Brief Evil and Suffering answer
(i) Outline two solutions to the problem of evil (21 marks)
The problem is how do we reconcile an omnipotent and omnibenevolent God with the existence of evil and suffering in the world? The God of classical theism should be willing and able to remove evil and suffering. However, evil exists. This kind of solution is called a theodicy. A theodicy does not deny the existence of moral and natural evil, it proposes that there are good reasons why God does not intervene when conceivably he could or should do so.
The theodicy of Augustine is based on the Genesis account of Creation and the Fall, and argues that the world and humanity were created perfect, but because of free will humankind chose to disobey and rebel against God: “To defect from him who is the Supreme Existence, to something of less reality, this is to begin to have an evil will.” Because of this, sin entered the world and evil and suffering are the consequences of this sin. We all share in the evil nature brought about by Adam and Eve because we are seminally present in them and so deserve to be punished. Evil itself is not part of God’s creation, nor is it God’s fault; it is a privation, an absence of good. God is justified in not intervening, because it is our fault, including natural evil which was caused by the imbalance in nature caused by sin. Augustine saw the whole problem in the light of the coming of Jesus, suggesting that God had planned man’s redemption through the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. It can be seen that this theodicy places great emphasis on free will and could be seen as a benefit that outweighs all else – it is worth the price of humans making morally wrong choices. Therefore, through this theodicy God’s qualities are protected.
The theodicy of Irenaeus maintains that humanity was not created perfect; we are immature morally, though we have the potential to grow morally, in to the likeness of God: “It was possible for God Himself to have made man perfect from the
The problem is how do we reconcile an omnipotent and omnibenevolent God with the existence of evil and suffering in the world? The God of classical theism should be willing and able to remove evil and suffering. However, evil exists. This kind of solution is called a theodicy. A theodicy does not deny the existence of moral and natural evil, it proposes that there are good reasons why God does not intervene when conceivably he could or should do so.
The theodicy of Augustine is based on the Genesis account of Creation and the Fall, and argues that the world and humanity were created perfect, but because of free will humankind chose to disobey and rebel against God: “To defect from him who is the Supreme Existence, to something of less reality, this is to begin to have an evil will.” Because of this, sin entered the world and evil and suffering are the consequences of this sin. We all share in the evil nature brought about by Adam and Eve because we are seminally present in them and so deserve to be punished. Evil itself is not part of God’s creation, nor is it God’s fault; it is a privation, an absence of good. God is justified in not intervening, because it is our fault, including natural evil which was caused by the imbalance in nature caused by sin. Augustine saw the whole problem in the light of the coming of Jesus, suggesting that God had planned man’s redemption through the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. It can be seen that this theodicy places great emphasis on free will and could be seen as a benefit that outweighs all else – it is worth the price of humans making morally wrong choices. Therefore, through this theodicy God’s qualities are protected.
The theodicy of Irenaeus maintains that humanity was not created perfect; we are immature morally, though we have the potential to grow morally, in to the likeness of God: “It was possible for God Himself to have made man perfect from the