Dialogue Education Update 3

1. Dialogue Education Update 3 THIS CD HAS BEEN PRODUCED FOR TEACHERS TO USE IN THE CLASSROOM. IT IS A CONDITION OF THE USE OF THIS CD THAT IT BE USED ONLY BY THE PEOPLE FROM SCHOOLS THAT HAVE PURCHASED THE CD ROM FROM DIALOGUE EDUCATION. (THIS DOES NOT PROHIBIT ITS USE ON A SCHOOL’S INTRANET)

2. YOUTUBE Video – Peter Singer & the Problem of Evil Click on the image to the left. You will need to be connected to the internet to view this presentation. Enlarge to full screen

3. The Problem of Evil • In the philosophy of religion and theology, the problem of evil is the question of whether evil exists and, if so, why.

4. The Problem of Evil • Some responses include the arguments that true free will cannot exist without the possibility of evil, that humans cannot understand God, that evil is merely the absence of good, or that evil is a result of a corrupted and fallen world.

5. The Problem of Evil • There are also many discussions of "evil" and associated problems in other philosophical fields, such as secular ethics, and scientific disciplines such as evolutionary ethics.

6. The Problem of Evil One example among many of a formulation of the problem of evil is often attributed to Epicurus and may be schematized as follows: • If a perfectly good god exists, then there is no evil in the world. • There is evil in the world. • Therefore, a perfectly good god does not exist.

7. The Problem of Evil Another version: • God exists • God is omnipotent, omniscient, and perfectly good. • A perfectly good being would want to prevent all evils. • An omniscient being knows every way in which evils can come into existence. • An omnipotent being who knows every way in which an evil can come into existence has the power to prevent that evil from coming into existence. • A being who knows every way in which an evil can come into existence, who is able to prevent that evil from coming into existence, and who wants to do so, would prevent the existence of that evil. • If there exists an omnipotent, omniscient, and perfectly good being, then no evil exists. • Evil exists (logical contradiction).[

8. The Problem of Evil • Versions such as these are referred to as the logical problem of evil.

9. The Problem of Evil • Many philosophers accept that arguments such as Plantinga's free will defence (in brief, that God allows evil in order to achieve the greater good of free will) are logically possible and thus successfully solve the logical problem of evil.

10. The Problem of Evil • In such a case, however, it is difficult to see how this would be compatible with Omnibenevolence, though the possibility that it is in order to achieve a greater good perhaps remains open.

11. The Problem of Evil • Responses to the problem of evil have sometimes been classified as defences or theodicies.

12. The Problem of Evil • A theodicy, from Greek θεός (theós, "god") and δίκη (díkē, "justice"), on the other hand, is a more ambitious attempt to provide a plausible justification for the existence of evil.

13. The Problem of Evil Free will • The free will argument is as follows. God's creation of persons with morally significant free will is something of tremendous value. God could not eliminate evil and suffering without thereby eliminating the greater good of having created persons with free will and who can make moral choices.

14. The Problem of Evil Free will Gregory Boyd maintains that God does not plan or will evil in people's lives, but that evil is a result of a combination of free choices and the interconnectedness complexity of life in a sinful and fallen world.

15. The Problem of Evil Free will • A problem with the free will response is that it doesn't explain natural disasters and diseases.

16. The Problem of Evil Free will C. S. Lewis writes in his book The Problem of Pain: • “ We can, perhaps, conceive of a world in which God corrected the results of this abuse of free will by His creatures at every moment: so that a wooden beam became soft as grass when it was used as a weapon, and the air refused to obey me if I attempted to set up in it the sound waves that carry lies or insults. But such a world would be one in which wrong actions were impossible, and in which, therefore, freedom of the will would be void; nay, if the principle were carried out to its logical conclusion, evil thoughts would be impossible, for the cerebral matter which we use in thinking would refuse its task when we attempted to frame them.

17. The Problem of Evil Evil" suggests an ethical law • Another response to this paradox argues that asserting "evil exists" would imply an ethical standard against which to define good and evil. C. S. Lewis writes in his book Mere Christianity, “ My argument against God was that the universe seemed so cruel and unjust. But how had I got this idea of just and unjust? A man does not call a line crooked unless he has some idea of a straight line. What was I comparing this universe with when I called it unjust? What was I comparing this universe with when I called it unjust?... Of course I could have given up my idea of justice by saying it was nothing but a private idea of my own. But if i did that, then my argument against God collapsed too--for the argument depended on saying the world was really unjust, not simply that it did not happen to please my fancies.

18. The Problem of Evil Irenaean and Augustinian Theodicy • The church has adopted two main responses to the problem of evil and suffering: the Augustinian theodicy posited by St Augustine of Hippo (354 AD – 430), and Irenaean theodicy posited by Irenaeus (2nd century AD - c. 202).

19. The Problem of Evil Augustinian Theodicy Augustinian theodicy focuses on the genesis story that essentially dictates that God created the world and that it was good; evil is merely a consequence of the fall of man (The story of the Garden of Eden where Adam disobeyed God and caused inherent sin for man).

20. The Problem of Evil Augustinian Theodicy - This, however, poses a number of questions involving genetics: if evil is merely a consequence of our choosing to deviate from God's desired goodness, then genetic disposition of 'evil' must surely be in God's plan and desire and thus cannot be blamed on Man.

21. The Problem of Evil Irenaean theodicy • 1. Useful as a means of knowledge • 2. Character Building Evil • 3. A predictable Environment

22. References • Beebe, James R. (2006), "The Logical Problem of Evil", in Fieser, James; Bradley, Dowden, The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy . • Carver Thomas N. 1908. "The Economic Basis of the Problem of Evil," Harvard Theological Review, 1(1), pp. 97-11. • Farrer, Austin (1961), Love Almighty and Ills Unlimited, Garden City, NY: Doubleday . • Wilson, William McF.; Hartt, Julian N. (2004), "Farrer's Theodicy", in Hein, David; Henderson, Edward, Captured by the Crucified: The Practical Theology of Austin Farrer, New York: T & T Clark International, pp. 100–118, ISBN 0567025101 . • Haught, James A. (1996), 2,000 Years of Disbelief: Famous People with the Courage to Doubt, Amherst, N.Y.: Prometheus Books, ISBN 1-57392-067-3 . • Hick, John (1966), Evil and the God of Love, London: Macmillan, ISBN 978-0060639020 . • Mackie, J. L. (1982), The Miracle of Theism, Oxford: Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0060639020 . • Murray, Michael (1998), "Leibniz on the Problem of Evil", in Zalta, Edward N., The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy . • Palmquist, Stephen (2000), "Faith in the Face of Evil (Appendix VI)", Kant's Critical Religion, Aldershot, England: Ashgate, ISBN 0-7546-1333-X. • Plantinga, Alvin (1977), God, Freedom, and Evil, Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, ISBN 978-0802817310 . • Plantinga, Alvin (1974), The Nature of Necessity, Oxford: Clarendon Press, ISBN 978-0198244141 . • Swinburne, Richard (1997), The Coherence of Theism, Oxford: Clarendon Press, ISBN 978-0198240709 . • Tooley, Michael (2002), "The Problem of Evil", in Zalta, Edward N., The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy . • Trakakis, Nick(2006), "Evidential Problem of Evil", in Fieser, James; Bradley, Dowden, The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy . • Wikipedia-The Problem of Evil- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Problem_of_evil