Evil and Suffering

• When we look at the world around us, we can observe many different forms of evil and suffering
• Natural suffering / natural evil


  Suffering in the world caused by natural events which is not under the control of human beings
• Natural evil


  • Earthquakes
  • Volcanoes
  • Floods
  • Hurricanes
  • Tsunamis
• Natural evil, according to Nietzsche is part of an imperfect world
• Christians believe 'natural disasters' or 'natural evil' are not evil in themselves, e.g. lava from volcanic activity produces fertile soil and floodwater from rivers can irrigate land
• Some natural suffering could be the result of human action
• Moral evil / human evil


  The product of human actions and wrongdoing
• Moral evil


  • Theft
  • Murder
  • Greed
  • Warfare
  • Torture
  • Killing of the innocent
• Moral evil is the result of disobedience of God's will and commands
• Moral evil is the result of flawed human choices, humanity giving in to temptation / surrendering to the Devil, and/or human complacency
• Moral evil may include both deliberate actions and failures to act
• Moral evil causes pain and suffering for self and fellow human beings
• Moral evil damages humanity and the environment
• Sickness and disease are other sources of suffering. There are millions of viruses and bacteria in the world that directly cause suffering and death
• Sickness and disease are usually seen as natural evil
• Research and summarise examples of recent news stories and decide if they show natural suffering or moral evil

  1. Natural Suffering - An earthquake in Nepal in April 2015 killed almost 9,000people and injured another 20,000.
• Evil entered the world due to the Fall of angels and humanity (Genesis 3)
• Adam and Eve were tempted in the Garden of Eden
• Evil and suffering is the consequence of human disobedience to God's will
• Since then all humanity has inherited sin/the potential to sin
• Sin and the consequences of sin, informs us that we have broken the relationship with God and must be reconciled with God
• Dharma


  A natural force of virtue that permeates the universe in Hinduism
• If a person acts contrary to dharma they create evil in the world
• When individuals experience evil, it's part of the Hindu system of justice known as karma
• Even gods sometimes cause evil in Hinduism
• Evil always goes back to an earlier wrong action in Hinduism
• Hinduism may also teach of the fall of man, when demons destroyed the Golden Age of peace and caused humanity to fall from grace and act evilly
• The problem of evil


  The argument that the existence of evil and suffering is incompatible with the existence of an all-powerful, all-knowing, and all-good God
• The problem of evil is sometimes called the Inconsistent Triad
• The argument is deductive in nature and purports to be valid
• In a world where suffering exists

  It is still possible to believe in God
• Many religious believers accept that God uses suffering for a purpose
• Humans have freewill. Humans disobey the will of God, and this can cause suffering
• Once people believe that suffering is part of God's plan to strengthen and test them and to make them more dedicated to their faith
• Christians receive eternal life through the suffering of Jesus' death and resurrection
• Satan


  The fallen angel Lucifer who is the source of all evil. He rejected God and his reign.
• 2 Peter 2:4: 'God did not spare his angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them in chains of darkness to be held for judgement.'
• Satan tempts Jesus on three occasions when he is in the wilderness for 40 days and nights (Matt 4:1-11 & Luke 4:1-13) and is the reason why Judas betrayed Jesus according to Luke 22:3.
• Not all Christians believe that the Devil is a real person.
• Shaytan (the Devil)


  In Islam, he refused to bow down to Adam and said he would tempt humans forever to choose evil rather than good. God allows Shaytan to tempt people by presenting evil as attractive, but Shaytan has no power to make people do wrong as God has created everyone with free will.