Problem of evil

Natural evil

• Natural evil refers to any cause of suffering which can be found in the natural world. Natural evils tend not to have deliberate intention behind them, but can nevertheless be devastating for those who experience them.

• Examples: natural disasters, diseases

Moral evil

• Moral evil refers to intentional actions which result in suffering. Moral evils tend to be performed with some understanding of their own wrongness, meaning that we usually consider those who perform them to be 'responsible' not just in the sense of causing these evils, but also in being morally blameworthy for them.

• Examples: murder, terrorism, theft

The logical problem of evil - J.L. Mackie

• The existence of god is impossible due to the existence of evil and suffering in the world

• Inconsistent triad - evil exists, god is omnipotent, god is omnibenevolent cannot all be true at the same time, evil exists so one of the other must be false

The evidential problem of evil - William Rowe

• The existence of god is improbable due to the extent of evil and suffering in the world

• Gives example of a fawn in a forest that is trapped, burned and in agony for days before death relives its suffering - demonstrates how suffering can be totally purposeless and excessive

Theodicy

A justification of god against the problem of evil

Privation

Latin term meaning ‘absence of good’, used to describe Augustine’s understanding of evil

Aesthetic argument

Augustine’s argument, based on the idea that the natural world only appears evil due to our limited perspective

Salvation

Deliverance from sin, the sign, through Christ’s sacrifice, that god is all loving

The fall

The name for the event, described in genesis, which marked Adam and eves exit from, the garden of Eden as a result of Adam’s sin

Original sin

The innate tendency for evil possessed by all human beings, as a result of Adam’s sin

Free will defence

• The Free Will Defence is the earliest example of a theodicy, a defence of God against the Problem of Evil. It is presented by the Christian scholar St Augustine of Hippo.

• Augustine argues that the world was created perfect and that human beings were created with free will. Humans and fallen angels misused this free will, leading to an imbalance of creation causing both moral and natural evil.

• Evil is a privation of good: it is when we choose not to follow God’s plan and therefore lack his good qualities.

• Augustine’s source here is the story of Adam and Eve found in the Old Testament Book of Genesis, which he takes literally and treats as the origin of Original Sin. Everyone is born with Original Sin because we were all “seminally present in the loins of Adam”. We therefore all deserve punishment in hell.

• Augustine however argues that through Christ’s sacrifice and resurrection we are all offered grace and the opportunity of salvation. This is proof that God is all loving and powerful.

Augustine’s explanation of natural evil

• Creation is good but we experience it as bad due to a distorted relationship with gods goodness

• “Fire, cold, wild beasts and so forth” only affects us because of the “needy morality of our flesh”, a “just punishment” for Adam’s sin. These things were always part of creation but before the fall, we were not vulnerable to them

• Genesis demonstrates that death, the ultimate natural evil, is a punishment for sin (“to dust you shall return”)

Augustine’s explanation of moral evil

• Treats moral evil as a “swerving of the will” from god towards lower things

• For Augustine, it is essential we have this will - “man cannot live rightly” without the ability to choose between right and wrong

• In many ways, moral evil is more significant to Augustine than natural evil since the moral evil of Adam is the whole reason we experience creation as a source of natural evil

Strengths of free will defence

• It is a solution to the problem of evil which acknowledges the existence of evil while maintaining the traditional qualities of God

• The Free Will Defence encourages a sense of responsibility for human failings rather than placing the blame elsewhere

• It nonetheless offers hope for a better future

• Solves the logical problem by denying that evil exists in the same way good does, and that it is necessary for free will

Weaknesses of free will defence

• The literal approach to Adam and Eve is problematic for many modern readers including Christians who wish to embrace evolution and treat the early Bible stories as metaphorical

• Augustine takes an extremely negative and dark view of human beings, saying that even babies are inherently sinful

• Even if punishment is justified it seems excessive to say that we deserve eternal damnation for a sin our ancestors committed

• Many scholars see Augustine's aesthetic argument as unconvincing - it does not explain the examples of natural evil that serve no purpose (evidential problem)

• If god knows everything that would happen before he created it, he deliberately created a world with evil, if he didn’t he isn’t omniscient

• Does not fit with many modern attitudes, eg evolution

Bios

• Term used by hick to describe the image of god, reflected in human biology

• “So god created mankind in his image”

Zoe

• Term used by hick to describe the likeliness of god, reflected in the fulfilment of human potential

• “Let us make mankind in our image, after our likeliness”

Epistemic distance

The idea that god has created a knowledge gap so that belief in god is a matter of choice and faith

Universalism

The view that all human beings will eventually achieve salvation

Hicks counter factual hypothesis

The name for hicks argument that we would not want to live in a world free from evil and suffering

Soul making theodicy

• John Hick attempts to provide an updated theodicy which is more appealing to modern Christians who wish to accept belief in evolution and take a more positive approach to human nature.

