All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing to stop it - Edmund Burke

LIFE AFTER DEATH: THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE AFTERLIFE AND THE PROBLEM OF EVIL MR. DEZILVA PHILOSOPHY 13

EPICURUS AND THE PROBLEM OF EVIL The “Problem of Evil” was first formulated by Epicurus ( BC)

TO PARAPHRASE EPICURUS... “Either God cannot abolish evil, or He will not; if He cannot then He is not all- powerful; if He will not, then He is not all-good” (More on Epicurus later)

WHAT IS THE PROBLEM OF EVIL? The assumption is that a good God would eliminate evil as far He is able. The assumption is that a good God would eliminate evil as far He is able. Given that He is all-powerful, He should eliminate it all. However, evil exists. Given that He is all-powerful, He should eliminate it all. However, evil exists. In other words God has the means (power) and the motivation (love, goodness) to eliminate evil. So why does he not do it? In other words God has the means (power) and the motivation (love, goodness) to eliminate evil. So why does he not do it?

THE PROBLEM OF EVIL IN A NUTSHELL If there is a God who is omnipotent and omniscient and who is omni-benevolent, then why do evil and suffering exist in the world? A wholly good and loving God would want to prevent evil, and because He is omnipotent, He should be able to eliminate evil – yet, it still exists. In AS Philosophy of Religion, The Problem of Evil is counter- evidence against the Existence of God and aims to prove that God does not exist – and this is shown by the fact that evil exists in the world

THE INCONSISTENT TRIAD The Problem of Evil is also sometimes known as The Inconsistent Triad There are 3 proposals that we are asked to accept: 1) That God is perfectly Good 2) That God is all powerful 3) That evil and suffering exist “Triad” refers to the 3 ideas. “Inconsistent” refers to the notion that we cannot believe all of these three without contradicting ourselves.

IT IS ARGUED… If an omnipotent (all-powerful) God created the universe, He could have made the world in any way He chose Why not create a world where natural disasters do not exist? Why not create a world void of harm? Why not create a world without injustice?

CONTRADICTIONS TO GOD’S ATTRIBUTES If an omniscient (all-knowing) God created the world, He must have known what it was going to be like when he made it. And if God knew this would be the case (that evil would exist), then he cannot be omnibenevolent (all-loving). However, if God intended that the world should be different and it has all gone wrong, then this doubts His omniscience, and if God cannot change what is happening, this casts doubt on his omnipotence.

BACK TO EPICURUS Epicurus advocated pleasure as the one good, This led Epicurus to say that being dead will be no worse than not having being born. Central to his view is that because we do not experience being dead, we should not be afraid of it and death should therefore be of no concern to us. “Death, the most dreaded of evils, is …of no concern to us, for while we exist death is not present, and when death is present, we no longer exist.”

HOW DOES THE PROBLEM OF EVIL RELATE TO LIFE AFTER DEATH? Create a spider diagram or flow chart that explains the connections between The Problem of Evil to Life After Death. You will have to go back in your notes and discover the various connections.