Philosophy of Religion Exam 2 Study Guide

Flashcards on Philosophy of Religion: Arguments from Evil & Divine Attributes

Moral Evil

Suffering caused by the free and intentional actions of human beings.

Natural Evil

Suffering caused by natural processes or events not directly attributable to human agency.

Free Will Defense

The theistic argument that moral evil is a consequence of human free will, which God allows because free will is a greater good.

Soul-Making Process

The idea (related to John Hick) that suffering and hardship develop moral and spiritual virtues.

Logical Argument from Evil

The claim that it is logically impossible for God (as traditionally defined) and evil to both exist.

Evidential Argument from Evil

The claim that the amount, intensity, or gratuitousness of evil makes it improbable that God exists.

Gratuitous Suffering

Suffering that appears to serve no greater good or purpose.

Libertarian Free Will

The view that human choices are not determined by prior causes or divine foreknowledge—genuine alternatives are available to the agent.

Compatibilist Free Will

The view that free will is compatible with determinism—you can be free as long as you're acting voluntarily, even if your actions are determined.

Skeptical Theism

The idea that humans are limited in their understanding of divine reasons; just because we can't see a reason for evil doesn’t mean one doesn’t exist.

G. E. Moore Shift

A philosophical strategy used to rebut an argument by reversing its structure; belief in God's existence is more certain than belief that certain evils are gratuitous, thus rejecting the argument that gratuitous evil exists.

No-See-Um Inference

The unjustified inference from “we see no reason” to “there is no reason” for suffering.

Good Parent Analogy

If a loving parent allows severe suffering without explanation, their goodness is questioned; similarly, seemingly pointless suffering questions God's goodness.

Mysterianism

The view (related to Colin McGinn) that humans lack the cognitive capacities to understand the link between physical brain processes and conscious experience.

Epistemic Escape Hatch

Using cognitive limitations as a way to preserve core beliefs without offering positive explanatory content.

Soul-Making Theodicy

The theistic argument that suffering and evil are necessary components of moral and spiritual development.

Natural Law Theodicy

The theistic argument that God created a world governed by stable natural laws, and suffering is a necessary byproduct of these laws.

Hiddenness Argument

The philosophical argument that the existence of reasonable nonbelief makes the existence of a perfectly loving God unlikely.

Nonresistant Nonbelief

Not believing in God, not out of rebellion or indifference, but because one has not been convinced by the evidence.

Epistemic Distance

God may temporarily remain hidden to allow humans to develop authentic trust and faith.

Relationship Timing Response

God may be waiting for the right time to reveal Himself, respecting one’s unique life trajectory.

Inculpable Nonbelievers

People who fail to believe in God but are not morally culpable for it.

Rebellion Response

Denying that inculpable nonbelievers exist; claiming that all nonbelief is ultimately resistant.

Divine Attributes

Characteristics or qualities that define the nature of God.

Omnipotence

The attribute of God being all-powerful.

Omniscience

The attribute of God being all-knowing.

Omnibenevolence

The attribute of God being perfectly good.

Divine Perfection

God possesses all great-making qualities to the highest possible degree.

Aseity

The attribute of God meaning self-existence or independence.

Personal God

God has the characteristics of a person: consciousness, rationality, intentionality, and moral awareness.

Libertarian Freedom (God)

God must be able to choose between alternatives, even if He always chooses what is best.

Compatibilist Freedom (God)

God's freedom is the ability to act in accordance with His nature, even if He cannot do otherwise.

Best Possible World

The world with the optimal balance of good and evil (Leibniz).

Divine Foreknowledge

God's knowledge of everything that will happen in the future.

Omnipotence (Clarifications)

Does not imply the ability to do the logically impossible, to do evil, or to do what is self-contradictory.

Divine Providence

The belief that God actively sustains, governs, and directs events in the universe.

Compatibilism (Providence)

God's providence actively determines events without violating free will, because people act according to their desires.

Theological Determinism

God’s providence extends to the complete determination of everything that happens in the universe, including human actions.

Moral Responsibility

A challenge to theological determinism; if everything is determined by God, can humans still be responsible for their choices?

Open Theism

The theological view that the future is open and uncertain, and humans have genuine freedom.

God’s Omniscience (Open Theism)

A challenge to Open Theism; if the future is truly open can God still be considered omniscient?

Molinism

Seeks to reconcile human free will with divine sovereignty using the concept of middle knowledge.

Middle Knowledge

God knows what free creatures would do under any possible circumstances, without determining those choices.

Natural Knowledge (Molinism)

God’s knowledge of all possible worlds and all possibilities.

Free Knowledge (Molinism)

God’s knowledge of everything that actually happens.

Grounding Objection

The objection to Molinism that questions what grounds the counterfactuals of freedom that God supposedly knows.

Counterfactuals of Freedom

Statements about what a person would do in a situation they have not yet encountered.

