...The Problem of Evil (Theodicy) An age-old question that has been and is being asked from various religions, cultures, and socioeconomic backgrounds is how can a loving and good God allow evil to come into the world? It is a problem that has come up several times by mostly atheists and non-believers, but few Christians are asking it as well. This paper is going to address the problem of evil, why bad things happen to good people, and state the theodicies that explain and answer the problem. The problem of evil has been brought up and used as an argument by non-believers for a long time. How can a loving and good God allow evil to come into the world? They claim that these two Christian beliefs are self-contradictory and that nothing can make sense of it. They state that Christians believe that God is all-powerful, that God is good and loves His people, and that an all-powerful God is capable of doing anything and everything. They say that This question has been used to unjustifiably contradict the Christian worldview in its attempt to prove that it is flawed. They are biased and desire to convince other people and themselves that their worldview is correct by discrediting the Christian religion and/or the Bible. (Feinberg, 414). The deductive reasoning that atheists have are that if God is all powerful, kind and generous, humans are the cause of evil, an all powerful God is fully capable of doing anything and everything, then God should be able to remove evil and...
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...Everyone believes that God allows evil to happen. Believers and unbelievers struggle with this concept. The problem with evil is that it’s deeply rooted in us because God gave us free will. Without free will, we would be forced into loving God. He, however, wants us to love him because we choose to. Many unbelievers argue that “the existence of such evil cannot be reconciled with, and so disproves, the existence of such a God. (The Philosophy of Religion, 2008).” The theology of Hamartiology explains that evil comes in moral and natural ways. The most common that is rooted in us is the moral way. Moral evil is the willful bad acts or decisions of humans against God, others and even themselves. Every day we experience this as a way of life. An example is what we see in our current news. Isis, a terrorist group, choose to murder people for their faith. Natural evil is the “result of any event perceived to be morally negative and that is not caused by the action or inaction of an agent, such as a person. (Chief of Sinners)” An example of this would be if a person chooses to smoke cigarettes, then it is inevitably going to cause them to get lung cancer along with many other harmful diseases which are forms of natural evil. The question as to why sin exist and bad things happen is often asked, especially by lost souls. If you think about it, if God created a perfect world then none of us would have free will. We would essentially be loving God with no reason other than because...
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...What is the “Problem of Evil”? What is the difference, if there is a difference, between so-called “moral evil” and “natural evil”? How exactly does John Hick, in his essay “Problem of Evil”, solve the problem of both “Moral evil” and “natural evil”? Do you think that either or both, of Hick’s solutions is really able to solve what appears to be a unique problem of evil in Arthur C. Clarke’s short story, “The Star”? Unhappiness, as a whole, is a challenge to the idea of good. When one hears or discovers about the disasters or the pain and suffering of wars, violence, earthquakes and killings it is safe to ask one’s self, what the problem of evil is. Investigating the short story “Problem of Evil” written by John Hick the author talks about the differences in “moral evil” and “natural evil” while defining the main question with god and evil. Furthermore in “moral evil” and “natural evil” John Hicks explanations are studied throughout the short story titled The Star by Arthur C. Clark. The problem that is most debated among believers and non-believers of God is the problem of evil. This debate is due to the belief of the omnipotence of God, saying how he is all loving, all powerful and all knowing. For all these meanings of God, there is a major defect, if the almighty is capable of revealing these abilities then how could he let evil enter into the world. If he is all- loving, then why is there so much hatred revolving around us and ultimately, If he is all-powerful, then should...
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...The most weighty of the arguments against God’s existence is the problem of evil. Of all the atheistic arguments, this is the one that has been around for longest, that has had the most words written about it, and that draws the most diverse responses from Christians. In brief, the problem is this: The traditional conception of God is as omniscient (all-knowing), omnipotent (all-powerful), and benevolent. This implies that if God exists then he knows how to, wants to, and is able to prevent all suffering. If such a God existed, though, then he actually would prevent all suffering. Suffering, though, is a familiar part of the world around us; it has not been prevented. There is, therefore, no omniscient, omnipotent, and benevolent God. There are many different responses to the problem of evil. None of them is entirely satisfactory alone, but together they do cast doubt on whether the existence of evil disproves the claim that God exists. The first response to the problem of evil is the free-will defense. Much of the evil in the world occurs only because we choose to create it. The greatest evils in the world are those inflicted by man upon man. In making the world, God faced a choice: he could create free agents like us, or he could create automata, robots, without the ability to make choices of their own. God chose to create free agents, and he made the right choice; a world containing free agents is clearly more valuable than a world of robots. The pay-off...
