The Problem Of Evil Flashcards
Why is evil a problem for thiests?
Why would the God of Classical Theism (omnipotent, omniscient and omnibenevolent) allow evil and suffering in the world?
What does Hume say about the problem of evil?
“the problem of evil is the rock of atheism”
What does Epicurus say about the problem of evil?
“is God willing but not able? Then he is not omnipotent
Is God able but not willing? Then he is malevolent
Is God neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?”
What is natural evil?
Evil in nature:
Earthquakes, Tsunamis, etc
Harder to justify as God created the world so why is evil part of it?
What is moral evil?
Evil on behalf of humans:
Eg murder
Easier to justify: it’s a misuse of free will, we freely choose to do evil
What is the logical problem of evil?
The inconsistent triad (mackie)
He says that evil cannot coincide with the Classical Theist God. So he is either not all powerful or not all loving as the existence of evil disproves the existence of both.
What’s the solution to the logical problem of evil?
Denying that evil exists… But then there’s no problem to solve
A quote for the logical problem of evil?
Epicurus: “if God is willing but not able…”
What is the Evidential problem of evil?
Thid acknowledges that the existence of evil may not outright disprove God’s existence but makes his existence unlikely/improbable because if the quality and quantity of suffering in the world as a benevolent God would not allow this.
Who are the main 2 scholars of the evidential problem of evil? (+quotes)
Hume: “The problem of evil is the rock of atheism”
Rowe: “pointless evil”
What is William Rowe’s analogy for the evidential problem of evil and Quality and Quantity?
A deer dying in a forest fire:
The death was painful and unnecessary. No one benefitted from it, so why was it so painful? God shouldn’t let that happen?
What is Augustine’s Soul-Deciding theodicy?
Man are created as the finished article. We were created perfectly but the misuse of free will allows us to become evil. Evil entered the world at the fall… We 2ere semenaly present, we inherit the sin and ability to do evil.
What is a quote for Augustine’s soul deciding theodicy?
“Evil is a privation of good”
What is Irenaeus’ soul-developing theodicy?
We are created I perfectly, it’s a choice and responsibility to grow and develop virtues to become better people and reach Heaven.
What does Irenaeus describe a world without sin as?
“Morally static”
What sort of distance are we away from God?
Epistemic Distance
What does Hick say about Irenaeus’ theodicy (his vale of soul-making)
Focuses on being born imperfect and working to gain values and become perfect
What are the strengths of Hick’s theodicy?
We gain virtues to grow in God’s likeness
Follows on from Irenaeus
We develop and grow to reach eudamonia.
What are the challenges of Hick’s theodicy?
We still suffer (quality and quantity)
Says Augustine’s theodicy is “utterly unacceptable”
What does Hick say about Augustine’s theodicy?
“utterly unacceptable”
what is Mackie’s free will defence?
shows that humans cant have free will without the existence of (moral) evil
having free will is worth the cost in terms of suffering.
what does Mackie say about First and Second Order Goods?
first order goods maximises 2nd order goods
second order goods minimises 1st order evils
2nd order evil minimises 1st good
third order good allows us to instantiate evil
fourth order good: god created us with freedom
What did Mackie say about humans and good and evil?
“If God has made humans such that in their choices they sometimes prefer good and sometimes evil”
what is Plantinga’s free will defence?
God can only do what is possible. God can’t ensure that we always pick good. true freedom means no certainty of actions.
what is a quote from Plantinga about the free will defence?
“the goodness of robots”
What is Swinburne’s free will defence?
we need the world as it is so that our freedom isn’t superficial. we need a finite amount of time and choices to practice morality
A world without death is better than a world with it.
What did Plantinga say about God if he controlled our ‘free will’?
He’d be “like an overprotective parent”
what is Griffin’s Process Theology?
He rejects creation-ex-nihilo. The whole of Genesis has been misinterpreted/translated.
god happened upon the universe and persuaded the already existing chaos into what the world is today.
How does Griffin describe God?
Not all-powerful but immensely powerful
isn’t capable of creating from nothing
what does Griffin say God did to create the world?
He “Tidied it up”
what qualities of God does Griffin’s Process Theodicy limit?
Transcendence and omnipotence
He can’t be the God of Classical Theism.
What is Roth’s argument against God?
“God didn’t have the power to stop the Holocaust, so why are we worshipping him?”
What are the strengths of Process Theology?
God is “a fellow sufferer”
Rejects God’s omnipotence
No conflict between
omnipotence and
omnibenevolence
fits with science and Biblical criticism
What are the weaknesses of Process Theology
We cannot be sure of how to translate Genesis
Objective immortalty isnt satisfactory
doesnt adress the challenge of quality and quantity of evil
God is unworthy of worship