Privacy Argument for the soul

Our thoughts and feelings are private and subjective, suggesting a non-physical soul.

Intentionality argument for the soul

Mental states exhibit intentionality (aboutness), which is difficult to explain materialistically, suggesting a non-physical soul.

property dualism

mental properties are non-physical properties of physical beings

substance dualism

mental substance is separate from physical substance, but they interact

epiphenomenalism

brain state cause mental states, but mental states don't cause brain states

van Inwagen's View

A human being is a substance, and God can resurrect a human to continue existence after death.

Aquinas and Lewis' a priori argument

Human beings desire perfect happiness, but cannot achieve it in this lifetime, therefore there is a life after death.

Arguments from Evil

Philosophical arguments that attempt to show that the existence of evil is incompatible with the existence of God.

Problem of Evil

The challenge of reconciling the existence of evil and suffering with the existence of an all-powerful, all-knowing, and all-good God.

Problem of Divine Hiddenness

The challenge of explaining why a loving God would not make His existence more obvious to those who seek Him.

Moral Evil Examples

Murder, theft, genocide, or any harm resulting from human choice.

Natural Evil Examples

Earthquakes, tsunamis, disease, and famines caused by drought.

Omniscience vs. Free Will

The tension between God's knowledge of the future and human beings' ability to make free choices.

Theodicy

An attempt to justify God's actions in the face of evil.

Defense (Theodicy)

An argument that provides a logically possible reason for God to allow evil, without necessarily claiming it is actually the reason.

Skeptical Theist Concern

That it erodes moral reasoning because we can’t make judgments about what a good God would or wouldn’t allow.

Soul-Making Theodicy Criticisms

That it may trivialize extreme suffering and not all suffering leads to growth.

Cognitive Limitation

The idea that humans have limits to their knowledge and understanding, particularly of divine matters.

Hiddenness

The state of God not being clearly evident or empirically verifiable.

Divine Timing

The idea that God has a perfect and appropriate time for revealing Himself.

Culpable Nonbelief

Nonbelief that is the result of resistance, moral failing, or self-deception.

Non-Culpable Nonbelief

The idea that nonbelief can arise from lack of reason or evidence.

Self-Deception

The act of deceiving oneself about one’s motives, beliefs, or actions, often subconsciously.

Apologetics

The defense of religious beliefs through rational argument and evidence.

Classical Theism

Defines God as omnipotent, omniscient, omnibenevolent, eternal, and necessary.

Cosmological Arguments

Arguments for the existence of God based on the existence of the universe.

Necessary Being

A being that exists necessarily and cannot fail to exist; often attributed to God.

Contingent Being

A being that depends on something else for its existence.

Rationality

The capacity to think logically and reason effectively.

Intentionality

The quality of mental states being directed toward or about something.

Leibniz

Argued that God, being perfectly good, wise, and omniscient, must create the best possible world. (This is the best of all possible worlds.)

Compatibilist Freedom (Edwards)

Freedom as the ability to act in accordance with one's strongest desires or nature, even if one cannot do otherwise.

Best Possible World Challenges

There may be no 'best' world, God can freely choose among good options.

Divine Will

God’s desires or intentions for creation and humanity.

Moral Obligation

A duty or requirement to act in a morally right way.

Michael Martin

argues that one of two conclusions must follow from the traditional understanding of God’s attributes: (i) God Cannot Be Free, or (ii) God Cannot Know Anything About the Future.

Providence and Foreknowledge

The understanding of how God governs and directs the course of events in light of His knowledge of the future.

Moral Responsibility and Divine Providence

A debate about whether people are genuinely responsible for their actions given that God directs all events.

Challenges to Theological Determinism

The problem of moral responsibility, if God determines everything that happens, can humans still be responsible for their choices.

Features of Open Theism

A dynamic relationship with creation, Genuine Human Freedom, God's Responding Nature, God’s Perfect Knowledge.

Challenge to Open Theism

The question of God’s omniscience and Divine Foreknowledge.

Harmony of Freedom

The belief that God's will and human freedom can work together.

God's Natural Knowledge

God's knowledge of all possibilities independent of human decisions.

God's Free Knowledge

God's knowledge of what actually happens, based on human choices.

Challenge to Molinism

middle knowledge might undermine genuine freedom.

Ontological Basis

The foundation of truth in the nature of being or reality.

Modal Nature of Counterfactuals

Counterfactuals are about what is but about what could be, given certain conditions.

Dualism

The view that mind and body are distinct and separable.

Divine Sovereignty

The idea that God has ultimate control and authority over all things.

Moral Agency

The capacity to make moral choices and be held accountable for them.

Justification of Evil

Attempts to provide reasons why God might allow the existence of evil.

Limits of Rationality

The idea that humans cannot fully understand all aspects of God or the world.

Responsiveness of God

The idea that God actively interacts with and responds to creation.