The Problem of Evil

The Problem of Evil

1. Overview

   • The problem of evil is the question of how to reconcile the existence of evil with a God that is omniscient, omnipotent and omnibenevolent
     • Evil is whatever is painful, malicious of disastrous
       • Moral Evil
         • The existence of suffering due to human activity alone
           • murder
           • holocaust
           • rape
       • Natural Evil
         • Events in the world which bring about suffering due to natural disasters
           • earthquakes
           • Floods
           • landslide

2. What is the classic theistic God like?

   • The Inconsistent Triad
     • God needs to be all 3 omnis or else it creates an inconsistent triad
       • How can pain and suffering exist if God is all 3 omnis?
         • If God is omnipotent
           • He would've been able to create a world without suffering
         • If God is omniscient
           • He would've know that the suffering and evil would occur and put a stop to it
         • If God is omnibenevolent
           • He would not tolerate evil and suffering in the world

3. Philosophical Explanations

   • The Free will Defence
     • Summarised
       • Evils are entirely due to the bad, free choices made by human beings
         • It was good of God to create free beings, but bad of them to abuse this freedom
           • God is not responsible for the evils of the world, humans are
     • Key Features
       • God Created a perfect world
         • Humans were created perfect and in the image of God
           • Humans given free will
             • God told them not to eat from tree of knowledge
               • Humans were tempted by serpent to disobey God
                 • They eat the forbidden fruit
                   • God punishes serpent, the women and the ground
                     • Adam and eve cast out, changes God's relationships with humans forever
     • Strengths
       • Allows the existence of classic theistic God
       • Faithful to Bible narrative
       • Evil not part of God's original plan
       • God is not responsible for mans evil choices
     • Weaknesses
       • Requires taking Genesis literally - unscientific and disproven by Evolution
       • How could evil come about in the perfect world?
         • If there was a possibility for evil then surely the world was not created perfect
       • Why did God not create humans who always choose morally right actions
       • Why did God not prevent fall of man if he foresaw it
   • Philosophical attempts to solve the problem of evil are known as theodicy
     • Augustine's Theodicy
       • Soul deciding
         • Concerned with judgement of human souls
       • The classic biblical answer to Evil
         • Starts from the idea that the world was created wholly good
           • "God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good" Genesis
             • World is a perfect place
             • Humans created physically and morally good, but not perfect
             • No natural evil, everything vegetarian and lives in harmony
       • Evil
         • Is the result of man's misuse of freewill resulting from eating the forbidden fruit
           • Misuse of freewill caused the downfall from perfection
             • Moral Evil - comes as a result of misuse of freewill
               • Natural Evil- comes as a result of this misuse,it is the corruption of the order and harmony within nature
         • Is Privatio Boni (Privation of Good)
           • Believed that Evil is an absence of good, not a force in itself
             • Rejects cosmic dualism, not two opposite forces in the world
               • Natural Evil is a loss of order following the expulsion from Eden (Evil is nature corrupted)
                 • Natural and Moral Evil can be seen as a punishment from God
                   • For Augustine, this is justification for the fact that God does not put an end to suffering
       • Strengths
         • Privation of Good
           • Supported by many modern philosophers
             • Allows God to stay omnibenevolent
         • Evil as a result of human abuse of free will
           • Supported by many modern thinkers
             • Seems clear that much of evil and suffering in world is caused by humans choosing to act in wrong ways
         • Backed up by biblical evidence
           • Considered strength by Christians
       • Weaknesses
         • Logical errors
           • 'perfect world gone wrong'
         • Moral errors
           • Would omnibenevolent God punish people for Eve's sin?
         • Scientific errors
           • Challenged by evolutionary theory
     • Irenaeus' Theodicy
       • Soul Making
         • concerned with development of human souls
           • Modern comparison "No pain, no gain"
       • traced evil back to free will
         • Said that people need to suffer
           • and that people need to be made to choose between Good and Evil otherwise they'd be like obedient robots
             • God Wants people to choose to worship him
       • Taught key 3 ideas
         • God did not make a perfect world
         • God is partly responsible for evil
           • God created humans imperfectly and made it their task to develop perfection
             • His aim when he created the world was to make humans flawless, in his likeness.
         • Evil has a valuable role to play in God's plans for humans
           • Achieving likeness of God requires willing cooperation of humans
             • Genuine perfection can't just be given by God - must be developed by humans themselves
               • This requires free will - humans must choose to be willing
                 • God's plans required the genuine possibility that human actions might have produced evil
                   • The potential for evil was essential to God's plan for transforming humans into God's likeness
       • Hick's version
         • Humans
           • Being created in God's image is about evolution of humans into rational, intelligent and religious animals
             • Humans gain God's likeness when they grow into a relationship with him
         • The Fall
           • Used to describe the distance between God and humans
             • Epistemic Distance
               • God's presence is not obvious in our world
                 • Therefore humans have a choice whether to believe in God or not
         • Soul Making
           • We live in a world where we make free decisions
             • Right choices enable us to develop good habits and virtuous qualities
         • Natural Disasters
           • The world has to have danger in order for us to develop into the Image of God
         • The Afterlife
           • Believes you can develop God's likeness in our world - helps you to get into heaven
             • Different to Iranaeus Ideas
       • Strengths
         • can be reconciled with evolution
         • No logical errors
         • Helps to explain existence of moral/natural evil
       • Weaknesses
         • Quantity of suffering
           • Soul-making requires some suffering
             • But why is there so much suffering?
               • Many would argue that the quantity of suffering in our world is unacceptable
         • Suffering cannot be seen as an act of love
           • God who is omnibenelovent would not allow suffering