Problem of Evil (6) AQA A Level Religious Studies

What is the problem of evil? 

LOCIGAL PROBLEM OF EVIL 

• Since God created everything out of nothing “ex niho” so he has responsibility for everything 

• If he is omnipotent then he can do everything logically possible this means that he could have created a world free form evil and suffering and free from the possibility of anything going wrong 

• It also means he has the power to stop all evil 

• Since God is omniscient, he would know that we are suffering, and he would know how to stop it 

• If he is omnibenevolent then he wouldn’t want us to suffer, “a wholly good being eliminates evil as far as it can”- Mackie  

• David Hume argues that God cannot be omnibenevolent, omniscient and omnipotent (inconsistent triad) he can only be two at once never all three 

• Hume considered the effects of evil are too widespread to be dismissed, this means that Gob must be malevolent or incompetent. 

SOLUTIONS THAT DENY THE STAMENTS: 

• Denying Gods omnipotence- Is this God worth worshiping? 

• Denying Gods omnibenevolence- This is unthinkable 

• Denying that evil exists- Augustine of Hippo said that evil is a privation of good, evil comes in the absence of good, however it is hard to dismiss the Holocaust  

EVIDENTIAL PROBLEM OF EVIL: 

• Evil is that of overwhelming quantity and quality: 

• Natural evil the Permian-Triassic Extinction: “the great dying” 90% of marine species were destroyed and 79% of land species 

• Natural evil Mount Vesuvius: 1500 people killed in the eruption and encased in ash 

• Moral evil Dostoyevsky Brothers Karazmov: Alyosha (monk) and his brother Ivan have an argument about evil and God. Ivan tells stories of a child who was tortured by their parents and a boy who was murdered by dogs because he injured the masters' dogs. He said that he would ““I hasten to give back my entrance ticket… It’s not God that I don’t accept, Alyosha, only I most respectfully return my ticket” – Ivan, chapter. 35- Ivan is a Christian but doesn't want to be part of a system that includes so much suffering 

• William Rowe- a lightning strike that causes a fire that kills a fawn- this is a pointless evil, nothing good comes of this if God is omniscient, he would know that this would happen so why wouldn’t he stop it? 

What is the free will defence? 

KEY IDEAS: 

• God has given up control over human actions to bring about greater good 

• Having free will isnt ebough we must be in a situation where we can develop 

• While free will gives us the opportunity to develop it also gives us the opportunity to do bad 

• The problem of free will is that it comes with a great price 

MACKIES FREE WILL DEFENCE 

MACKIES REJECTION OF THE FWD: 

• It is logically possible for someone to create good choices all the time 

• God could have created humans so we could only make good choices 

• God did not do so 

• Son 

• Either God lacks the power to do so 

• God is not loving enough to do so 

• Either way the FWD fails.... God doesn't exist 

PLANTINGA POSSIBLE WOLRDS 

• PW1 (logically possible) 

• God creates a world with morally significant free will 

• God doesn't causally determine humans' actions  

• There is evil and suffering 

• PW2 (logically possible but makes humans robots) 

• God doesn't create humans with morally significant free will 

• God causally determines humans' actions 

• There is no evil and suffering 

• PW3 (logically impossible) 

• God creates people with morally significant free will 

• God determines human actions 

• There is no evil and suffering in PW3 

     FREE WILL DEFENSE AND NATURAL EVIL: 

• If God was to interfere every time something bad was to happen then we would know that God exists, then we would only live to please God so all purpose is removed from good actions- an epistemic distance must be maintained 

Does evil and suffering have a purpose? 

IRENAEUS THEODICY 

• Evil and suffering has a purpose in “soul making” 

• If the world was perfect, then we would have no chance to develop (soul-make) 

• We will eventually reach spiritual perfection; it means more to reach that through our experiences rather than being created perfect 

HICKS  

• The world must be created imperfect to give us the chance to become “children of God”  

• Genesis tells us that we are created in Gods image, but we must become in his likeness 

• If we were created so we are automatically loving, it doesn’t mean enough 

• If the world was a paradise, then we wouldn’t be able to develop this explains natural evil 

• If we didn't have free, we wouldn’t develop this explains moral evil 

• If we didn’t have an epistemic distance, then we would only act to please God  

• Eventually everyone will develop into a “child of God” 

• “Intrinsically more valuable than virtues created within him ready-made” 

What is process theology? 

GRIFFIN: 

• The universe was created and is eternal 

• God was there at the beginning  

• God is the soul of the universe 

IMPLICATIONS 

• God is not omnipotent 

• God is not the creator nor is he eternal. 

• God does not have all power in the universe.  

• Thus, God is not transcendent and cannot intervene to break the laws of nature by which the universe work.  

• The universe and God exist panentheistically together. 

• God is not omniscient: 

• God is not transcendent. 

• God does know everything; he has been there since life started to begin on the earth.  

• God knows what humans are more likely to do and can persuade atoms to do things, but he doesn’t always get his way.  

• Therefore, God does not know the future.   

• There is only objective life after death 

• Humans have no subjective reality about the afterlife.  

• Therefore, heaven is not a place like traditional Christians like to think.  

• When you die your body goes back to the earth and thus back to God (Panentheism).  

• So, in a sense you are objectively immortal as all individuals remain in the universe forever after death. 

• Humans are not aware of their post-living existence. 

• POSITIVES: 

• God understands what it is to suffer with humanity because he does literally. 

• The issue isn’t whether God can stop suffering it is why doesn’t humanity stop it. 

• It can explain why suffering exists in the world. 

•  Justifies humanities full free will.  

• Upholds science considering the Bible and vice versa  

• Gets rid of determinism. 

• NEGATIVES:  

• Gets rid of the God of classical theism.  

• God’s lack of omnipotence is seen as a major weakness. Does it make him not worthy of worship? 

• Could be seen to contradict what the Bible says about God’s omnipotence and omniscience.  

• Evil still exists. Griffin thinks more evil will come. Why would God start a process he could not control? 

• Near Death Experiences seem to contradict the idea that there is no subjective afterlife.