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Problem of Evil (continued)

Problem of Evil (continued). Experience of evil is part of the process by which we develop into moral beings

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Problem of Evil (continued)

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  1. Problem of Evil (continued) • Experience of evil is part of the process by which we develop into moral beings Objections: the horrific suffering necessary for such moral development is inconsistent with the existence of a loving God. What does a dying infant learn through suffering? And how does moral development justify the suffering of animals?

  2. The Existence of God and Evil Are Irreconcilable(Fyodor Dostoevsky) • Evil is real, so is God: that situation is unin-telligible; its acceptance relies on faith alone • Suffering (especially in children and animals) is never made up and is unforgivable. It has no purpose or rationale: that is why faith is not rational and does not make sense (1821-81)

  3. “The Absolute Paradox”:Søren Kierkegaard (1813-55) • Religious belief is not comforted by any knowledge of God. If we could prove his existence, we would not consider him the truly unknown Other. And if we know what it is we hope to prove—that God exists—then we already know that God exists, and any attempted proof is pointless

  4. Kierkegaard: “Absolute Paradox” (continued) • To let go of the pursuit of the demonstration of God’s existence is to know his existence as the Absolutely Different. But absolutely different from what? Answer: the being who seeks to know him, a being differentiated from God by sin. The juxtaposition (and thus reconciliation) of God and humanity in Christ constitutes the “equality” of the two

  5. Kierkegaard:“The Absolute Paradox” • To know God as unknowable is to know him as truly other, as the limit of what we know. God transcends what we know, and is thus both known and unknown. This is the paradox that calls forth from us faith

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