1. The Problem of Evil Part One Philosophy and Ethics, 3B

2. GOD IS GOOD GOD IS GOOD

3. What is the problem?

4. A single God exists who created the world from nothing (ex nihilo).

5. This God continues to be interested in his creation (this understanding is consistent with a theistic concept of God rather than a deistic one)

6. EVIL OMNISCIENT BENEVOLENT OMNIPOTENT

7. EVIL BENEVOLENT OMNIPOTENT

8. EVIL OMNISCIENT BENEVOLENT

9. EVIL OMNISCIENT OMNIPOTENT

10. EVIL OMNISCIENT BENEVOLENT OMNIPOTENT

11. The Problem of Evil can be stated:- Theism is irrational because it includes an inconsistent set of beliefs. 1. There is suffering in the world. 2. God exists How do we reconcile the goodness of God with the reality of evil?

12. What do we mean by ‘evil’? 1. Physical pain 2. Mental suffering 3. Moral wickedness 3 is proposed as ONE of the causes of 1 & 2

13. Natural Evil – caused by impersonal objects or forces Moral Evil – caused by the wrongful actions of people

14. Two classical theodicies:- Augustinian Irenean

15. St Augustine 354 - 430 Seeks to entirely remove responsibility of evil from God by blaming it on beings who have abused the freedom given to them by God. The Freewill Defence stems from Augustine’s thought. It is dependent on a literal interpretation of Genesis.

16. Augustine’s view of evil God is good God created the world from nothing God’s creation is therefore wholly good Evil cannot exist as a substance Evil can consist only in the corrupting of a good substance Evil is a privation or ‘lack of’ good The ‘evil’ of blindness is a privation or ‘lack of’ sight

17. How did evil come about? Through the freewill of angels and humans Angels turned from God and rebelled and then tempted Adam and Eve to fall. The chief of these is Satan. The fall of angelic and human beings was the origin of moral evil Natural evils are the punishment for that sin. All humans were present in the ‘loins of Adam’ and therefore we all deserve punishment. “All evil is either sin or the punishment for sin” (Augustine)

18. Two central pillars of doctrine:- 1.God created all things good 2. Free creatures misused their God-given freedom and all other evils proceed from this Fall. 1. maintains the innocence of God 2. maintains the guilt of the creature

19. Criticism First came from Schleiermacher (19 th C.) Idea of an unqualifiedly good creature (angel) committing sin is self-contradictory and unintelligible. If the angels were perfect they would not have sinned. Some angels did sin therefore they were not perfect.

20. Criticism …to put it another way A flawless creation would never go wrong It did go wrong A perfect creation could not go wrong spontaneously because this amounts to the self-creation of evil ‘ex nihilo’. God must ultimately be responsibility for the going wrong of creation. The intended theodicy (to remove the responsibility of evil from God) fails.

21. Criticism Augustine holds that humans were once morally and spiritually perfect and then fell. Modern scientific evidence suggests that humanity evolved from lower forms of life. Natural Evils occurred long before human life so they cannot be the result of the fall of humans Humans are not all seminally present in Adam. We are not guilty for Adam’s sin. God is allowing us to suffer for a sin we did not commit. Therefore God is unjust.

22. Irenaeus (130 – 202) God created a perfect world. Humans brought evil into it through their actions God created an imperfect world so that humans can freely reach the good Augustine: Irenaeus:

23. SimilarSimilar to Augustine in tracing evil back to human freewill. DiffersDiffers in admitting God did not make a perfect world. God is therefore partially responsible for evil valuableEvil has a valuable role to play in God’s plan for humans.

24. How does Irenaeus see value in evil? Human perfection is not ready-made. If humans were created prefect there would be no free will. freeHumans were created imperfect and had to be brought to perfection through free development and growth. Freedom entails the possibility of causing harm. Humans abuse their freedom and cause harm. God cannot compromise our freedom by removing evil because we could not freely turn to him. Our state of perfection lies in the future at the end of a lengthy and arduous process

25. Class Discussions Today Questions Posed and Terms Raised in Class Today Included: -Who judges what is evil? Must you experience it to know it? Is there an absolute evil? Does it depend on certain contexts as to whether something is considered to be evil? -Are there arguments against a ‘general creator’ rather than a religion in regards to the problem of evil? -Does God determine our nature? -Does religious belief mean ‘following God’s plan’ (and what is that plan if there is evil?) -Is this the best of all possible worlds (Leibniz)? -What if God has left us? Does that excuse our being evil? -Dystheism is the belief that God is not wholly good.Dystheism Examples of essay questions posed in the past for you to think about: -“Can evil exist outside religious belief?” -“’Religion is the greatest social evil’ – AC Grayling. Discuss.”