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...CRITIQUING THEODICES: THE PROBLEM OF EVIL ____________________ A Paper Submitted to Prof. Scott Henderson Luther Rice University ____________________ In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Course TH 536 – Seminar in Apologetics ____________________ By Mark Reid JC 1866 August 24, 2012 OUTLINE I. INTRODUCTION II. EVALUATING THE TYPES OF EVIL III. ATHEISTIC AND SKEPTICAL ARGUMENT IV. FREE-WILL THEODICY V. POSSIBLE WORLDS VI. THE ALTERNATIVE APPROACH VII. CONCLUSION VIII. BIBLIOGRAPHY INTRODUCTION Evil is a universal problem with many categories. Philosophers like David Hume and Alvin Plantinga have attempted to explain the presence of evil despite there being a God. One can choose from many theodicies on moral and natural evil. Lately work has shifted to the notion of gratuitous evil. If gratuitous evils exist, is God morally responsible? Gratuitous evil and natural evil appears to bring the most plausible charge that something malevolent has occurred. This paper will critique various arguments concerning evil. Biblical Theology will show that the arguments are missing a key to understanding evil. EVALUATING THE TYPES OF EVIL The complexity involved in addressing evil persuades us to define what is meant by natural and moral evil. It is noted, by Steven Layman, that the distinction between natural and moral evil is not always sharp. It is Erickson who provides very distinctive...
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...The problem of evil is no problem at all In religious texts the world over the Abrahamic God possesses three inherent traits. He is omnibenevolent, omniscient, and omnipotent. God's omnibenevolence is one of the most appropriate reasons for worshiping him. But with that being said one finds it hard to view God as omnibenevolent when there is so much evil and suffering in the world. Some Atheists, perhaps unjustly, wield this discrepancy between idealistic dogma and perceived reality as strong evidence against the existence of God. First assume God exists. Along with his other powers, and most importantly for our species, God is supposed to possess omnibenevolence. Imagine a world created by an omnibenevolent god. What would this world look like? Most simply stated it would probably be a world like our own but with the absence of malevolence and suffering. This is a problem however, because by definition it does not match the world in which we exist. By imagining a universe without evil surely an omnipotent being could create such a thing if he so chose. God does not seem to have created such a universe, therefore he cannot be said to possess omnibenevolence. Or perhaps God wished to create such a universe but was incapable, refuting his omnipotence. Some atheists have used this line of thought to argue against any notion of a benevolent, all powerful God. At face value some might find this completely plausible but it is not as firm an argument as an atheist would hope. The...
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...typically use the argument known as the Problem of Evil. The argument focuses on the theory that if there is a God that exists that is omnipotent, meaning all powerful, omniscient, meaning all knowing, perfectly good, and capable of everything, then the concept of evil should not exist. The problem is, our world is plagued with forces that do us harm, whether it be due to human fault, intentional or accidental, or nature, these events cause humans to suffer. If these things exist, then that would mean that there couldn’t be a God, because someone that is all powerful and perfectly good would not allow evil to exist. The Problem of Evil has been discussed by many philosophers for a while, and there are some that argue that there is more to the Problem of Evil. A theodicy is a philosopher’s attempt to answer the question of why God, who is supposedly all powerful and perfectly good, allows the manifestation of evil. Philosophers typically try to solve this problem by reconciling the traits that are associated with God, with the occurrence of evil in the world. The first theodicy, which is known as the Augustinian theodicy, is based on the writings of Augustine of Hippo, who was a Christian philosopher. He argues that the problem isn’t with God, but lies within the people that inhabit the planet. He claims that in the beginning, God created a perfect world where no evil or suffering existed, and that due to the disobedience of Adam and Eve that evil exists as a punishment for their sins...
