...The existence of evil is one of the world’s most vexing challenges. Most Christians agree on the existence of an omnipotent God, however like Augustine, we struggle to understand how evil comes into being. Evil corrupts our free will and enables us to sin, but if God is all-powerful and all good, how can he allow this to happen? “Whence comes evil? Was there a certain evil matter out of which he made these things? Did he form and fashion it, but yet leave within it something that he would not convert into good? Why would he do it? Was he powerless to turn and change all this matter so that no evil would remain in it, even though he is all powerful?” As these questions found their way into Augustine’s mind, they also manage to exist and remain unanswered for most people today. However Augustine addresses these questions by justifying evil in this world with God’s creation of free will. By granting us free will God makes us responsible for our wrongdoings, as a result of this we can knowingly choose either right or wrong. In the infamous biblical passage on the creation of original sin, God accommodates men by giving Adam and Eve all the necessities of life: partnership, water, food and land. However, despite God’s warning Eve chose to eat the fruit from the tree of life. The serpent persuades Eve who later convinces Adam to eat from the tree. From this persuasion and act from men, original sin is born. Men are now born with a predisposition to sin; in other words, they can knowingly...
Words: 3329 - Pages: 14
...Theology Revision Plato Plato lived in Athens in the 5th and 4th Centuries BC He was the student of Socrates and teacher of Aristotle He was a dualist- believed in the body and the soul He believed the soul was more perfect than the body He believed that societies should be run by philosophers He believed the physical world is a pale imitation of the world of the forms The allegory of the cave The prisoners- normal people of society The prisoner who escapes- philosophers, people that thirst to know the real truth The people casting the shadows- the leaders of society- shaping the world without knowing the truth The shadows/statues- what people believe is reality, what they are told to believe, things people deem to be important The cave- a world without knowledge, the physical world/the body The fire- controlled, dim light- limited knowledge. An imitation of the form of the good The journey outside- a difficult journey, acquisition of knowledge The sun- illuminates the true world- form of the good The journey back into the cave- the desire to educate and inform others of the truth The world of the Forms Forms Plato uses the word ‘form’ to describe the true essence of material objects in the world This idea of the ‘form’ exists in a non physical (yet more real) realm that can only be understood by the mind. This is called the world of the forms Plato believed that the forms were interrelated and hierarchical The highest form The ultimate principle...
Words: 5746 - Pages: 23
...ultimately responsible for everything including evil as stated inIsa.45:7 "I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and createevil: I the Lord do all these things". In the Bible, the story of Jobillustrates that according to specific Christian beliefs, all have sinnedand fallen short of the perfection of God (Romans 3:23), and because we arenot perfect and commit sin, the punishment is mortality. Many religious andphilosophical traditions agree that evil behavior itself is a transgressionthat results from the imperfect human condition. The doctrine of originalsin, as articulated by Saint Augustine's interpretation of Saint Paul,provides that the fall caused a fundamental change in human nature, so thatall descendants of Adam are born in sin, "For all have sinned and fall shortof the glory of God" and can only be redeemed by divine grace. Sacrifice wasthe only means by which humanity could be redeemed after the Fall andbecause "God so loved the world that he sent his only son (Jesus Christ whowas without sin and died on the cross as the ultimate redemption for the sinof humankind) that whoever believes in him should not perish, but haveeverlasting life".Evil has also been an important aspect to the existence of free willand human agency. Others argue that evil itself is ultimately based in anignorance of truth (i.e. human value, sanctity, divinity). A variety ofEnlightenment thinkers have alleged the opposite, by suggesting that evil islearned as a consequence of tyrannical...
Words: 2311 - Pages: 10
...Martyrs University on plagiarism and hereby state that this work is my own. It has not been submitted anywhere else for any qualification. I have acknowledged the secondary sources used in this work. NAME OF STUDENT…………………………………………………………. SIGNATURE…………………………………………………………………… DATE: …………………………………………………………………………… SUPERVISOR………………………………………………………………….. SIGNATURE…………………………………………………………………… DATE: ………………………………………………………………………….. 3 ABSTRACT The importance of a philosophical study dealing with moral issues, especially the principle of autonomy is indisputably great. It is a common agreement that morality is located within the scope of duty. Kant corroborates this held agreement by stating the categorical imperative which every human is obliged to act upon. He conceived this categorical imperative as the moral law which all those who claim to be moral beings have to live on. However, he also affirmed that only autonomous beings can be moral. Moreover, Autonomy seems to be opposed to any idea of law. It is important to note that Kant conceived autonomy as auto-legislation, auto-determination of the moral subject while the categorical imperative requires a total submission of the same subject. What is categorical imperative? What is moral autonomy? How can a person be autonomous and...
