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The Problem Of Evil: Theodicy

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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
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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

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