Richard Swinburne’s "The Problem of Evil": God’s Existence Philosophers have looked for ways to explain God’s existence for centuries. One such argment that the believer must justify in order to maintain the possibility of God’s existence is the problem of evil. In his essay‚ "The Problem of Evil‚" by Richard Swinburne‚ the author attempts to explain how evil can exist in a world created by an omniscient‚ omnipotent‚ omnibenevolent Being‚ namely God. Swinburne uses to free-will defense and
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evaluate The Problem of Evil: Against the Existence of God. I believe that the following argument is unsound because there is a premise missing. If the addition of this premise was present‚ I believe that the structure of the argument from premise 3 and down would change. This change would allow the argument to be both valid and sound. I feel as though it is missing the point where humans were given free will. In doing so‚ humans would be allowed to choose between doing good or doing evil. Therefore
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The explanation for why someone or something is evil can not be easily defined‚ as the answer may vary based on a person’s psychological thought process or intellectual reasoning. The justification of this paper is to discuss Peter Van Inwagen and his philosophical response to the argument from evil‚ as well as his free will defense theory for the answer to this complication. I will carefully evaluate the two standard objections to his solution and offer my personal opinion of rather or not he offers
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Natural evil – which is malfunctioning of the natural world‚ for example disease‚ earthquakes and famine. Moral evil – which is the result of morally wrong human actions such as murder and war Omnipotent – If God is omnipotent all powerful‚ he can do anything this means he could create a world free from evil and suffering and he could stop evil and suffering. Problem of evil and suffering Omniscient – If God is omniscient all knowing he must know how to stop evil and suffering Omni benevolent
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the existence of evil in our world disprove God’s existence? March 23‚ 2011 The argument of the problem of evil contends that the existence of an omniscient‚ omnibenevolent‚ and omnipotent God is incompatible with the existence of evil in the world‚ which can be observed in war‚ genocide‚ and human suffering. One could respond to this argument by stating that human evil is a result of free will‚ which is the God-given ability to make decisions which are either good or evil. In this way‚ God
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those who believe in God and those who do not. The problem of evil has shown to be one of the most significant objections to the existence of God. According to most theology‚ God is omniscient‚ omnipotent‚ and omnibenevolent. Everyone sees and experiences evil‚ no matter how innocent and good-hearted‚ which begs the question: “How could God let this happen?” The evils talked about in the problem of evil are moral evil and natural evil. Moral evil is that which occurs from moral human agents such
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The term evil carries a multitude of stigmas‚ translations and forms‚ thus‚ in order to obtain a better comprehension of the concept‚ a universal definition must be established. Therefore‚ as a general base line for uniformity I will use the Oxford dictionaries definition. Evil defined: Profound immorality‚ wickedness‚ and depravity‚ especially when regarded as a supernatural force; Of a force or spirit embodying or associated with the forces of the devil; A manifestation of this‚ especially in people’s
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The Problem of Evil What is Evil? Natural Evil Natural Evil is all the causes of suffering and includes all evil caused by natural means – not by human doing. This could include natural disasters‚ droughts‚ disease‚ or even being killed by an animal. In all these there is no human perpetrator to blame for the “infliction” of evil. Natural is the broad term covering all these things. Natural Evil stands in contrast to moral evil. Moral Evil Moral evil is the broad term covering all evil where
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As we continue to discuss and analyze evil in our world today and try to figure what it actually is I se that it is interpreted differently by different individuals. This variation in interpretation causes it to be necessary to come to an understanding of the nature of the problem of evil. Evil is looked at as a problem in our world today because most of us think "how can a thing like evil exist in our world today when is the exact opposite of god and what he has come to stand for". In other words
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away from God of their own free will and that is how evil originated in the world. Augustine assumes that evil cannot be properly said to exist at all‚ he argues that the evil‚ together with that suffering which is created as punishment for sin‚ originates in the free nature of the will of all creatures. According to Augustine‚ God has allowed evil to exist in the world because it does not conflict with his righteousness. He did not create evil but is also not a victim of it. He simply allows it to
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