the problem of evil Flashcards
Moral evil.
Evil resulting from human choices.
Non-moral/natural evil.
Evil found in nature.
The inconsistent triad.
Epicurus’ logical problem between the three statements: evil exists, god is all powerful, and god is all-loving.
Responses to the problem of evil which are rejected by the Church.
- Pain is an illusion.
- Pain exists to allow us growth.
Hans Kung on Jesus’ suffering on the cross.
Shows God has seen humanities suffering and will never desert humanity in its suffering.
Theodicy.
Attempt to justify goodness of God in the fact of evil.
St Augustine on evil.
God made everything to be good but it is all good in different ways, and evil is the privation of good and a privation of God.
St Augustine’s soul-deciding theodicy.
We have free will and decide whether we accept God or not, and the Fall allowed some disorder and evil into the natural world.
Augustine’s free will defence.
We have free will for “a runaway horse is better than a stone.”
J.L. Mackie’s criticism of the Free Will Defence.
An omnipotent God could create humans with freedom but a freedom which always leads them to do the right thing.
Criticisms of Augustine’s theodicy.
- Uses the Bible as an account of true historical events.
- Original sin is not understood in the same way anymore and sometimes rejected.
- Goodness created by God may just be goodness according to Him rather than an intrinstic goodness in that thing.
- If creation was made perfectly then how could it go wrong.
St Irenaeus’ soul-making theodicy.
Humanity matures over long periods of history, so evil exists in order for humanity as a whole to develop and evolve.
John Hick’s soul-making theodicy.
World without evil would be like the reality depicted in Tennyson’s ‘The Lotus Eaters’ poem, meaningless and stagnated. We would not grow and change so would lack His creative freedom.
Dysteleological evil.
Evil that serves no purpose.
John Hick on God’s intervention.
For something like a knife to be good, it would need to be sharp to cut bread and soft if used against a person, meaning God would be constantly intervening and we would have no regularity. Regularity is necessary for a stable life, for science and knowledge to develop.
Richard Swinburne’s soul-making theodicy.
Natural evil must exist for humans to understand how to prevent or cause evil, allowing us then to exercise responsibility.
D.Z. Phillips criticising the soul-making theodicy,
Criticises the suggestion evil is instrumental and the ‘benefits’ apologetic theologians pose are insufficient reasons for evil.
