Verified Document

Evil The Free Will Defense Suggests That Essay

Evil The free will defense suggests that God permits, but does not cause evil. Therefore, it is possible to live in a universe in which good and evil continually coexist. Human beings are blessed with the ability to make a choice that can further the objectives of God and good, or to promote the interests of evil. Although this view is logically coherent, there are clear objections to it.

One objection is that God has nothing at all to do with evil, and human beings, made in God's image, likewise have nothing to do with evil. Free will is therefore irrelevant and in fact negated. There is no such thing as free will, according to this point-of-view. All human beings have is a fate that has been pre-determined by God. Using this objection, it is easy to see how the human being is portrayed as a passive recipient of life rather than an active participator. Yet this view also changes the nature of God, too. God in this worldview is passive, and fully neutral. This is not a God interested in binaries of Good and evil....

Parts of this document are hidden

View Full Document
svg-one

God only sits back and watches creation unfold like a drama that has no ultimate moral meaning. Concurrent with this objection to the notion that evil is the result of human free will is that that evil exists independently of the human being. Evil comes from external forces, like Satan, and the human being is powerless to do anything about it.
A second objection to the free will defense is rooted in atheism. If there is no God, according to the atheist, then there is also no Good or Evil. These are artificial categories constructed by the human mind. The human mind perceives all uncomfortable and painful situations as "evil," but this is just a classification system and is not sophisticated from an existential standpoint. It is better to view the world according to a Buddhist framework, which suggests that suffering has no "evil" component to it at all. Like the atheist, the Buddhist does not believe in a creator God who has dominion over the world. The world is created, destroyed, and maintained by the free will…

Sources used in this document:
References

"Introduction to Philosophical Inquiry." Retrieved online: http://philosophy.lander.edu/intro/hick.html

Speaks, Jeff. "Swinburne's Response to the Problem of Evil." Retrieved online: http://www3.nd.edu/~jspeaks/courses/mcgill/201/swinburne.pdf
Cite this Document:
Copy Bibliography Citation

Related Documents

Evil and the Holy Cross
Words: 1896 Length: 6 Document Type: Research Paper

Personal Theodicy Apologetics The problem of evil is something everyone has to face sooner or later. As Schlesinger points out, philosophers want to understand “why there is any suffering in the world at all.”[footnoteRef:2] The problem with a philosophical approach to suffering is that it does not reveal the whole story or the whole picture of why suffering (evil) exists. Religion, on the other hand, does provide that whole story—and depending

Problem of Evil One of
Words: 2755 Length: 8 Document Type: Essay

Even before one gets to Rowe's argument, however, one may disregard Hick's argument because it depends on imagining an infinite number of possibilities to explain away evil, rather than accounting for it. Instead of actually explaining how a benevolent and omnipotent god can allow evil to exist, Hick's argument simply states that this evil is not really evil, although with no evidence to back this up other than the convenient

Aquinas and Free Will
Words: 3052 Length: 8 Document Type: Term Paper

Free Will: Comparing Aquinas & the Holy Scriptures Thomas of Aquinas is recognized by the Orthodox as one of the foundational theologians, particularly in that he provided an important step in towards the Renaissance by helping to reacquaint Christianity with Aristotle, who he refers to throughout his as "the Philosopher." As one who draws inspiration from Aristotle, he is particularly interested in rational philosophy as applied to the realm of

Common European Security and Defense Policy Development and Prospects...
Words: 5762 Length: 20 Document Type: Term Paper

European Security and Defense Policy: Development and Prospects United States Attitudes toward European Defense The Background to the Dilemma: In December of 1991, the Soviet Union - Ronald Reagan's "Evil Empire" - ceased to exist. Communism was dead. The Cold War over. Long live freedom and democracy! The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was replaced by a weak and impoverished federation of fifteen republics. America stood alone. She had become - in

How to Explain the Existence of Evil
Words: 1418 Length: 5 Document Type: Research Paper

Apologetics: Evil, Suffering and Hell 1. What are some of the facts of history and experience that give rise to the problem this course calls the problem of evil? The facts of history and experience that give rise to the problem of evil are primarily war, pain, death—i.e., suffering. This is what Lewis describes as the problem of pain: Why would a good God create a world wherein people suffer and are

Theodicy in Thornton Wilder's the
Words: 2746 Length: 8 Document Type: Essay

" (16) In other words, since God is not completely benevolent, one must protest against God for allowing that which is not just or that which is evil to exist. In an illustration of this strategy, Roth refers to the work of Elie Wiesel, who "shows that life in a post-Holocaust world can be more troublesome with God than without him" (9). In his works, Wiesel looks at different forms of

Sign Up for Unlimited Study Help

Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.

Get Started Now