What is meant by the problem of evil and suffering for religious believers? Examine two solutions to this problem.

by araz1002 (student)

AS and A Level Religious Studies & Philosophy

1. What is meant by the problem of suffering for religious believers? Examine two solutions to this problem.

Evil and suffering is a problem for religious believers as it challenges the existence of God. Theists believe that God is omniscient, omnibenevolent and omnipotent, however if he was then he would want to abolish evil and suffering. Augustine said “Either God cannot abolish evil or he will not: if he cannot then he is not all-powerful, if he will not, then he is not all good”. J. L. Mackie argued that the existence of an all loving and powerful God, and the existence of evil and suffering is incompatible, and this results in the inconsistent triad. Mackie has said that “if God is omnipotent and omnibenevolent how can there be evil and suffering in the world”. The existence of evil in the world goes against the qualities that religious believers think God holds.

There are two types of evil that cause suffering: natural evil and moral evil. Natural evil is the malfunctioning of the natural world which causes floods, diseases and earthquakes. Moral evil is the result of humans taking actions that are morally wrong, for example 9/11 and the Holocaust. These were both planned and carried out by humans. This challenges God’s nature as he allowed these incidents occur causing many innocent people to suffer. If God was all loving then he would want to put an end to evil and suffering. Flew believes that this is the biggest problem for religious believers because they do not have an answer as to why God should not intervene. Evil and suffering raises question about God’s goodness and it may lead people to believe that God is not all good, therefore he is morally imperfect. As this is not the God of classical theism, some may suggests that he is not worthy of being worshipped.

One solution to the problem of suffering is the Augustian theodicy. Augustine argues that the Bible shows that God created a world that was perfectly good and free from any defects. He defined evil to be the privation of good, as he believed it was the going wrong of something that is actually good in itself. Augustine believed that evil is not a thing or substance that God created; however there are higher and lesser goods. He suggested that evil came about because God gave beings (angels and humans) freewill and they chose to turn away from God and ...

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Augustine’s explanation for suffering is that it is a punishment because Adam and Eve disobeyed God and as a consequence, the state of perfection was destroyed. He believes that the original sin committed by Adam was passed on to humans and is seminally present in them all; therefore they have to suffer as a punishment. Augustine argued that those who followed God will have eternal life, but those who go against God will suffer eternal torment.

Another solution is the Irenaean theodicy in which Irenaeus argued that God has a plan, therefore he has created the world the way it is. He suggested that humans were created imperfect and this world will provide them with the opportunity to develop into perfect beings. There are two stages to the creation of human beings: first is that humans are created in the ‘image of God’ and secondly, humans will grow into the ‘likeliness of God’. Humans were created imperfectly because attaining the likeliness of God requires willing cooperation from individuals, for which God gave them freewill. The universe was created with the possibility of evil, and humans have freewill to do both good and evil. God cannot intervene in what humans choose to do because this would cause their freedom to be lost. Irenaeus concluded that humans will eventually develop into the likeliness of God, overcome evil and suffering, and then live in heaven where there is no evil and suffering.

John Hick developed Irenaeus’s idea by arguing that if God had created perfect humans, then they would have the goodness of robots and would love God automatically without thinking about it. God wanted humans to genuinely love him by choice and so he gave them the freedom to develop this love. In order for God to achieve this, he had to create humanity at an epistemic distance form himself, meaning that God must not be so close to humans that they feel obliged to obey hum. Also, the world had to be created imperfectly because if evil and suffering did not exist, then humans would not be free as only good would happen.

Both of these solutions suggest that humans have freewill to choose between evil and good. When beings disobey God by choosing to do evil, they cause suffering which is their punishment.

What is meant by the problem of evil and suffering for religious believers? Examine two solutions to this problem.

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