• Hick claims that God created the world in an imperfect condition. He gave us earthly evils to test us and encourage us to grow from the image of God into his likeness. For example, witnessing or experiencing suffering may prompt us to become brave, compassionate, and resilient.

• God places himself at an epistemic distance (knowledge distance) as if we had complete understanding of him, it would be too overpowering. We can therefore freely choose to enter into a relationship with him.

• As soul-making is often unsuccessful in life, we have the opportunity to continue soul-making after death. This could happen in one of Hick’s Replica Worlds

• Eventually we are offered universal salvation: everyone will complete the soul making process and be granted eternal life with God.

Strengths of soul making theodicy

• Virtues we have developed through struggle are more valuable than those just given to us. For example, we feel a greater sense of achievement if we have suffered over two years to pass an exam rather than if we have cheated.

• Universalism provides comfort for many people as it removes the fear of hell

• The claim that soul making results from struggle is intuitive and reasonable

• Open to all people due to the pluralist/ critical realist approach - it doesn’t force commitment to one religion

• The suggestion that certain virtues, eg love, compassion, trust can only be developed through suffering seems intuitively true

• Hicks argument around pointless suffering directly address the evidential problem in a way that Augustine never manages to

Weaknesses of soul making theodicy

• The amount of horrific suffering God forces us to endure seems to go beyond what is necessary (evidential problem)

• It does not explain why some people endure more suffering than others – is the need for soul making not the same for everyone

• The idea of Universal Salvation is seen by some as too positive as it means that there are ultimately no permanent consequences to the worst acts of evil – should war criminals ever end up in heaven?

• Makes claims which are unscriptural

• Hick's universalism goes against a lot of religious scriptures and seems unfair

• Hick does not adequately address the problem of animals - it seems unfair that intelligent non-human animals, many of whom share a common ancestor with us, should not get the opportunity to soul-make (Hick suggests animals do not experience pain the same way that humans do and therefore their pain is justified - but is this supported by science?)

Process thought

An approach to philosophy focused on the idea of change as the centre of our experience

Panentheism

• God is part of, and beyond, the universe

• If god was really an ‘unmoved mover’ he would not be able to love us - to love = to be moved

Discord

A challenging situation arises out of a decision to take a risk

Triviality

No good or evil - potential remains unrealised

Two parts to gods nature

• Primordial (unchanging)

• Consequent (changing in relation to us)

• God has to wait for us to make a decision and then respond to this in the best way he can

Process theodicy

• According to David Griffin, God is not omnipotent. Scripture actually shows that he created the world from pre-existing materials (e.g. man from dust).

• God is nonetheless omnibenevolent. This means:

  • He is able to be moved and affected by us and experiences all the joys and sufferings we experience, alongside us.

  • He is unable to coerce us and therefore only tries to persuade us to choose the right thing. When we stray from his plan and cause evil, he tries his best to offer new ways forward but cannot always succeed.

  • As we become increasingly complex, we become capable of greater evil (e.g. mass suffering and destruction) but also greater good (whole societies promoting love of others, curing illnesses etc.) The good has so far outweighed the evil in the world.

• God chose to create the universe knowing it was a risk. The risk was worthwhile however as it is better to have something rather than nothing.

Strengths of process theodicy

• Does not attempt to offer an unconvincing excuse for god evil but instead acknowledges he can’t stop it - a more plausible explanation

• As there is no guarantee of salvation (unlike in the other two theodicies), humans must take responsibility for leading the fight against evil. This is more motivating than theodicies which give God the power to right our wrongs for us.

• Griffin does not take a blindly literal view of the bible but instead recognises how translation, culture etc could have influenced our understanding of god

Weaknesses of process theodicy

• May be more appealing to atheists than Christians since it is intellectually thought provoking but not consistent with Christian scripture

• Just because God experiences all our joys and sufferings does not mean he understands what we go through, since he always experiences a balance. For people who suffer but do not experience joy, their experience is arguably worse.

• Due to the nature of the world in process thought, there is no definite afterlife, meaning that it fails to offer the same comfort as soul making

• A god who created a process he would not be able to control seems unworthy of worship, if he is unable to guarantee a good outcome for us, is there any point in our faith?