Words: 21012 - Pages: 85
...POLITICS, THEOLOGY AND HISTORY RAYMOND PLANT CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS Politics, Theology and History is a major new book by a prominent academic and an active politician. It ranges widely across the disciplines of theology, political theory and philosophy and poses acute questions about the basic moral foundations of liberal societies. Lord Plant focuses on the role that religious belief can and ought to play in argument about public policy in a pluralistic society. He examines the potential political implications of Christian belief and the ways in which it may be deployed in political debate. The book is a contribution to the modern debate about the moral pluralism of western liberal societies, discussing the place of religious belief in the formation of policy and asking what sorts of issues in modern society might be the legitimate objects of a Christian social and political concern. Raymond Plant has written an important study of the relationship between religion and politics which will be of value to students, academics, politicians, church professionals, policy makers and all concerned with the moral fabric of contemporary life. r ay m on d pl an t is Professor of European Political Thought at the University of Southampton and a Member of the House of Lords. He was a Home affairs spokesperson for the Labour Party from 1992 to 1996, and Master of St Catherine's College, Oxford, from 1994 to 2000. Lord Plant's main publications are Social and Moral Theory in Casework...
Words: 144283 - Pages: 578
...VOLUME EDITOR S. WALLER is an Associate Professor of Philosophy at Montana State University Bozeman. Her areas of research are philosophy of neurology, philosophy of cognitive ethology (especially dolphins, wolves, and coyotes), and philosophy of mind, specifically the parts of the mind we disavow. SERIES EDITOR FRITZ ALLHOFF is an Assistant Professor in the Philosophy Department at Western Michigan University, as well as a Senior Research Fellow at the Australian National University’s Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics. In addition to editing the Philosophy for Everyone series, Allhoff is the volume editor or co-editor for several titles, including Wine & Philosophy (Wiley-Blackwell, 2007), Whiskey & Philosophy (with Marcus P. Adams, Wiley, 2009), and Food & Philosophy (with Dave Monroe,Wiley-Blackwell, 2007). P H I L O S O P H Y F O R E V E RYO N E Series editor: Fritz Allhoff Not so much a subject matter, philosophy is a way of thinking.Thinking not just about the Big Questions, but about little ones too.This series invites everyone to ponder things they care about, big or small, significant, serious … or just curious. Running & Philosophy: A Marathon for the Mind Edited by Michael W. Austin Wine & Philosophy: A Symposium on Thinking and Drinking Edited by Fritz Allhoff Food & Philosophy: Eat,Think and Be Merry Edited by Fritz Allhoff and Dave Monroe Beer & Philosophy: The Unexamined Beer Isn’t Worth Drinking Edited by Steven D. Hales Whiskey & Philosophy:...
Words: 90119 - Pages: 361
...THE FIRST FILIPINO Republie of the Philippines Department of Education & Culture NATIONAL HISTORICAL COMMISSION Manila FERDINAND E. MARCOS President Republic of the Philippines JUAN L. MANUEL Secretary of Education & Culture ESTEBAN A. DE OCAMPO Chairman DOMINGO ABELLA Member HORACIO DE LA COSTA, S. J. Member GODOFREDO L. ALCASID Ex-Oficio Member TEODORO A. AGONCILLO Member EMILIO AGUILAR CRUZ Member SERAFIN D. QUIASON Ex-Oficio Member FLORDELIZA K. MILITANTE Exccutive Director RAMON G. CONCEPCION Chief, Administrative Division BELEN V. FORTU Chief, Budget & Fiscal Division JOSE C. DAYRIT Chief, Research & Publications Division AVELINA M. CASTAÑEDA Chief, Special & Commemorative Events Division ROSAURO G. UNTIVERO Historical Researcher & Editor EULOGIO M. LEAÑO Chief Historical Writer-Translator & Publications Officer GENEROSO M. ILANO Auditor JOSE RIZAL (1861-1896) THE FIRST FILIPINO A Biography of José Rizal by LEÓN Ma. GUERRERO with an introduction by CARLOS QUI R INO ( Awarded First Prize in the Rizal Biography Contest held under the auspices of the José Rizal National Centennial Commission in 1961) NATIONAL HISTORICAL COMMISSION Manila 1974 First Printing 1963 Second Printing 1965 Third Printing 1969 Fourth Printing 1971 Fifth Printing 1974 This Book is dedicated by the Author to the other Filipinos Speak of me as I am; nothing extenuate, Nor set down aught in malice, Shakespeare: °the/Lo. Paint my picture truly like me, and not flatter me at all ; but...
Words: 203166 - Pages: 813
