Preview

The Problem Of Evil: Theodicy

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
694 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
The Problem Of Evil: Theodicy
Course and Section Number:THEO 202 D07

Hamartiology: The Problem of Evil (Theodicy) No matter the degree of sin, it has been a concern of man since the beginning. Whether moral evil or natural evil the proble of evil is evident. The phrase “the problem of evil” is actually a label for a series of such problems involving God and evil (Feingberg, pg 413-415). The problem of evil is not that God is evil, but human beings have a free will and they have to chose to be evil. God cannot be tempted by evil (James 1:13, NIV). There is no such thing as “the” problem of evil as there are many problems of evil (Feinberg, pg 414). The definitions of evil consist of moral evil, which is bad evil and natural evil which is harmful evil. Moral evils are violations of the …show more content…
God is an all loving God, therefore evil exist the theodicist must be able to show that there are no inconsistency with the claims. I view theodicy as God created the world sin-free, but He created man with a free will and he rebelled. This is consistent because free will is a value of the highest order (Feinberg, pg 1186). In order to show Himself a holy and merciful and gracious God, He had to give mankind a choice to make and He redeems those who choose Him. I used to constantly ask God, “Why Me”? Personal experiences could hinder or help our relationship with God. I normally found myself asking God why me during the bad, or evil, times in my life. When things were good I did not question Him. I felt as if God was putting this evil on me. Emotionally God detest evil (Lewis, pg 492) so I was charging Him with the impossible for His nature. Sin has been a concern since the beginning of dawn, both moral and natural evil. Evil cannot be broken down into just one problem because there are many. Mankind has a freewill and along with that comes disobedience leading to evil. The problem of evil will not go away anytime
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    The Crucible Good Vs Evil Essay
    • 1002 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The Crucible Good Vs Evil Essay

    Good and evil are polar opposites, yet one cannot exist without the other. To understand this intricate relationship, one must have a clear understanding on what exactly good and evil are. These two are not always so black and white, but good can be defined as acting agreeably with societical and personal values. Evil can be defined as going against those values. However, as societies and humans differ, so do their moral codes. What is seen as good in one society or time may be seen as evil in another. Two more factors to consider are intentions and actions. They are two separate entities. Actions are seen, and judged, by everyone else, but intentions are known only by the doer. This is why there is no clear-cut line between good and evil.…

    • 1002 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Peter Van Inwagen's Philosophical Response To The Problem Of Evil
    • 321 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Peter Van Inwagen's Philosophical Response To The Problem Of Evil

    So, what exactly is the “problem of evil”? The controversial problem of evil presents the question of how one can harmonize the actuality of evil with an immortal who ensues, in either one…

    • 321 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Comparing Bayle's Paulicians And Candide: A Comparative Analysis
    • 592 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Comparing Bayle's Paulicians And Candide: A Comparative Analysis

    Evil, how did it happen and why is it still here on this earth? There is this belief that the Christian God is good and all-powerful. He has the power to create worlds and beings, yet there is still evil in the world. Both Pierre Bayle and Voltaire address these questions in their works “Paulicians” and Candide (respectively). They both believe the Manichean philosophy as a more rational thought process than the contemporaneous Christian view. This belief is that there is not one, but two gods in the world; a god of good and a god of evil. I myself believe in a world of balance and like the two authors listed above, accept this as more rational thought than a single omnipotent god. My reasoning is that without evil, there is no concept of good,…

    • 592 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Jenny Wiggins's Essay 'My Proof Of Theism'
    • 1767 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Jenny Wiggins's Essay 'My Proof Of Theism'

    P4: Evil is not due to God but to man’s misuse of the free will that God gave him (McCloskey & Hick, 332 &347).…

    • 1767 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Evil in Dante and Chaucer
    • 467 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Evil in Dante and Chaucer

    We in the twentieth century would be much more hard-pressed to define evil than would people of either Chaucer's or Dante's time. Medieval Christians would have a source for it -- Satan -- and if could easily devise a series of ecclesiastical checklists to test its presence and its power. In our secular world, evil has come down to something that hurts people for no explicable reason: the bombing of the Federal Building in Oklahoma City, the burning of black churches in the South. We have taken evil out of the hands of Satan, and placed it in the hands of man. In doing so, we have made it less absolute, and in many ways less real.…

    • 467 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Darkness And Evil In Lord Of The Flies
    • 333 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Darkness And Evil In Lord Of The Flies

    Since the creation of the world, humans have been falling into darkness and evil, as displayed in stories like Adam and Eve. All humans-beings have the potential to become evil, which usually comes from self-centered wants. When people go down the path of doing whatever it takes to get what they want, they end up hurting others along the way. Evil tempts everyone on a daily basis, but it is the choice whether to reject temptation or give in that exemplifies who someone is. When humans repel evil, the good shows through and their actions have a positive impact. Surrendering to evil is the easy way out, but will lead to darkness and destruction, and make it almost impossible to find a way back to the light.…

