God and Evil
"If God Exists, then Why…":Understanding and Countering Certain "Proofs" of God's Non-Existence

The question of whether or not God exists is central to many modes of understanding and systems of knowledge, both theological and philosophical, and the implications of the answer to this question -- and of the question itself -- are quite far reaching indeed. The very fabric of reality depends upon the knowledge that this question seeks to obtain, and constructions of ethic, social interactions, metaphysics and epistemology all depend on how the question is answered and even how the question is asked. That is, the manner in which an investigation of God's existence (or non-existence) is conducted and the specific inquiries that are made in this regard have their own implications on understandings in all areas of human knowledge and action. The following presents an examination and refutation of one specific argument that has been raised…...

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…...

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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

God would have never created human beings if everyone was to be perfect.
There are certain problems with the view that there is evil in the world despite the presence of an almighty God who is omnipotent and omniscient. Critics believe that evil should not exist if God is omnipotent and omniscient. They believe that there is evil in this world because God doesn't exist. There is no to govern what is right and wrong. This view is contradicted by some religions which rightfully believe that God is there and he created the world as He knows what's best for his beings. This point-of-view leads critics to argue that God is not morally good and that if He has so much power then He would be able to get rid of evil from the world without any problems.

Epicurus was quoted to have said "Either God wants to abolish evil, and…...

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Bibliography

The Philosophical Problem of Evil, Philosophy of Religion, David A. Conway (1988) 24: 35-66.

Evil and the God of Love, first edition. John Hick, 1966.

The Coherence of Theism, Richard Swinburne, 1997

2000 years of Disbelief, Epicurus

4. How does Luther and Calvin's view of moral evil differ from that of Catholicism?

The classical Christian approach to the dilemma of moral evil has been that people are abusing the freedom of choice given to them by their creator. With free will and the ability to choose between good and evil actions, people who exercise the wrong choices can create moral evil, which impacts others. The Catholic Church essentially takes this approach to evil. To understand their approach, one must understand the concept of original sin. When Adam and Eve were in the garden, they were created in the image of God, but with a presumably much more limited intellect than modern humans. They were forbidden to eat the fruit of the tree of knowledge, because it would give them moral reasoning, thus making them closer to God. However, they chose to eat of this fruit, which distanced them…...

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References

Hill, B., Knitter, P., & Madges, W. (1997). Faith, religion & theology: A contemporary introduction revised & expanded. Mystic, CT: Twenty-Third Publications.

Question of Evil
In the Bible (The Old Testament ) God gives many codes of justice as well as righteous behavior for humans to follow his ten commandments for instance. The philosophical problem, then of why God allows evil and injustice in the world has been looked into by many people. Is God willing to prevent evil, but not willing to prevent it? If so then he is impotent. Is he able to prevent evil, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both willing and not willing to prevent evil and suffering and injustice, and then we must say that God is evil. This paper will be based on Ehrman's views on why we suffer.

According to Ehrman the bible has a large number of views as to why people suffer, particularly the people of God. Many of thee views are at odds with one another and most of them…...

1. Using the language of possible worlds, explain what it means to say that ‘p is consistent with q.’ The idea that p is consistent with q is a logical premise that supposes there is a world in which p and q can both be true. This premise contrasts with the premise that p is contradictory of q, which states that if p is true, q must be false and there can be no possible world in which both are true and neither can there be one in which both are false. The idea here is that when p is consistent with q, the world in which such a premise could be true is one in which there may be a conjunctive proposition underlying the concept or there may simply be a nullification of the linguistic theory of necessary truth.
2. What is P.S.R. (The Principle of Sufficient Reason), and how is…...

Evil Problems
The role of evil is generally misunderstood in the human approach to life. The fear of committing evil lies paramount within all facets of society. The purpose of this essay is to argue that to solve the problem of evil, humanity must begin to embrace the benefits and solutions to problems that evil provides. This essay will first define the concept of evil and discuss the problem in a philosophic manner that can help transmute evil ideas into more productive energies that can be used for growth and evolution

Defining Evil

The power of words carry emotional value that create energetic fields that permeate in the environment. Some words carry great power and instantly polarize the conditioned mind into an immediate and often irrational emotional reaction. "Evil" carries with it spiritual, moral and ethical values and energy that suggest the word's meaning has super power on and over or minds. To…...

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References

Boase, E. (2008). Constructing meaning in the face of suffering: Theodicy in lamentations. Vetus Testamentum, 58(4-5), 4-5.

