CHRISTIAN BELIEF: PROBLEM OF EVIL AND SUFFERING IN THE WORLD

• • Inconsistent triad: God is omnipotent, omniscient, omnibenevolent
• • Moral evil - evil caused by humans eg war
  • Natural evil - evil caused naturally eg earthquake
• Iranaean theodicy:

  • Iranaeus said God allows evil in the world so we can learn what is right and good, he created a world where good and evil would exist
  • This is called soul-making, we develop spiritually as we learn from mistakes
  • God cant stop people from doing evil as this will affect their free will, if people learn from mistakes and become better they can still go heaven
• Augustinian theodicy:

  • St Augustine said God made a perfect world and did not create evil, only good: evil is when good gets corrupted
  • Adam and Eve bought evil into world with the first sin, all humans inherit sinful nature (original sin) from Adam and Eve
  • Humans can only be saved from sin as Jesus died as a sacrifice for their sin
• Story of Job:

  • "Though he slay on me, yet will I trust in him."
  • This teaches Christians to keep their faith if they suffer