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...The Problem Of Evil There are many events throughout the world that occur, that we cannot explain. The evils that exist are moral and non-moral evils. The moral evils that exist are poverty, oppression, persecution, war and injustice. The non-moral evils that occur frequently but not usually on a daily basis are earthquakes, hurricanes, storms, flood, drought, and blight (philosophy. Lander.edu/intro/hick.stml). These evils happen with thousands of people dying daily for no reason. The problem of evil is a touchstone of any religion. The direct confrontation with evil results in suffering, and thus endless questions about the meaning of life. That is why all religions have to give a proper answer regarding the origin, nature and end of evil (www.comparativreligion.com/evil.html). Many people think these occurrences are evil and why does God allow them to happen. To believe in God is difficult because of all of the evil that he allows. This is because many evils (for example, the suffering of children) seem to serve no justifiable purpose. Therefore, these kinds of evils count against the existence of God. These evils are called gratuitous (or pointless) evils. (http://www.equip.org/articles/addressing-the-problem-of-evil-). The pointless evils that exist show that God may not exist. The different religions of the world justify that a God does exist. Many religions of the world believe that you cannot have good without evil because it helps to keep things balanced...
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...Short Essay on Topic Hamartiology: The Problem of Evil Evil and its’ affects our obvious in our world and lives. Everyone, regardless of beliefs, must at some point deal with the reality of pain, disease, and disasters that seem to flow from evil. Just being a Christian does not erase these realities or a need to find resolve. All of us must deal with these questions in a honest way, or be content to deny the understanding our minds wish for. This understanding must unify the basic beliefs we have in God: If God is all powerful and good then why would He allow evil to exist? Logic would take us to remove one of these characteristics of God. Either He is not really all powerful or good. This is where some might deny God’s sovereign power. How can He allow something bad if He is good and able to stop it? This leads us to see that it is not just one issue, but a host of questions pop up in this arena. We find ourselves faced with moral evil and natural evil, just to pick two of the issues. Moral evil is defined as “evil produced by the activity of moral agents” and natural evil as “evil that occurs...int the natural order” (Elwell). These are seen daily in our world. Moral evil shows up in murder, greed and in the hearts of us all. Natural evil are those catastrophic events that are outside a moral agents’ influence. Therefore moral agents consistently choose that which is contrary to God, and sin. This is because the first man and woman fell at the original temptation (Gen....
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...Since the beginning of times, the problem of evil has been in our planet. In a matter of a natural catastrophe, spiritually or intentionally hurtful actions by people, evil has been causing pain, damage and drastic negative changes in nature and human lives. If we consider these facts, a question arises:- “Why bad things happen to good people? Or why bad things happen in the world?.” There has been a lot of investigations from all type of people that practice different religions in reference to these questions, also psychologists and philosophers have been part of this big interesting research. Some of them have found that evil is located in the self, that means that we people have the free will to do right or do wrong, and if we choose...
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...religious beliefs, is the problem of evil. John Hick explains in his essay, “The Problem of Evil”, that this ‘crisis’ so to speak is based on three characteristics that Christians claim God has. Christians believe that God has infinite knowledge, power and love. The question that is then raised is: Why is life on earth filled with vast amounts of suffering, pain and evil if God has never-ending abilities to embrace those three characteristics? John Hick provides two answers to this question. He believes that evil is essential to soul making. Hick explains that evil provides humanity with important qualities such as appreciation, compassion and unselfishness. His essay suggests that pain and suffering is beneficial for humanity because through evil, individuals become worthy of being God’s children and worthy of an eternal life after death. Hick concludes his argument by stating human creation is incomplete and that it is each human’s responsibility to work for perfection by learning morals and values through suffering. Hick’s second answer is based on the concept of free will. God creates humans in such a way that they are free. Hick claims that for this to be true, humans must have the freedom to choose between right and wrong, good and evil, and whether or not to embrace God in life. Humanity must be completely free from God’s control, in order to truly be free. This puts humanity in a place where it is susceptible to sin, which encourages evil. Hick believes that...
