The problem of evil Flashcards
Evil
used to cover actions, motives and suffering of humans/animals
Moral evil
evil caused by moral agents (humans)
- war, rape, murder
Natural evil
causes suffering but is not by a moral agent (nature)
- earthquakes, illnesses, volcanic eruptions
Monists - There is no evil
the universe is a single harmonious unity that is good, evil is just a mere illusion.
Evil causes the feeling of suffering = we do not see the whole picture
God did not deliberately create evil
Atheists - There is no God
evil is convincing that there is no God
- loving God would not create a world full of suffering
if he existed, he would be responsible for the evil in the world
Hindu and Buddhist - Our view of evil is distorted
evil is an illusion brought by humans greed/selfishness
all suffering is the result of evil committed in the previous life
Action of person in one life, affects another person in another life - God is not responsible
evil overcome by good actions to gain good karma
Monotheistic Religions - the reality of evil
scriptures give mixture of both good and evil experiences
evil seen as utterly bad but entirely real
God becomes human to take on human sin through genuine suffering
- Job (suffering servant) = did not lose faith
Zoroastrianism - the dualist nation
the universe is a battlefield where good and evil fight for supremacy
God = source of perfect good vs power of darkness
David Hume says “…”
“the problem of evil is the ‘rock of atheism’”
- God is not omnipotent
- God is not omnibenevolent
- Or evil does not exist
If God is all knowing and all loving - Hume
he must want to abolish evil and suffering
- not wishing us to suffer unnecessarily
If God is omnipotent - Hume
God is able to prevent us from suffering unnecessarily
- having power over everything including evil
Evil and suffering exist - Hume
therefore God must not be all-loving and all-powerful
- if God created the world containing evil; he must have created it
Analysis: David Hume
testing faith in God - life is a test free will given to humans - God is not responsible for evil evil is an illusion - Monists, Buddhists, Hindus
Logical
‘the mere existence of evil is logically incompatible with the existence of an all-loving, all-powerful God’
Evidential
‘the amount of evil that exists is incompatible with the existence of an all-loving, all-powerful God’
The inconsistent triad J.L.Mackie
Three propositions comprising the problem of evil
the only solution to problem of evil that is recognised as a true theodicy
A good omnipotent thing eliminates evil completely
God has created the world out of nothing - Mackie
totally responsible for it
- a world could have been created without evil
God is omniscient - Mackie
knows and sees everything
- he must know how to stop evil
God is omnibenevolent - Mackie
he would wish to end all evil
- no loving God would choose his creation to suffer
Evil and suffering do exist - Mackie
so either God is not omnipotent/omnibenevolent or does not exist; one must be removed
Theodicy
an attempt to answer the question of why good God permits the manifestation of evil
Aquinas - solving the problem of evil
God allows evil to exist as part of his greater plan of love
- no contradiction of his characteristics because he has a reason for evil to exist
Augustine Hippo
'either God is not able to abolish evil - not all powerful or he's not willing - not all-good'
Strengths of the inconsistent triad
- three simple prepositions
- logical
- simple to understand
Augustinian theodicy
- soul deciding
God created the world and it was perfect, without the existence of evil or suffering
Evil = privation of goodness
- God could not have created evil
Evil originated from free will - possessed by angels and humans
Perfection was ruined by sin
Augustine evil
Going wrong of something that is in itself good
- e.g. evil of sickness = lack of physical of good health
Augustine believed - God not intervening
God is right right for not intervening
- punishment is justice for human sin
“those who rejected God would suffer eternal torment”
Strengths: Augustinian theodicy
- clears God of any responsibility of evil existing
- logical for religious believers
- original sin
- explains the POE
- provides hope
Weaknesses: Augustinian theodicy
goes against the theory of evolution
- evil and suffering is still a problem
- God existing
Schleiermacher - Augustinian theodicy criticism
contradiction to claim that a perfectly created world went wrong
- implying that evil created itself
Either God created an imperfect world or He made it wrong
Iranean theodicy
- Soul making
God had a plan and a purpose to provide humanity with the opportunity to develop the qualities necessary to become perfect
First stage of creation - Iranean theodicy
Humans were created immature and needs to develop
Second stage of creation - Iranean theodicy
Humans will respond to situations then become a ‘child of God’
Peter Cole - Iranean theodicy
The presence of evil helps people to grow and develop
Iraneus concluded - human development
Eventually evil and suffering will be overcome and humanity will develop into God’s perfect likeness
John Hick - Iranean theodicy
If God made humanity perfect then we would be like robots, loving God without thought or question.
- love would be valueless
Epistemic distance
a distance in dimension or knowledge
- humans would have no choice but to believe and obey God if there was no distance
AO2: Augustine believed God created the world perfectly
Iraneus argued we were made imperfectly and given the freedom to choose to become good/evil
AO2: Augustine saw the world as a ‘soul deciding’ place
Iraneus saw the world as a ‘soul making’ placing
- evil was necessary to aid this development
- natural evil = develop compassion
AO2: Augustine stated that evil existed due to ‘the fall’
You don’t need to experience evil to develop compassion
Iraneus - evil = necessary part of life
- make us into better people
AO2: Good is not always guaranteed
Those who have not completed their development will continue their ‘soul making’ after death
Iraneus believed - imperfect world, responsible God
God is partly responsible for evil
- evil = how we grow and learn
The world was made imperfect
- moral evil = result of freewill to follow or disobey God
AO2: Iraneus states - imperfect world, responsible God
God is not responsible for evil -free will + perfect world Moral evil comes from - fall of Adam + Eve - disobedience of angels
Richard Swinburne
God can not intervene to stop suffering from occurring as it would jeopardise human freedom that he gave
Death is necessary; humans taking responsibility for their actions
If we were immortal there would be no need for responsibility
John Hick - Freewill defence
We must demand a world free of evil or accept the one we have
John Hick - free agents
The free agents could have been created not causing evil and suffering to exist
- they would always choose good over evil
