good and evil

?

What is evil?

What is evil?

Evil is divided into two types:

Moral evil

Natural evil

We tend to think of things being evil if they cause alot of pain and suffering to the innocent

Some people believe that nothing is evil in itself, it is only the effects which seem so

Some people believe that natural events can not be evil as they have no intention

Most people seem to think of things being evil if they intentionally hurt innocent people/ animals

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Ways that people try to solve the 'problem of evil

Ways that people try to solve the 'problem of evil'

Atheism

Throughtout the years most people have tried to solve the problem of reconciling evil by becoming athiests

If you do not believe in God then the question of how s/he can allow evil to happen becomes irrelevent to you

Linked with this is the idea of 'diminishing God'- believing that God may exist but is incapable of doing something about evil

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Free Will and Original Sin

Free Will and Original Sin

The bible tells Christians that God created the world and that it was perfect!

God made human beings in the 'image of God'

As the only thing made in God's image human beings were given the gift of Free Will (Could choose to obey God or not)

Eve chose to eat the 'forbidden fruit'- not allowed and gave it to Adam who also chose to eat it

This brought the potential of evil into the world

God's love for creation means that he has been working ever since to redeem humanity

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Free Will and Satan

Free Will and Satan

Christian belief: Angels were made before human beings

The angels were also given Free Will

When humanity was created the angels were told they would have to serve humans, as humans were in the image of God

One angel (Lucifer) objected to this and chose to disobey God

Lucifer was cast out of heaven for refusing to serve God and was sent to hell instead

Lucifer has been working in hell to damage God's creation story and to tempt others to disobey

If God is incapable of stopping the devil then God's power is limited?- Which Christians do not believe is possible

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The example of Christ

The example of Christ

Many Christians try to solve problems by asking themselves 'What would God do?'

Because they believe Jesus was the son of God they also believe he did everything in the right way and in a way that is pleasing to God

For many people, not just Christians, the Ten Commandments God gave to Moses contain essential truths about how people should act and treat eachother

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Coping with suffering

Coping with suffering

For most people of faith their religion is one of the things that helps them to cope with suffering

Christians believe that God cares about people who suffer- he suffers with them

The crucified Jesus is often reffered to as a suffering God; since he went through an agonising, terrible death he knows what suffering is

Many Christians believe this brings them closer to God as he has expierienced suffering too

Christians try to accept their sufferung by trust in God, they trust that he will se them through it and it will all turn out for the best

Christians will pray to God when they are suffering- they may pray for the strength to cope with what is happening, or for God to look after them

Most Christians believe that God had plans for us which we cant always understand

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The story of Job

The story of Job

  • God used him as the perfect follower as he had perfect faith in God
  • The devil challanged God, suggesting Jobs faith was only perfect becuase he had such an easy life
  • God gave the devil permission to test Job to see if he would loose faith
  • Job had everything taken away from him, his house was destroyed, his livestock and children killed and he was given painful boils all over his body
  • Throughout all of this Job kept his faith in God, praising God even when his freinds told him God had abbandoned him- he believed that God had a plan for him
  • Eventually the devil saw that Job could not be swayed and God restored all that had been taken away from him

The story of Job is an example of the way God would like us to behave when we suffer

It suggests that if we maintain our faith in God throughout our 'trials' we will be rewarded

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