The Problem of Evil Flashcards
1
Q
Two forms of PoE: The Logical Argument
A
- evil is logically impossible with the existence of God
- There is a moral justification for evil (greater good, free will etc)
2
Q
Two forms of PoE: the Evidential Argument
A
- weight of evidence of evil in the world makes God’s existence highly improbable
- William Rowe argues from this perspective
- ‘a posteriori’ argument
3
Q
Punishment Theodicy
A
suffering is a merited punishment of sin
4
Q
Natural Law Theodicy
A
Some natural laws which are essential for our freedom can operate evil as well as good => natural evil is inevitable
5
Q
Free Will Theodicy
A
Evil and its consequences are an outcome of our free will
6
Q
Soul-making theodicy
A
- Hick
- We learn from our experiences of evil and grow morally mature
- “character-building”
- There is ultimately a greater good
7
Q
Augustinian Theodicy
A
- Beginning of creation was perfect
- less perfect you are is due to you turning away from God
- defines evil as “privatio boni’ (lack of goodness)
- “to defect from him who is the Supreme Existence, to something of less reality, this is to begin to have an evil will”
- experiencing imperfections “only enhances our admiration of the good”
- evil emerged from ‘The Fall’
- free will choosing to disobey God
- Adam + Eve’s desire to disobey is inherited by us/ original sin is “seminally present”
8
Q
Irenaean soul-making Theodicy
A
- Image
- Likeness
- we want to move from image -> likeness
- being in likeness is when your soul adopts the nature of Gos
- sees ‘The Fall’ as a child-like mistake made by immature beings
- “vale of soul-making” (development of the soul)
9
Q
John Hick
A
- we live in an epistemic distance from God
- can’t learn the difference between right and wrong if you are too close to him
- journey towards perfection continues after death
10
Q
Planting’s free will defence
A
- wants to prove that the inconsistent triad is in fact consistent
- freedom is too valuable that by eliminating it he would be destroying a greater good
