THE PROBLEM OF EVIL AND SUFFERING ESSENTIAL IDEAS

THE PROBLEM OF EVIL AND SUFFERING

ESSENTIAL IDEAS Natural Evil Moral Evil Things that happen naturally such as natural disasters, eg earthquakes Things that happen as a result of human choice, eg murder Mackie’s Inconsistent Triad The idea that an omnibenevolent and omnipotent God does not work with the existence of evil Christianity Evil is a punishment for sin – Augustine Moral evil is the result of human free will - Ireneaus Islam Evil is either a test or punishment from Allah Hinduism Evil is not God’s fault, it is the result of a person’s own karma from a previous life Augustine Evil is a punishment for sin Strength Removes the blame from God Weakness Why do the innocent suffer? Ireneaus Evil and suffering exist to help make us better people Strength Removes the blame from God Weakness Evil and suffering don’t necessarily make someone a better person Process God did not create the world but he did set evolution in motion Strength Not dependent on the God of classical theism so we don’t need to rationalise the existence of evil with an all loving and powerful God. Weakness Removes the promise of reward for those who have suffered

ESSENTIAL IDEAS – THE PROBLEM OF EVIL Explain what is meant by natural evil and give an example The apparent malfunctioning of the natural world, which produces diseases, earthquakes, volcanoes, famines and floods Explain what is meant by moral evil and give an example The result of human actions that are morally wrong, such as murder, war and cruelty. Explain how Mackie’s inconsistent triad works Demonstrates that the ideas of God being all powerful and all loving cannot logically work with the existence of evil, eg if God was all powerful and all loving he would have the power and the desire to stop evil from existing. Evil does exist so therefore either God is not all powerful, is not all loving or does not exist.

ESSENTIAL IDEAS – RELIGIOUS VIEWS Explain the two main Christian views on evil Some Christians see suffering as the result of human sin (Augustine). A more popular view on moral evil is that it is the result of God allowing humans to have free will (Ireneaus). Explain the Islamic view of evil All occurrences of natural evil are understood to be expressions of Allah’s will and natural disasters can be tests of fortitude and faith as well as expressions of His displeasure. This means that many Muslims believe that when a natural disaster happens, they are either being tested or punished by Allah; and that He is justified in doing this. Explain the Hindu view of evil Evil is an illusion brought about by greed and selfishness. All suffering is the result of evil committed in a previous life and is therefore not God’s fault. Evil and suffering can be overcome by achieving good karma.

ESSENTIAL IDEAS – AUGUSTINE What does Augustine mean by the idea that evil is ‘a privation of good’? There is no such thing as evil, it is only the absence of good. Where does Augustine say that evil comes from and why is God justified in allowing it? Evil came from the sinning of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden – this original sin was then passed to humans. Because suffering is a punishment for sin, God is right not to intervene. Why does Augustine think that people who suffer deserve it? People who don’t sin are not punished and therefore are happy, those who do sin deserve their punishment. Under this theodicy, how is God still all loving? Because he allows sinners who are sorry to still go to Heaven

ESSENTIAL IDEAS – AUGUSTINE Give 3 strengths of Augustine’s theodicy Augustine’s idea is consistent with the God of classical theism. Blame is placed with humans and therefore God’s qualities remain unchallenged by the existence of evil. Free will is considered to be a good thing and gives humans the option to choose to be good. What are the 3 problems with Augustine describing that God created the world as perfect? The idea of God creating a perfect world that then goes wrong is contradictory as if God created humans as he wanted to they would have no trace of evil and so even if they were exercising free will, they would not choose to act in an evil way. If the world was perfect there would have been no knowledge of evil yet Adam and Eve chose to disobey God which suggests that they did have knowledge of the difference between good and evil and they chose to be evil. This theodicy suggests that the world was created in a perfect form and has been diminishing ever since. This is in contrast to the idea of the big bang that suggests that the world was formed in chaos and has been developing to be more orderly ever since. What is contradictory to the Bible as regards evil only being the privation of good? The idea of evil as the absence of good seems to contradict many other Christian teachings and stories about Satan, eg his temptation of Jesus in the Wilderness of the ‘possession’ of Judas in his betrayal of Jesus. What are the 2 problems with describing suffering as a punishment for sin? The idea of punishment seems to contradict the idea of an all loving God. It does not explain why the innocent suffer.

ESSENTIAL IDEAS – IRENEAUS Why did Ireneaus believe that God allowed evil and suffering to exist? The world contains evil and suffering because they provide humanity with the opportunity to develop the qualities necessary to become like God. Why did Ireneaus believe that free will was important? Free will is an essential part of the plan as becoming like God requires people to consciously choose good over evil – if there is no opportunity to make this choice then people are simply good by default. What did Hick say about ‘soul making’? Hick believed in the process of ‘soul making’ the idea that humans had to endure certain hardships/difficult decisions in order to become better people Why shouldn’t God interfere with the laws of science and nature according to this theodicy? There needs to be challenge in life to help people with the process of soul making and becoming like God.

ESSENTIAL IDEAS – IRENEAUS Give the 3 strengths of the Irenean theodicy This is the best possible world as it gives humans the opportunity to develop God-like characteristics such as patience and compassion which are essential for ‘soul making’. Swinburne – a world where humans can grow and develop their knowledge is superior to one where they are just puppets. It may seem appealing for the cure to serious diseases to be prayer alone but this then removes the challenge and reward of humans finding out the answers for themselves. Irenaeanus spoke of an afterlife in which he said everyone would achieve perfection and all suffering would be justified – this can help people make sense of why they suffer on earth. What is problematic about the claim that suffering makes someone a better person? Suffering does not always lead people to become better people – 75% of those abused as children go on to abuse someone else during their lifetime. How does the Holocaust challenge the Irenean theodicy Suffering can often seem disproportionate, eg was the mass suffering of the Jews in the Holocaust justified in terms of the process of soul making? How does the suffering of babies and young children challenge the Irenean theodicy? They do not have the capacity to learn from their experiences, they can only suffer.

ESSENTIAL IDEAS – PROCESS THEODICY What are the major differences between Process Theodicy and the Augustinian and Irenean Theodicies? God did not create the world, it was created by a process of conscious creativity of which he is a part of. How is God limited in Process Theodicy? He is not all powerful and therefore cannot stop evil. How does Process Theodicy argue that God is partly responsible for evil? He set in motion the process of evolution knowing that he would not be able to control human beings – ie prevent them from committing acts of moral evil. How could God be vindicated (excused) for his supposed part in creating evil? The amount of evil caused by humans is outweighed by the amount of good that others have done.

ESSENTIAL IDEAS – PROCESS THEODICY Give 2 strengths of Process Theodicy For those who do not feel compelled for God to be the God of classical theism, it frees God of the responsibility of evil whilst allowing him to be involved in the world. Empirical in that we can observe that the amount of good does outweigh the amount of evil. What are the implications of saying that God is not all loving and all powerful? It is questionable if He is still worthy of being worshipped What is problematic about saying that evil is justified because, overall, the amount of good outweighs the amount of evil? This is of no comfort to those who have suffered as the result of evil, eg victims of the Holocaust. What is problematic about removing the promise of a reward in the afterlife? There is no reward or compensation for those who have suffered, the knowledge that overall there is more good in the world than evil may be of little comfort to those who have endured great suffering.