Evil and a God of Love: the strengths and weaknesses of Augustine’s Theodicy

Objectives: You will... Remind yourself of the difference between natural and moral evil Consider (once again) how Augustine explains the existence of both Evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of Augustine’s solution to the problem of evil (the Augustinian Theodicy)

A game of evil ….. Get in groups of Four/Five. o Take it in turns to pick up a card o When you have picked a card ask the person to your left where they would place it on the board o They must give a reason o They can, if they want, move another card already on the board if they think their “evil” is more or less evil than what is already there o Discuss your views as you go along

God is thought to be omni-benevolent, omnipotent and omniscient If God is omni- benevolent he would want to remove evil and suffering If God is omniscient he would know how to remove evil and suffering If God is omnipotent he would be able to remove evil and suffering Therefore, both God and evil cannot exist Evil and suffering do exist Therefore, God cannot exist

An award winning photo taken in 1994 during the Sudan famine. The picture depicts a famine stricken child crawling towards an United Nations food camp, located a kilometer away. The vulture is waiting for the child to die so that it can eat it. This picture shocked the whole world. No one knows what happened to the child, including the photographer Kevin Carter who left the place as soon as the photograph was taken. Three months later he committed suicide due to depression. An award winning photo taken in 1994 during the Sudan famine. The picture depicts a famine stricken child crawling towards an United Nations food camp, located a kilometer away. The vulture is waiting for the child to die so that it can eat it. This picture shocked the whole world. No one knows what happened to the child, including the photographer Kevin Carter who left the place as soon as the photograph was taken. Three months later he committed suicide due to depression.

Do you Know the difference between Moral and Natural Evil. o Look back at the introductory sheet I gave you evil (the one with the Triad on it) o Using your notes produce an impressive, academic, well written definition of “natural” and “moral evil” You have 3 minutes

You Decide…. Decide whether the following pictures are examples of moral or natural evil.

Mass Murder

December 26, 2004 Tsunami September 11, 2001 Twin Towers Natural EvilMoral Evil

Evil and a God of Love: let’s remind ourselves what Augustine thought

Natural and moral evil is not God’s fault: God made a perfect world because God is perfect. God is not responsible for evil: we bring it on ourselves when we reject God using our free will.

Original rejection of God by rebellious angels (moral evil) who ‘fell’ or turned away from God (causing natural evil.) Humans created in the likeness of God (Gen 1:27) but given free will Evil was let into the world through the free choice of Adam and Eve who ate the apple of knowledge of good and evil. Adam and Eve corrupted and destroyed God’s natural perfect order creating disharmony and resulting in natural evil. Very simple: moral evil = natural evil

Seminally present in Adam and Eve Therefore we are all guilty for the Fall We deserve punishment Natural evil is fitting punishment for our original moral evil

God did not create evil. Evil is an absence of good (cannot create an absence) Evil is a privation. This means that God cannot be blamed for evil as evil is not a substance, it is an absence of good. E.g. Blindness is an absence of sight.

Moral Evil = angels + humans freely choose to turn away from God. Natural Evil: Result of human/angelic disobedience. Disharmony (destroying God’s perfect harmony) resulted from the eating of the apple (Fall) = natural evil. So natural evil is a fitting punishment for moral sin, so God is justified in not intervening to stop it.

OK, if you were God for a day what would wrong would you change in the world – what would you “sort out”. Write down 3 things you would sort out on 3 separate pieces of Paper

God MAN FaLLEN Angels We’ll now read the pieces of paper as a class and decide which bucket St. Augustine would throw the evil into according to who is responsible for it

Is it fair that God’s bin is clean and empty, and all the blame is on angels and humans? God MAN FaLLEN Angels MAN

Weaknesses of Augustine’s Theodicy Before we look at what philosophers have said about the weaknesses of Augustine’s theodicy, use the scrap of paper to write down some of your own

A perfectly created world shouldn't, logically, have gone wrong, but it has. If God created a perfect world then why evil? Cannot create something out of nothing. Either: 1.World was not perfect 2.God enabled it to go wrong Hell is part of creation so God must have had foreseen evil and the need for punishment.

Scientific Evolution theory undermines how literally Genesis creation and the Fall stories can be taken. Also undermines how we are all seminally present in Adam/ Eve. Moral How could a good God let us suffer for what Adam and Eve did? Hell is a difficult concept, if God created it he must have anticipated needing it – so why not change the plan?

Read the handout on Augustinian Theodicy and the criticism made of it Produce a Table of strengths and weaknesses of the theodicy This is to be started in class and finished for homework