RS - Good and Evil

RS - Good and Evil

1. Absolute morality - A decision that you make and can be viewed as rules that are applied at all times

2. Relative morality - The point the morally good is cultural and personal.

3. Moral evil - Suffering caused by humanity

4. Natural evil - Suffering caused by things of nature, eg. Earthquake

5. Sin and Evil

   • Evil - Something that has negative or destructive consequences, whether moral or natural
   • Sin - Something that is morally wrong and against what god wills or commands
   • When Eve picked the fruit from the tree of knowledge she introduced original sin to the world - known as the fall of man

6. Good and evil exist in same reality? - Plate techtonics

   • Without plate tectonics the world would be uninhabitable
   • Cause earthquakes - Haiti - 3 million people affected, 160,000 died

7. The Problem of Evil

   • Redefines gods Nature
   • How can evil exist with a Omnibenevolent, omnipotent and omniscient God?
   • Eutuhyphro dilema
   • Some christians believe that natural evil is caused by the devil

8. Responses to the problem of evil

   • Some might argue that a good God would not allow evil and suffering in the world
   • Irenaeus and St Augustine
     • Irenaeus - people needed suffering and needed to be made to choose between good and evil, otherwise they would be like obedient robots
     • St Augustine - evil was a lack of good. Evil happens when people do not chose good and to live to standards that God has set for human beings. Evil is the abscense of goodness

9. Coping with suffering

   • When they are suffering, many christians pray to God, alone or with a community to give them strength
   • Because of Jesus, Christians believe that God shared in human suffering
   • Jesus gave his life by dying on the cross, for others and the sins of others were forgiven - Atonement
   • At the time of the new testament, many people believed that suffering and illness were sanctions for sins people had committed