RE - Eduqas Meaning and Origin - GOOD AND EVIL

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  • Created by: KarolK
  • Created on: 06-04-18 13:20
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  • Good and Evil
    • Natural Law and Conscience
      • St.Thomas Aquinas- developed natural law as thinks everything has a purpose
        • What is Natural Law?
          • Basic law 'do good and avoid evil'
            • Humans have a knowledge of what is good as we were made by God
          • As created in the image and likeness of God (Genesis 1:27)
            • All humans know what's right as its written on their hearts. No rules needed.
          • Humans find purpose by becoming what God wants them to be and living in harmony with God, others and Creation
            • Also following natural law and doing good and avoiding evil.
      • Thomas Aquinas
        • 'All activity of reason and will springs from us as being what we are by nature'
          • Everything we do comes natrually
        • 'All reasoning draws on sources we recognise naturally'
          • We know what is right and wrong without being told.
        • Natural law given us inner compass, called Synderisis , that points us to good.
      • 'For man has in his heart a law inscribed by God' - CCC
        • Catholic Church say everyone has duty to inform conscience
        • Train conscience through self - criticising, prayer and scripture
        • Listen to Church and teachings to inform conscience
    • Can suffering be good?
      • After fall of Adam and Eve, suffering entered
      • Jesus' crucifixion was ultimate act of self-giving love releasing us from eternal suffering
        • He healed our broken relationship with God  as God took on human form and payed the price
          • Symbol of love
        • Jesus' suffering gives meaning to our sufferings. Jesus was fully God and Human so experienced all kind suffering.
          • In suffering we grow closer to God as He tells us to 'carry the cross' with Him.
          • Traditionally cross sign of weakness and punishment however now symbol of God sharing pain as it can make us better.
          • When we suffer we share our sorrow. We believe that God gives us courage through bad times.
      • Keywords
        • Iniquities- immoral behaviour
    • Evaluating good and evil
      • 'The existence of suffering proves there is no God' (15 marks)
        • 1) Inconsistent Triad- God cannot be all powerful, all knowing and kind as it can't uphold evil. Therefore God doesn't exist or doesn't have all qualities
          • However Christians believe God has a reason but it's beyond our understanding
        • 2) We are created 'Imago Dei' so we are sacred and made in God's likeness. Therefore God is non-existent or not perfect.
          • However "I know the plans I have for you" God has a plan for us but we must have faith
        • 3) God is described as omni-benelovent but how if evil exists. He can't be all loving or He doesn't exist.
          • However, when God gave us life, He gave us free will so evil exists due to humans.
    • Suffering and Virtues
      • The Catholic Church teaches "To know him, love him, and serve him,so as to be happy with Him now and forever"
        • If we built our spiritual treasure, that include virtues, then our life would be fulfilled.
      • Virtue- A quality deemed to be morally good
        • Faith- human freely commits their entire self to God
        • Hope- we desire the kingdom of Heaven and eternal life as our happiness
        • Love- we love God above all things for his own sake, and our neighbour as ourselves for the love of God
        • Justice- the constant and permanent determination to give everyone their rightful due
        • Prudence (wisdom) - allows us to judge correctly what is right and wrong in any situation
        • Fortitude - Allows us to overcome fear and remain steady in our will in the face of obstacles
        • Temperance- the restraint of our desires or passions
      • Catholic Church teaches us that suffering helps us develop these virtues
        • God allows suffering in order to awaken us  up to reality. and  repent and turn to God.
        • Catechism says "in illness, man experiences his powerlessness, his limitations, and his finitude"
      • St Thomas Aquinas
        • We can respond to suffering in two ways, by turning toward God , or by turning away from God
          • "the evils which bear us down here drive us to go to God"
          • "But we can harden our hearts and turn away from God even more, in our suffering."
        • He says God allows suffering to provoke us to search for Him and realise that present life is temporary
        • Cardinal and Theological virtues are developed through suffering teaching us patience, love an endurance
    • Catholic response to suffering
      • St John Paul II
        • IN 1984 he wrote an encyclical called Salvifici Doloris (Human Suffering)
        • Salvifici Doloris
          • "that suffering will not get the best of him, that it will not deprive him of his dignity"
            • Suffering makes us grow
          • "Gospel paradox of weakness and strength"
            • Weakness there is great strength
          • "God has confirmed his desire to act especially through suffering"
            • We need to feel lost in order to win.
          • Two types of suffering
            • Physical- suffering of body. Pain and discomfort caused by illness or injury
            • Moral - mental anguish; pain of soul / spiritual nature leaving deep invisible wounds
          • "Christ causes us to enter into the mystery and to discover the ‘why’ of suffering"
          • "I will all the more gladly boast of my weakness, that the power of Christ may rest upon me"
            • Pope explain 'why' he focuses on presence of God, becoming better people as it produces endurance, builds character and gives hope.
          • "Yet if one suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed but under that name let him glorify God"
            • Catholic suffering can be bonded with Jesus. They can gain strength and courage.
    • Origins of Evil
      • Natural Evil
        • Suffering caused by events which are not human in origin
      • Moral Evil
        • Suffering caused by humans acting in a way that is considered morally wrong
      • Inconsistent Triad
        • If God is benevolent He does not want people he loves to suffer
        • If God is omnipotent He is powerful enough to eradicate suffering
        • If God is omniscient He know we would suffer and knows how to stop it
        • Can't be all either missing one or doesn't exist
      • Christian responses to Evil
        • God gave us free will, 10 commandmetns and follow Jesus' life but humans decide to follow him
        • God has a plan for u even if we don't understand but we have to trust + have faith
        • God has a reason for allowing suffering but it's beyond human understanding
        • Evil is a preparation for heaven as it gives us a chance to become better people and God will reward them
      • Christians believe where evil comes from?
        • Result of Adam's and Eve's disobedience as they ate the forbidden fruit so they were punished . aka 'The Fall'
        • All people inherited a tendency to sin from A&E called original sin we are born to cause suffering
          • "....the intent of man's heart is evil from his youth."
            • Have sin in our hearts, cleared at baptism
        • That if there is a power of good (God) there's a power of evil ie devil as he disobeyed God
        • Not a thing or person. St Augustine said it's the privation of good so if enough do good evil is removed
          • Creation story "And God saw that it was good."
        • Believe it's a psychological problem that no one is inherently evil but depending on upbringing
  • 'And surely I am with you always, to the very end of time' - Matthew's Gospel
    • When we suffer we share our sorrow. We believe that God gives us courage through bad times.

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