the problem of evil

    Cards (104)

    • Natural evil
      Evil which results from the workings of the natural world, such as natural disasters and disease
    • Moral evil
      Evil which is caused by human action, such as murder and torture
    • The logical problem of evil
      • The a priori argument that evil and the God of classical theism (as defined as omnibenevolent and omnipotent) cannot exist together
    • Epicurus: 'Is God willing but not able to prevent evil? Then he isn't omnipotent. Is God is able to prevent evil but not willing? Then he isn't omnibenevolent. If God is both able and willing, then why is there evil? If God is neither able or willing then why call him God?'
    • Mackie's 'inconsistent triad'
      The God of classical theism (omnipotent and omnibenevolence) cannot exist if evil exists. Either Omnipotence, omnibenevolence or evil must not exist, since all three are inconsistent.
    • Logical problem of evil
      1. P1. An omnipotent God has the power to eliminate evil.
      2. P2. An omnibenevolent God has the motivation to eliminate evil.
      3. P3. Nothing can exist if there is a being with the power and motivation to eliminate it.
      4. C1. Evil, omnipotence and omnibenevolence thus form an inconsistent triad such that God (as classically defined) and evil cannot possibly co-exist.
    • A priori argument

      The conclusion follows from a logical analysis of the definitions of the concepts 'omnibenevolence', 'omnipotence' and 'evil', without reference to experience
    • A posteriori argument
      The evidence of evil in the world makes belief in God unjustified
    • Evidential problem of evil
      The a posteriori argument that the evidence of evil in the world makes belief in God unjustified
    • Evidential problem of evil
      1. P1. We are only justified in believing what the evidence suggests (empiricism).
      2. P2. We only have evidence of imperfection (a world with both good and evil).
      3. C1. We are only justified in believing that imperfection exists.
      4. C2. So, belief in a perfectly good being is not justified.
    • Augustine's theodicy
      Augustine's explanation for the origin of sin and evil, based on the Genesis story of the Fall
    • Original Sin
      The idea that the first sin of Adam and Eve disobeying God's command resulted in a corruption in all humanity
    • Augustine argued Evil does not actually exist. It is merely a privation of good, meaning it is the absence of Good.
    • Plantinga's 'free will defence'
      • Plantinga's response to the problem of evil, arguing that it is possible for God and evil to exist together because evil is the result of free will
    • Plantinga's 'free will defence'
      1. P1. Evil is the result of the misuse of free will.
      2. P2. God cannot remove evil without removing free will (that would be logically impossible).
      3. P3. Life would be valueless without free will, so it is better to have free will despite the evil its misuse can lead to.
      4. C1. It is therefore better for evil to exist than not to.
      5. C2. An omnibenevolent and omnipotent God therefore would allow evil.
    • Augustine & Plantinga vs the logical problem on moral responsibility
      Augustine's theodicy seems logically possible that God allows evil because it is either sin (moral evil) or punishment for sin (natural evil) or the work of satanic energies (natural evil). However, it is difficult to maintain that a child deserves suffering like cancer because of original sin.
    • A factual consequence of Adam's sin was that all future humanity became infected with original sin and thus deserve punishment
    • We deserve punishment
      For being sinful beings
    • Followers of Pelagius objected that Adam's crime is not a personal crime of his descendants
    • This argument is strongest when considering cases like children with cancer
    • Augustine would have to say it is God's justice for that child to get cancer and that God is still omnibenevolent despite allowing it
    • Augustine puts it down to the "secret yet just judgement of God"

      Indicating that it is inscrutable – impossible for us to understand – but we should have faith it is just
    • Augustine points to Psalm 25:10: 'All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth,' and concludes: neither can his grace be unjust, nor his justice cruel
    • Children suffering from natural evil could just be the work of demons
    • A strength of Augustine's doctrine of original sin

      It can be evidenced from observing human behaviour and society
    • G. K. Chesterton made this point, arguing that you could see evidence for original sin 'in the street'
    • R. Niebuhr said original sin was the one 'empirically verifiable' Christian doctrine
    • Geneticists claim that the evidence we have of genetic diversity means that it's not possible for all of humanity to have descended from two people
    • This, plus the other evidence for evolution, suggests that we evolved and were not created
    • Augustine could still be right that human nature is corrupted by original sin

      Even if he's wrong about the Fall being the exact means by which that came to be
    • Augustine said that if you doubt original sin exists, ask yourself how you would behave if your city was involved in a catastrophic war

      Would you go out on the street and try to help others, or would you hunker down with your family and try to defend what you have? This is the inclination towards self-love and away from love of your neighbor that characterizes original sin
    • There is scientific evidence which supports human corruption and corruptibility such as the Stanford prison experiment
    • It is also common knowledge that power is corrupting to people
    • When people gain the opportunity to sin and get away with it, they are more likely to do so
    • The long habit of doing wrong which has infected us from childhood and corrupted us little by little over may years and ever after holds us in bondage and slavery to itself, so that it seems somehow to have acquired the force of nature
    • Humans have progressed since Augustine's time
    • Martin Luther King said, "the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice"
    • Steven Pinker attributes to the power of human reason that violence has decreased, even considering the 20th century
    • The average human life seems more secure than at any prior point in history
    • Irenaeus views the Fall as a necessary stage in the development of humans towards perfection
      Adam and Eve are like children who go astray because they lack sufficient wisdom to do what is right. Punishment is a way to help children mature
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