: perfect beings would not chose to do wrong (Aquinas)
Richard Dawkins: says that this is the world you would get if there was no God, nothing is evil it’s just getting on with it.
Defense of God: using the privlio boni sounds lie trying to ‘get off the hook’ for evil.
Mackie’s criticism (Augustine)
Mackie argues that we all know people who have free will and will always chose the right thing- why can’t God make everyone like this- it would remove moral evil.
Without free will then religious believes could not have a loving relationship with God
Epicurus’ problem of evil
- If God is willing but not able to prevent evil- he is not omnipotent
- If God is able to prevent evil but not willing- he is not omnibenevolent
- If God is both able and willing, then why do we suffer- God cannot exist
(Logical problem of evil)
Hick on Irenaeus
Irenaues believed that humans were evolving, they were born and made imago dei. Therefore evil is the stumbling blocks that are on the path o humanity needed to grow.
Vale of soul making: Hick doesn’t agree that human were made perfect, instead humans were made in process of becoming perfect.
Irenaeus believed that human souls continue to grow and develop after death and those who reject God will be damned.
Hick believed in universal salvation and suffering and hell are needed and can be part of the problem of evil.
Hick on Irenaues 2
Hick believes that hell is a kind of purgatory for those who are not quite ready for heaven- those who don’t have a fully formed soul exist in a place of temporary suffering.
However if one has rejected God in their earthly life then they still have to spend eternity with him.
Epistemic distance: God keeps himself and knowledge of him at a distance- faith is more important than actual knowledge of God’s existence.
Hick’s criticism of Irenaeus
The evidential aspect of evil is too much for hick
- how is the death of a child a ‘stumbling block’ for their parents.
(Link to Phillips_
Inconsistent triad- criticisms
Assumes that all suffering is bad, and that God would not allow some kinds of suffering, God may not want to stop all suffering.
Does evil exist? if it is defined as an absence of good, then it doesn’t exist.
Maybe God is impersonal, then he cannot be good or loving.
Phillips’ problem of evil
Phillips focuses poignantly on the holocaust. How can the death of innocent Jews mean that they are useful.
No one can justify torture for some possible good, it is still evil.
He argues that the ‘excuses’ given, such as evil gives an opportunity to develop, are not good enough justifications.
Universal salvation- Hick
Hick takes the view that hell is purgatorial and temporary so that we have a chance to develop before we get to heaven- this fits with a god of love and mercy.
The problem lies in that soul making requires choosing God and if we are in eternity with God, we eventually will have to chose him, therefore that isn’t freedom.
The other view is that we reject God, we do not get eternal life. For Hick this does not allow for further flourishing/ improvement and would make no sense.