    • 333 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Pe Per The Free Will Defense Evil Analysis
    • 370 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Pe Per The Free Will Defense Evil Analysis

    The problem of evil refers to the question of how to reconcile the existence of evil with an omnibenevolent, omniscient, and omnipotent God.…

    • 370 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    George Elwell The Problem Of Evil
    • 828 Words
    • 4 Pages

    George Elwell The Problem Of Evil

    There are different types of evil that are allowed in this world. The first is moral evil, which began in the garden of Eden when Eve ate the fruit off the tree and deliberately disobeyed God in an act of sin and evil (Gen. 3)(Elwell, pg 412). The next is natural evil; this is explained mainly in natural disasters such as, earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, and disease. Elwell writes, “natural evil is the consequence of moral evil,” then goes onto explain that natural evil is not distinct…

    • 828 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    augustine-on free choice of the will
    • 1066 Words
    • 5 Pages

    augustine-on free choice of the will

    A. God does no [moral] evil, but he punishes the wicked and thus causes the evil of punishment. When people do evil, they are the cause of their own evildoing (1.1, p. 1).…

    • 1066 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Mackie's Argumentative Analysis
    • 1612 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Mackie's Argumentative Analysis

    What is the Problem of Evil? Is it reasonable to believe a Perfectly Good God, or even a Good God exists if there is suffering in the world?…

    • 1612 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    A comparison of Augustinian Theodicy and Irenaean Theodicy
    • 1488 Words
    • 4 Pages

    A comparison of Augustinian Theodicy and Irenaean Theodicy

    The problem of evil is a significant and enduring philosophical and theological debate. A question is often raised and discussed: if God is both all-loving and all-powerful, then how can evils-including natural evil and moral evil---exist in our world? In response to the charge that the evils of the world are incompatible with God's omnipotence and perfect goodness, the word"theodicy" is coined to deal with the problem of evil. Usually it is an attempt to show that it is possible to affirm the omnipotence of God, the love of God, and the reality of evil without contradiction. Two of the most well-known and most frequently discussed theodicies are the Augustinian theodicy and the Irenaean theodicy.…

    • 1488 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Good vs. Evil
    • 618 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Good vs. Evil

    Good is an extremely broad concept that can concern love, happiness, life, charity, and even justice. Evil, also being a broad concept, is associated with deliberate wrong doing, discrimination, and even harm to others. We often catch ourselves getting into evil situations rather than good situations. For example, killing one person to save an entire tribe. In a way, it is an evil act as far as killing a person, but it also constitutes a good act for saving an entire tribe from one person trying to destroy it.…

    • 618 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Outline The Problem Of Evil
    • 2599 Words
    • 11 Pages

    Outline The Problem Of Evil

    The problem of evil is usually seen as the problem of how the existence of God can be reconciled with the existence of evil in the world. It's regarded as a logical problem, because it is based on the apparent contradiction involved in holding onto three incompatible beliefs. This being that God is omnipotent, that God is wholly good and that evil exists in the world. The fact that evil exists in the world constitutes the most common objection to the belief in the existence of the omnipotent (all powerful),…

    • 2599 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Problem with Evil Existence of God
    • 2572 Words
    • 11 Pages

    Problem with Evil Existence of God

    Today the news is filled with coverage on various natural catastrophes and other related causalities that people face daily. Anyone can look into their lives or even their neighbors and see the presence of misfortune that surrounds our world. This problem has brought up the issue of God’s existence in religious philosophical discussions. For centuries, many have tried to dismiss the existence of God on the basis of the existence of evil. Let’s consider where God has been placed in people’s lives throughout our history. For the Greeks and Romans gods were thought to personify wisdom, war, and other actions that human beings took (Spitzer 5). As knowledge continued to progress god was thought to live in heaven, beyond the realm of the planets. He was believed to have created life thousands of years ago. Soon as human knowledge progressed even further we’ve learned about the Big Bang, DNA, and evolution (Spitzer 14). It seems that the more humans know, the further back God gets pushed. Often, it appears as if humans use God as a placeholder for the unknown, but as we learn more, he gets redefined. Philosophers question whether or not there can be a wholly good God that would create such a world where evil exists. This pursuit is known as the problem of evil. “According to the ‘problem of evil’, the extent of evils in the world seems to conflict with the existence of an omniscient, omnibenevolent, and omnipotent God. Theodicy is a study where theists are able to get together and make their arguments disclosing information on the compatibility between God and evil. This seems to be one of the most perplexing problems theists have to face. In today's…

    • 2572 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    The Problem of Evil
    • 1012 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The Problem of Evil

    This argument purports or tends to show a logical inconsistency between Gods existence and evil existence. Therefore, this argument starts with three ancient features that many theists believe in as true of God. The logical problem, hence, argues that such a being cannot allow or tolerate any evil. There being evil then it is automatic that there is no such being. In the simplest form of this argument is that God is omnipotent, he is wholly good and yet evil exists (Rowe 30). These three propositions specks up contradictions, as if two are true then the other one is false.…

    • 1012 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More

Related Topics