Transcript Problem of Evil Revision Sheet

Problem of Evil Revision Sheet
1. Summarise the problem of evil
in one sentence
The problem of evil is that the presence of
evil and suffering in the world is a problem
for those Christian’s who want to retain
God’s attributes of omnipotence,
omniscience and benevolence.
2. What is Evil? Make reference
to at least two types.
• Evil is whatever is painful, malicious or disastrous
• Natural Evil: Events in the world which bring
about suffering due to ‘natural disasters’
• E.g. earthquakes
• Moral Evil: Actions which bring about
unnecessary suffering in the world as a direct
result of human activity.
• E.g. murder
3. What is the Classic Theist God
like?
•All powerful
•OMNIPOTENT
•All knowing
•OMNISCIENT
Classic
Theist
God
•All loving
•OMNIBENEVOLENT
4. Explain fully what the Problem
of Evil is.
The problem of evil is that the presence of evil and suffering
in the world is a problem for those Christian’s who want to
retain God’s attributes of omnipotence, omniscience and
benevolence.
If God is omnipotent (all powerful), he would have been able
to create a universe without suffering or he would be able
to step in to prevent it. If God is omniscience (all knowing)
he would know that we suffer. If God is benevolent (all
loving), he would not tolerate the suffering of even a single
one of the creatures he created. He would either have not
created a world in which such a creature would suffer, or
would step in to prevent it.
Therefore the problem of evil suggests that either God is not
omnipotent or benevolent, or he does not exist.
5. There are various solutions to the Problem of Evil.
Name one term for such a solution and explain what
it means.
The philosophical attempts to solve the problem of
evil are traditionally referred to as Theodicy. The
word ‘theodicy’ is derived from the Greek words
‘theos’ (God) and ‘dike’ (justice). Theodicy is
therefore a word used in Christian theology to
show that God is righteous and just despite the
presence of evil in the world.
6. Which solution is based on the
Bible
The free will defence
And which part of the Bible is it based on?
Genesis – The fall of Adam and Eve
7. What are the main features of
this solution?
Key features are:
• God created a perfect world
• Humans were created perfect and in the image of God
• Humans were given freewill
• God told humans not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good
and evil in the Garden of Eden
• Humans were tempted by the serpent (Devil/Satan) to disobey God
and as result they ate the forbidden fruit
• When ‘their eyes were opened’ relationships between God, humanity
and the world changed forever
• God cursed the serpent, the woman and the ground as a result of
their disobedience
• Adam and Eve were cast out of the garden symbolising a broken
relationship between humans and God which had lasted today, as
have the escalating effects of their disobedience
Due to its faithfulness to the biblical narrative, the Freewill Defence
is often the traditional answer to most Christians to the problem of
evil and suffering.
8. Analyse this argument by explaining
at least one strength and weakness.
Free will: Strengths
Free will: Weakness
Faithful to the biblical narrative
A literal reading of the Genesis account is
unscientific. There was never a time when
humanity was in a perfect state. Evolutionary
theory disprove this.
Evil was not part of God’s original plan
How could evil come about in a perfect world. If
there was a possibility that evil could occur then
the world was not created perfect.
God is not responsible for mans evil choices
Why did God not create human beings who
always chose morally right actions?
Allows there to be the Classic Theist God
Why did God not prevent the fall of man if he
foresaw it?
9. Which two theodicies are
based on this solution?
• St. Augustine and Irenaeus theodicies
10. Which of these is referred to
as Soul-Deciding and why?
• The Augustian theodicy is referred to as
Soul-Deciding as it is concerned with
judgement of human souls.
11. Which of these is referred to
as Soul-Making and why?
• The Irenaeus theodicy is often referred to as
Soul-Making as it is concerned with the
development of human souls.
12. Do you think the Augustian theodicy is plausible
and why?
Augustian Strengths
Augustian Weaknesses
Biblical:
Based on the bible – appeals to beliefs in
creation and the Fall
Out of date:
May be considered outdated by an
evolutionary view of man’s development
Choice:
Values free will as the best choice God
could have made for mankind
Free:
Begs the question of whether God could
have created free beings who always
choose what is morally right
Man:
God is therefore not responsible for
man’s evil choices
Salvation:
This is reserved for the few who accept
Jesus
Evil:
Evil is not originally part of God’s
creative work
Prevention:
If God foresaw man’s fall then he should
have prevented it
Lacks optimism
13. Do you think the Irenaean theodicy is plausible and
why?
Irenean Strengths
Irenean Weaknesses
Evolutionary:
Based on evolution ideas rather than
dependent on the biblical view of
humanity
Imperfect:
Suggests that God’s creative work was
imperfect
Means:
Values free will as the means by which
man develops morally and spiritually
Growth:
Man’s free choices do not always lead to
growth in power, freedom and knowledge
Man:
God is therefore not responsible for
man’s evil choices
Salvation:
This is universal and based on man’s own
striving
Evil plan
Evil is teleological – its purpose is to
facilitate growth
Purgatory:
If the completion of man’s soul is in
purgatory then why face trials in this
life?
Too optimistic
13. Which theodicy did Hick
reformulate?
• Hick’s theodicy is a modern reformulation
of the Irenaean theodicy.
14. Using his term, explain Hick’s idea that humans must be
able to make real choices.
• Hick’s theodicy is a modern reformulation of the Irenaean
theodicy. It is based on the idea that free choice is better
than compulsion.
• For human beings to love God, they have to be free to
choose to do so. Love cannot be forced. The capacity to
love God is a quality that has to be developed.
• In order to allow for development, humans have been
created imperfect. There has to be room for improvement
in order for development to be possible. Hick called this
distance between God and man an epistemic distance. It is
a distance in knowledge and understanding. This distance
allows humans the room to develop – if God were too
close, humans would find it impossible not to be
influenced. They would be unable to make a free choice,
and would not benefit from the developmental experience
of being morally free.
15. The process Theodicy argues that God is not
responsible for evil in the world. Explain at least two
key features of this theodicy.
• God is part of the world, is affected by it, but unable to control it. God
is therefore the ‘fellow sufferer who understands’ (Whitehead). God’s
creative choice was to create a universe with suffering in it, or for there
to be no universe at all.
• Panentheism – All is in God. God includes the world, so God’s
experience is related to the world, altered by changes in the world and
involved in the process of the world. The best analogy is that if the
mind and the body.
• God is not omnipotent in the process theodicy (Griffin). God’s role in
creation is limited – He is bound by the laws of nature. However, God
is still held responsible for evil, since He begun the process knowing
that He would not be able to control it.
• The suffering of humanity is justified by the Christian belief that God
suffered on the cross (Moltmann). Evil is something to be fought
constantly, with the knowledge that God has suffered alongside his
creation.
16. What are the short comings of
this theory?
• It replaces an omnipotent God with an
impotent God: rather than trying to
reconcile the classic concept of God with
the existence of evil, it simply ‘sacks’ him.
• It is not a theodicy due to the fact that it
denies the traditional view of God. This is
why it is often referred to as the Process
theology to defend itself against this attack.
Homework:
• Draft an essay plan to answer:
a) Examine what theists understand as the
problem of evil
b) Discuss the strengths and weaknesses of
two theodicies which attempt to provide
solutions to this problem