JW
4/3/2015 11:06:13 pm
Evil and suffering and its relation to God stems from the question, 'If an all loving, powerful and knowing God existed, how can evil suffering still exist in the world?'. This question was the basis for the inconsistent triad devised by Mackie which will be explained further later. Both St. Augustine and David Hume went on the same lines of logic when explaining that a omnipotent, omniscient and omnibenevolent cannot exist. There are, however, three theodicy's which are devised to justify Gods existence despite evil and suffering. They are the soul making argument (St. Irenaeus), process theodicy and free will argument. (St. Augustine).
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EJ
5/3/2015 05:31:18 am
Evil is the most powerful weapon to count against religion. Evil can damage the structure of religion, and expose its deep rooted contradictions. If an all-loving and all-powerful God can allow evil to happen in the world, then this raises serious questions and doubts to the doctrine of “God of Classical Theism” and to Gods very own existence. But what if evil doesn’t exist? One must first consider whether we put “evil” into a separate category distinct from good, and whether we may class it as a separate entity; or is it simply “the absence of good?” as Plato would say. This then would remove the implications about evil in the world, and why such a supreme being would allow such things to happen; however, by disregarding evil to exist, it does not remove the fact that suffering and evil continue to destruct the lives of humans on earth. The search to find why evil exists in our world and whether it has any meaning is a vicious cycle of thought; ultimately this is problem of evil and suffering.
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MH
8/3/2015 10:17:23 pm
Theodicies are arguments for the existence of God despite the existence of evil and suffering. The main argument is that if the "God of classical theism" does exist and plays an active role in the existence of the universe and the maintenance of the universe, then why does evil exist. Plato, a "Before Christ Christian" illustrated how evil is simply the absence of good and therefore, God cannot be held accountable for the existence of evil as it is simply the absence of good. It is argued that evil is the result of misuse of our free will given to us by God. So if God was to interfere with our free will and prevent evil from occurring, then we wouldn't have any free will. Augustine, Plato and Irenaeus proposed 3 different theodicies exploring how the existence of evil should not affect the existence of God.
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ERF
10/3/2015 08:30:15 pm
I think you mean process theodicy, proposed by whitehead :)
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EA
10/3/2015 08:42:31 pm
Well done, Miranda! Great argument. You tried!
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AT
10/3/2015 08:45:56 pm
Well done! :D
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AAF
9/3/2015 08:13:44 am
The problem of evil is a topic that contradicts the divine nature of God. It is based on the notion that if God is omnibenevolent, therefore all good and loving "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son". If he is omniscient so is aware of all things before it happens "For I know the plans I have for you plans to prosper you and not to harm you". And if he is omnipotent therefore obtains all power "I can do exceedingly abundantly above all things". Surely such a being who contains all of these characteristics should not allow evil to exist, and infuse suffering and pain on those who are not deserving of it. For this reason, God cannot exist because if he does his nature that defines him and presents him as God, would be tarnished. As Aquinas states "if God existed there would be no evil discoverable". There are three theodicies, theodicies meaning arguments that justify the existence of God in the mist of the presence of evil and suffering. The following are: The soul making argument (St Irenaeus), free will argument (St Augustine) and process theodicy.
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EA
10/3/2015 08:29:49 pm
John Hick defined evil as 'physical pain, mental suffering and moral wickedness' while suffering is defined as 'the unjust result of evil, manifested in mental or physical terms' and together, they form 'the problem'. There are different types of evil, the main ones being moral and natural- Moral being evil caused by human whereas natural is caused through malfunctioning of the natural world. 'The problem' was eluded by Epicurus and Hume but was put into a synthetic, deductive argument known as the inconsistent triad by Mackie. The argument disputes that the God of classical theism and evil and suffering cannot co-exist. Therefore, as put by St. Augustine, 'either God cannot abolish evil or he will not'. Many believe that evil helps humans define God but that always brings up the question of whether the end justifies the means.
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ERF
10/3/2015 08:30:09 pm
"if you see a blind man, kick him why should you be kinder than God?" these are the main issues surrounding evil and suffering. this links to the inconsistent triad that God is omnipotent, God is omnibenevolent, however evil exists. There are however three theodices that try and justify Gods existence through stating that "evil is merely the absence of Good". These theodicies are Augustines free will argument, Iraneous soul making argument and the process theodicy.
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CM
10/3/2015 08:37:56 pm
The problem of evil comes from the contradiction between our understanding of an Omnibenevolent and Omnipotent God and the existence of evil, both natural and moral in our world supposedly created by God ex nihlo. Some would argue that the existence of this evil and suffering is merely a lack of good in our world, a fault and therefore not a creation by God and others would argue that our very understanding of God is wrong and we may have overestimated the ability of God to prevent this evil.
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TJ
10/3/2015 08:51:02 pm
The philosophical definition of evil 'physical pain, mental suffering and moral wickedness' as defined by John Hick. The problem of evil is an issue that has plagued the minds of many for centuries and it all boils down to one question. How can God and evil co-exist? This has given way to theories such as the inconsistent triad and theodices all of which will be explored in this essay.
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AT
10/3/2015 08:51:54 pm
"How dare you create a world which has so much misery which isn't our fault. It is utterly, utterly, utterly evil" - Stephen Fry. A theodicy is the justification for God's existence despite there being evil and suffering.The problem of evil comes from the way in which God is assumed to be Omni-benevolent and Omni-potent but the existence of evil and suffering contradict his existence. J.L. Mackie was an Australian Philosopher who came up with the Inconsistent Triad. These are three statements that cannot be logically true at the same time without leading to a contradiction.
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