The Problem of Evil.

The presence of evil in the world is unquestioned but if there is a good God how can it be explained?

We are going to learn of many explanations for this problem but simply speaking these approaches can be divided into two areas:

The Irenean tradition

This is a theodicy developed from the work of Ireneus (130 - 202) which gives God some partial responsibility for evil in the world but attempts to show that there are good reasons which make evil inevitable. Human beings are not perfect but are born imperfect and have to work towards perfection through development and growth - evil and good are part of the plan of God.

The Augustine Tradition

This seeks to remove entirely from God the responsibility for evil and blames it on other beings who have by their own free will misused the gift of freedom that God has given them. Therefore God is not to blame for evil in the world but humans and fallen angels. As far as Augustine is concerned the world was created perfect by God and the fall from perfection has been created by humans and was contrary to the intention of God.

These two approaches share common assumptions that need to be stated before they are explored in greater detail:

. Either this world was created by God or it was not.

It is was not then it must always have existed

A theist would assume (think cosmologically) that the world has not always existed and therefore has behind it the power of a supreme being - this they would call God.

2. As far as the Judeo Christian tradition is concerned God created this world and has sustained this world. This is the view of the theist but not the deist - the deist would maintain that God created the world and then left it to its own devices - the existence of evil in the world is not therefore a problem for these people.

3. Theism would also maintain that there is only one single God and that there is not such thing as Dualism - the idea that there are two opposing forces battling against each other in a war over good and evil.

To sum up therefore the philosophical problem arises because of the difficulty in reconciling the creation of God and his care for his creation with the existence of evil we find in the world.

Further assumptions must be made about the nature of this care: this care must be benevolent - God must be good - if God was in some sense evil, if he had enjoyed the suffering at Auschwitz or the pain that humans inflict on others then it is not surprising that we would have so much suffering in the world. However a theist would maintain that God is wholly and perfectly good and indeed is the source of all goodness. They would also maintain that he is powerful - that he is omnipotent and that he can do anything. He is not therefore limited by his inability to act. If God is the source of all goodness he would not want humans to suffer.

There are therefore five assumptions:

> A single God exists who created the universe from nothing

> This God continues to be interested in his creation

> God is good

> God is omnipotent

> God does not wish suffering to take place

If we are willing to forgo just one of these assumptions then there is not problem of evil - the Judeo Christian tradition cannot do this - philosophically speaking therefore evil poses the biggest threat to the existence of the Judeo Christian idea of God and it is a solution to that problem that philosophers have tried to seek.

> A single God exists who created the universe from nothing - if the universe is a brute fact that has always existed then the nature of the universe is not due to any agent or God. The world is as it is and we must live in it, we must make the best of it. We have not alternative.

> This God continues to be interested in his creation - if God is no longer interested in his creation then evil can be explained as being due to divine neglect.

> God is good - if God is not good then evil may be directly due to God's will

> God is omnipotent - if God is not omnipotent then God may not have had the power to prevent evil, for instance if there is a cosmic power for good and an equal cosmic power for evil then evil may be simply explained by the action of the evil power

> God does not wish suffering to take place - if evil is held not to exist or to exist only in the minds of human beings then there is no problem that needs to be resolved.

According to Hume and JS Mill if we reason simply from the facts in the world as we perceive them then there is no way we can arrive at the existence of an all powerful and wholly good God. Evil as far as they are concerned is unnecessary and avoidable if God really created and designed the world.

Tasks

. What is evil? - Provide a working definition of evil which includes the concepts of man made, natural and dystelogical - give specific examples from reality which correspond to those definitions.

2. What is God? - Provide a working definition of the Judeo Christian idea of God which shows the characteristics and meanings of the belief in a supreme spirit.

3. What examples are there of the characteristics of God and the presence of evil in the bible? - Find specific stories and teachings from the bible which underpin the idea that God cares for his creation.