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...Bobby Rappach Mr. Klockner Problem of Evil The Problem of Evil I feel that the problem of evil isn’t evil itself but people and their applications of evil in the world. When thinking of evil the first thing that comes to mind is sin and the devil and it should be normal to do so. Satan was the first to sin and it became a legacy that every human tends to do and some more than others. Satan may have directly disobeyed God with the intention to disobey him but people now don’t sin to disobey God but because it’s not seen as a bad thing. Sin may come on different levels and put into 7 separate categories that all sins fall under but choosing to sin is still sinning. The common denominator in every sin is the person choosing to do it, so people are the problem with evil. If you look at evil as a living thing or something that can manifest itself through different forms of human interactions than it becomes easier to understand. Its almost like a parasite that can only exist with humans help. People and evil create a symbiotic relationship and can not exist fully without the other. We could live without evil in a sense, but we wouldn’t be the people we are now, but we would no longer have free will because free will is the only way that lets us come in contact with evil. Evil on the other hand has very few ways to show itself if people didn’t have a free will therefore an access to evil because evil can’t manifest in an animal because they don’t know right from wrong, only...
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...simple fact, evil exists and it can be seen every where in today’s society. No matter how old or young, no matter where we look, whether it is in our textbooks or comic books, on TV or in our video games, evil is always there. There is evil of different types, with different causes and effects, with one event being more evil and has the power to stir up different emotions than the last. By examining opinions offered by people like John Hick, we can understand why God allows evil and the reasons extreme cases of destruction, as in “The Star” by Arthur C. Clarke to exist in our world or anywhere. There is no denying that evil has a tight grasp around the world we live in. It is this simple fact which defines the problem of evil. However, to understand this problem one must first understand evil itself. Webster’s English Dictionary defines evil as morally objectionable behaviour which causes harm, destruction, or misfortune. That being said, there are two different types of evil, moral and natural evil, each of which having their own unique characteristics. Moral evil, or wickedness, is the pain and suffering which is a direct result brought about from human action. Since humans are free to choose and act as they wish, they are free to choose to do good or they can choose to do evil. Most crimes and sinful act which cause pain and suffering, such as rape, murdered, and war are all considered morally evil acts. The second category of evil is natural evil. Natural evil is the pain...
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...two types of evil that are traditionally recognized are moral evil and natural evil. There is a clear distinction between the two of them. Natural evil is based around disasters such as hurricanes and tsunamis as well as people suffering. Where as moral evil is more based around the actions of people and their free will. For instance this could include murder and traits such as dishonesty and greed. However some of these in actual fact do link together and the separation between them is not quite as evident as originally thought. For example diseases which are natural evil could just be the result of an irresponsible lifestyle and natural disasters could be because of the way we treat our planet. Devastating incidents taking place in the world today have an effect on all of us.In particular those incidents by natural causes, not only leave us asking questions, but for some religious people leave a challenge to their faith called the problem of evil. The basic premises of the problem of evil are that how can an omnipotent, omnibenevolent God let his creation suffer without fixing the impurities. This argument frequently occurs when somebody is either attempting to disprove the existence of God and if not prove that the God some people believe in is definitely not worth worshiping. This theory is precisely for believers in the God of classical theism as that is the God who supposedly has the two qualities listed above. The reason that this does not pose a problem when it comes...
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...Anthony Blaskovic Phi 016- Spring 14 Problem of Evil Essay Determinism states that every event in this world has been caused by events that preceded it. This would mean that we really have no control as to what happens in our lives. Free will, however, is also supposed to be our right. We should be able to choose what will happen if we make certain choices. So how is Gods omniscience compatible with the existence of free will? God has the foreknowledge to know what is going to happen to each and every one of us. He knows the events that will occur around the world that will affect our lives. This knowledge however does not constitute that we don’t have free will. If you look at individuals, we can make the choice to do one thing or another. Just because a greater power knows what the choice will be, doesn’t mean we cannot choose what we are going to do. Our daily choices can be chosen by us, but are known already by God. He knows that we will choose for example to call in sick to work, that doesn’t mean that we couldn’t have went to work, that choice was determined by us. We could have changed that, but God just knew that was going to be the outcome. If God has foreknowledge of the outcome of all events, then how could we possibly have free will. It seems that if determinism is a proven fact, then we can make any choice, but the outcomes are always predetermined by past events that are out of our control, so free will really doesn’t exist, people just think it does...
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