Y10 RS 2

Y10 RS 2

1. Key words

   • Conscience, human reason for making moral decisions. The knowledge we have of knowing what's right and wrong and has given all humans this.
   • Evil, absence of good and the impulse to seek are own desires at the pense of the good of others, resulting in suffering.
   • Free will, decision making in someone's mind, and the person is free to make their own choices, right or wrong without the influence of others.
   • Goodness, quality of being like God, seeking well-being of others selflessly.
   • Incarnation, "made flesh", christians believe God became man in Jesus, fully human fully divine.
   • Natural law, moral law and right and wrong. This is discoverable of every human and is the same for all human beings.
   • Privation, the loss of a quality or something that is normally present. Evil is a privation of good.
   • Suffering, pain or loss which harms human beings. Some suffering is caused by other human beings. Moral and natural evil.

2. Types of evil

   • Eden was perfect as there was no evil, but when Adam ate the apple he created evil. Augustine read Genesis literally, so there may be a weakness in his argument.
   • Natural evil, evil as a result of non human agents, e.g. A natural disaster.
   • Moral evil, evil as a result of human agents, e.g. Robbery
   • The problem is that we have an omnipotent and all loving God, yet evil still exists.

3. Free Will

   • Humans have the ability to make their own decisions.
   • God has given us this as a gift, as he is omnipotent and all loving.
     • He doesn't step in with are Dickson making, as it would no longer be free will.
   • Atheists believe free will is an illusion, we are controlled by influences, emotions and people around us.
   • Conscience
     • "Deep within his conscience man discovers a law […] Its a voice, ever calling him to love and to do what is good." The Catechism, the official teaching of the Catholic Church.
       • You must look at yourself and pray, reflect on yourself to find out the answer.
     • Sigmund Freud
       • Argues that are conscience is a mixture of voices, all the things that could influence us, that we have internalised.
         • Ludwig Wittgenstein's beliefs are similar to this.
   • Natural Law
     • This is drawn through are Primary Precepts.
       • Preservation of life, reproduction and looking after offspring.
       • For humans, this includes, orderly living (CST), pursuit of the truth, regarding God and to be a part of a rational nature.

4. Good and evil, Original sin

   • First sin and its punishment comes from 1) wanting more than the image of God, 2) to become less like god hiding from God and each other and 3) losing everything that is good.
     • 1) "God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil".
     • 2) "and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of Lord."
     • 3) "He drove out the man".
   • When we decide what is good and evil, this leads to human misery, this is why the clothing of Adam and Eve is a sign of their loss of innocence.
     • When decide what is wrong and right and what good and evil is, this is the sin.
   • With original sin, we lose innocence, self conscience and our connection with nature all because we were thrown out of paradise.
     • Human created sin, as in Genesis it says "it was good", so everything God creates is good.
   • Moral evil is created when Adam eat the fruit, as there were human agents. So we have a bad relationship with God.
   • Natural innocence is created when Adam and Eve are thrown out of paradise, and so we have lost harmony with nature.
   • Scripture teaches us that there is a broken relationship between God and humans. Genesis tells us evil comes from humans not God, including moral and natural evil.

5. Suffering, can good things come from suffering

   • Augustine says all evil comes from humans, as we disrupted Gods "good" creation at the Fall. God doesn't stop this as éveil is a consequence of are own actions.
     • He takes the creation story literally, and he assumes God created everything good, he didn't take into account free will.
   • Humans created moral and natural evil. This lead to evil existing, and the punishment is sin.
   • Ireanaus says God is partly responsible for evil, so that we learn from suffering and take out the positive values.
     • We learn to become perfect throughout are lives, from the suffering we experience throughout are lives.

6. Traditional teachings of evil

   • St Augustine says that evil is a lack or loss of something.
     • "We call evil the privation of good", so evil,is a lack of good in a person.
     • "They simply do not exist any more", once good is present, evil can't exist as there isn't a privation.
       • But humans are greedy, they always want more, so they wanted to be more than God in paradise, this created sin and caused the relationship to break down.
   • St Augustine says, all good but the fall led to an unbalance in creation.
     • Bible mentions original sin, tradition is Augustine and the privation of evil, the magisterium is when muses dies, stops us dying.
   • John Paul II says Jesus excepts suffering, so we will not "perish", in our suffering. So it won't stop us from having eternal life if we understand how to deal with suffering.

7. Christian and non Christian views in good and evil

   • Traditional Protestants
     • Have built on biblical teaching by the RC Church.
       • Humanity is at odds with God, with each other and with the Earth.
     • Evil is from St John in Romans 3:23.
       • Quite a pessimistic point of view. "Total depravity of humanity" shows humans are born wreck less like Adam, and they have no good in them unless they tureen to Christ.
   • Liberal protestants
     • Have moved in the opposite direction.
       • Evil and suffering, John Hick view, has allowed humanity to mature with wisdom, God has let this happen. Build on St Irenaeus' idea of "soul making".
         • Suffering will turned into "uncompelled faith and love" when humans have matured enough.
   • The orthodox Church
     • Speaks about ancestral sin rather than "original sin". Suffer consequences because of Adam and Eve.
       • Modern humanity lacks blessing and has to face mortality.
       • E.g. Everyone is guilty, even unborn babies, as Adam has given everyone actual sin.

8. Catholic response to suffering

   • Places of pilgrimage
     • Jerusalem, Jesus died on the cross and resurrected there. Allows Catholics to remember Jesus.
     • Lourdes, famous vision of Bernadette Soubirous. This is a strong emotional place for Christians to reflect.
     • Walsingham, French had a vision about Mary, this is therefore a very holy place as Mary's presence was felt there.
     • Santiago de Compostelle, burial of St James one of the apostles, holy place for Catholics as they remember St James.
     • Rome, birth of Christianity, and the site of St Peter and St Paul. Reminds Christians of the origin of their religion.
     • Fatima, the Virgin Mary appeared to three young Shepard's, Mary's Spirit was there, meaning it is a very holy place.
     • Why pilgrimage
       • Prayer, they travel for a particular intention, they seek spiritual refreshment, or to make a new start in life.
       • Biblical, allows Christians to follow early traditions, something Jesus did himself.
       • Reconciliation, look at things that are wrong, gives you a chance to reflect and change that thing, new sense of God in life.
       • To tell a story, share their lives and memories. E.g. The Canterbury tales, a group of monks from London traveled to the tomb of St Thomas Becket.