The Problem of Evil “Unless talk about God can be done looking at images of burning children, it is merely playing games.” Greenberg, following the Holocaust.

Peter Vardy and Julie Arliss, The Thinkers Guide to Evil (2003) “After the holocaust, philosophy and theology must be done in the presence of the worst forms of evil and suffering if these are to be taken seriously. They are not simply academic games – they affect the lives of all human beings too deeply. At the end of the day the problem of evil is not simply an intellectual problem – it is a challenge that confronts all of us and which demands a response.”

Evil and Suffering: The Case Against God It is often suggested that the existence of evil and suffering within the world is an argument against the existence of God. The Catholic theologian Hans Küng suggested it was ‘the rock of atheism’. So how does this argument work? Is it a knockdown argument or does the believer have a response? A barrister appearing for the prosecution might say: If God is all powerful then he is able to prevent suffering. If God is all loving then he would want to prevent evil and suffering. But evil and suffering do exist... therefore God cannot! This conundrum has been called the inconsistent triad. Some philosophers have suggested that these three properties – God’s omnipotence, God’s benevolence and the existence of evil – cannot be reconciled. Only two of the three could be true.

What is evil?

Moral Evil – evil that results from human actions which are morally reproachable. Eg. Holocaust. Natural Evil – evil that results from the malfunctioning of the natural world, which produces entities such as disease and famine. Eg earthquake in Haiti.

It’s not like it is in the movies…. In the real world identifying evil is a far more complicated and hazardous matter than it would appear from the world of literature and film. Eg. September 11 th 2001: Twin Towers Attack -To the western world, those responsible were evil and wicked. George Bush talked of an “axis of evil” and the media reported it as an act of “evil terrorists” who had killed “innocent American civilians”. -BUT: to some people in Iraq, Pakistan, Iran and Egypt, these so-called evil-terrorists were martyrs. They were fighting again the injustices of American imperialism and were in fact freedom fighters who had stood up against American support of Israel and the injustice of the treatment of Palestinians. Some saw it as a protest on behalf of devout Muslims against the whole way of life in the West – sex, money etc. Some also saw it as an attack on American support of corrupt governments in the Arab world, who they believe are supported and kept in power by America and Britain because of Western oil interests. -Such a response, when faces with the charred remains of Americans provoked furious response and some of those inside America who have tried to suggest that there is another side to the “evil terrorist” version of events have been issued with death threats.

How does the problem of evil work? God is not all powerful and cannot prevent evil (Mill’s view), or God is not all good and does not want to prevent evil, or evil is just an illusion. These are viewed as being false options by most thinkers. What reasons would be given for rejecting these ideas?

Evil does not exist: it’s an illusion MONISM: The view that we only experience suffering as something bad because we are unenlightened and do not see “the big picture”. Problems: - Can end up trivialising people’s suffering and anguish as something that “isn’t real.” - Leaves us with the questions of why a loving God would want people to suffering illusionary evil, which seems to be just as painful as real evil.

God is Evil - Dualism Some religions (eg. Zoroastrianism) claim there are TWO Gods – one good, one evil. Some Christians become dualists if they view the Devil as a being as powerful as God. Problems: -Where have these two Gods come from and why are they at war with each other. -On what basis should we choose to be loyal to one and not the other.

Protest Atheism Some people accept that God exists but refuse to worship him. The Brother Karamazov (Dostoyevsky): Ivan Karamazov argues that God allows evil and suffering to happen to innocent children AND WHATEVER END GOD HAS IN MIND, IT IS MORALLY WRONG FOR GOD TO ALLOW THIS EVIL TO TAKE PLACE. i.e. God should be condemned because he allows evil to take place and nothing can justify this. God is to blame for evil and the degree of innocent suffering in the world means that whatever plan God has in mind for humanity, it is not worth it. Compare to Job (Old Testament) – comes to completely different conclusion: I trust God even though I cannot understand Him. I cannot see how some instances of suffering can possibly be worth it, but even though I cannot see it I believe that in some way it is.

Most atheists and believers will probably both agree that the above options are wrong. So we are left with only two real possibilities: there is no God (the atheist’s conclusion) or God is justified in permitting evil and suffering (the theist’s conclusion). The case for the defence How would you go about defending God against the charges? Remember, you have to account for moral evil and natural evil. Keyword: THEODICY. A theodicy is an argument that tries to explain why God causes or creates evil and suffering.

God on Trial v=5caAug5n8Zk Based on the book by Holocaust survivor Elie Weisel. Tells the story of a group of rabbis who met in the camps placed God on trial for his failure to protect his chosen people.