Problem of Evil Solutions [PHIL 2]

Solutions to the Problem of Evil

Abandoning Traditional Theism

Theological anti-relaism

• Our religious beliefs refer to nothing in the world and so a belief in God refers to nothing empirically verifiable in the world around us. 
• Instead, a belief in God is specific to the individual although commonly includes commitment to a moral way of life, a cultural tradition or a certain attitude.
• Evil is no longer a problem as God is not a real, existing being independent of the mind and so would not be able to intervene and prevent evil in the world.

Process theology

• A.N.Whitehead and Charles Hartstone suggest God is not omnipotent.
• Whitehead describes God as 'the great companion - the fellow sufferer who understands'.
• God therefore is a part of his creation, developing and influencing it rather than determining it.
• As God loses his omnipotence, he no longer is able to eradicate evil.

God vs Devil

• Some religious sects propose that God is not the only powerful deity.
• For these, the Devil is the cause of evil in the world rather than God.

Theodicies

Theodicy - A solution that attempts to preserve theism as a religious system and justify God's actions to demonstrate why a perfect God would make a seemingly imperfect world.

Augustinean Theodicy

• Augustine believed in a hierarchy of being:
  • God 
  • Angels - some with more grace than others
  • Man
  • Woman
  • Animals
• Augustine also took the story of Genesis seriously - the sins of Adam and Eve were a catastrophe for mankind.
• In the beginning, God made everything perfect - Adam and Eve possessed perfect free-will.
• By failing to resist the temptation of the serpent in the Garden of Eden, they misused this perfect free-will.
• Augustine states that Adam and Eve's disobediance caused evil to enter the world.
• God did not cause the evil claims Augustine, instead it is the consequence of a lack of good or God's presence ('privatio boni').
  • ILLUSTRATION: Blindness is not created, it is the consequence of a lack of sight.
• If Adam and Eve caused the evil, why are we punished for it?
  • Augustine states that we inherit the trait of sin (we are all born sinful) - Doctrine of the Original Sin.
  • Natural evil is caused by disruptive fallen angels.
• Augustine is pessimistic about human beings describing them as 'lumps of sin' however, he offers two reasons for optimism:
  • God offers us forgiveness in Heaven if we accept the death of Jesus as being the reverse of the fall of man.
  • Aesthetic argument - we stand too close to the world to see all of the good - if we had God's view we would see it is perfectly balanced.

Evaluation

• The theodicy stays close to the Bible preserving many key Christian doctrines and in doing so gains the support of many.
• OBJECTION: Augustine chooses to create his theodicy based off both literal and symbolic readings of Genesis to fit with what he argues - this creates some incosistency in his…