De Wijze, S. (2002). Defining Evil: Insights from the Problem of" Dirty Hands." The Monist, 210-238.

Jung, C.G., & Stein, M. (1977). Jung on evil. Jung, 436.

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary (nd). "Evil." Viewed 7 Dec 2014. Retrieved from  http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/evil

If humans are not the architects of good and evil, then, it is easy to see how a human cannot be wholly good or wholly evil. An architect may be trying to emulate the style of Frank Lloyd right, but his or her work will, ultimately, be different from right's in some ways. The emulating architect will create some aspects of his or her building that are entirely his or her own. In the same way, a person may be emulating the metaphysical creator of good or evil, but he or she will be flawed in some ways, meaning that he or she is not wholly evil or wholly good. Edgar Allen Poe gives a good example of this in his story "The Black Cat." hile the main character commits atrocities to his cat, Pluto, readers are able to find a glimmer of good through his actions before he commits…...

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Works Cited

Brians, Paul et al. "St. Augustine on the Problem of Evil." Washington State University.

18 December 1998. Resources for the Study of World Civilizations. 18 May 2009.

"Evil and Otherness."

Govier, Trudy. "Forgiveness and the Unforgivable." American Philosophical Quarterly.

Initially St. Augustine favoured the dualistic view that evil was external and separate from the world and mankind that in evident from the Manichean worldview. However, he was later to reject this strict dualism and taker another view of the nature of evil. This was more Platonic and was based on the writings of Plotinus and Porphyry. This refers to the view that evil is a measure and result of our separation from God.

For Augustine, the measure of all existence was God. Instead of the Manichean view that evil existed outside humanity "…as an invasion," he posited the view that evil only existed to the extent that we do not acknowledge and live within God's word and law. ( Augustine Influences Christianity). Stated in another way, evil exists only because mankind refuses to acknowledge God. In essence Augustine defines evil as "…a privation in goodness." (A Brief Response to the…...

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Works cited

A Brief Response to the Problem of Evil. April 22, 2009.

Augustine Influences Christianity. April 22, 2009.

 http://www.fsmitha.com/h1/ch25.htm

"'m not religious, 'm spiritual." Conversely other people state that they dislike the formality of religion, of beliefs and practices, but do believe in God and in some sense of 'higher truth.' This confusion might be best addressed by doing away with the category of religion altogether -- religion is whatever a society defines it to be, and the term has grown so meaningless, people even speak of making golf or music their 'religion' simply because they love these hobbies so much.

Absolute truth

n this postmodern age, the idea of absolute truth has ebbed away. n medieval times, absolute truth for Christians was manifest in Jesus; for some empires the word of a great leader was a manifestation of absolute truth, and for Buddhists, the absence of any 'absolutes' in the world is 'the truth.' Philosophy and science have a more rigorous but also a narrower set of criteria for the…...

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Ideally, an ideology should provide believers with moral and practical guidance. But it is easy to hold fast to an ideology, and admit no disagreement. This close-mindedness shuts out the acquisition of new knowledge, and makes the believer less, rather than more functional in the world. An ideology can be comforting, and that sense of comfort can lull us into a sense of false security about the world, and a belief that we alone are correct. An ideology can become an unquestioned dogma, and used to justify horrific acts, as was seen during the attacks of September 11, 2001.

However, not all ideologies are 'bad.' For example, America's core ideology proclaims the importance of individualism, truth, and freedom. Our ideology, like all ideologies, is not universal, but it has provided a positive foundation for U.S. culture and society. Ideologies are sets of assumptions, and some assumptions are required for a society to function. If every person had his or her own unique truth, set of laws, and morals, the result would be chaos.

An ideology should be somewhat limited in its scope but flexible. Because it is a set of beliefs, it should be able to change with a change of historical or life circumstances. It cannot be all things to all people, otherwise it is useless. It must offer some 'glue' to hold the individual's and the community's world together but the glue cannot become so calcified that the ideology is set in stone, and becomes a relic.

The Cosmological Argument: This argument begins with the tenet that for the Universe to exist something outside the universe must have created it. Also refereed to as the First Cause or the Uncaused Cause theory, here God exists as the prime mover that brought the universe into existence. The universe is a series of events, which began with God who must exist apart from the universe, outside of time and space as well. (Martin) the detractors of this theory say that if everything has a creator than God must also have a creator and that perhaps an infinite series of creators and universes exist as well. Also if God is an uncaused cause than why could not the universe be one as well.

The Moral Argument: This is perhaps one of the most interesting arguments for the existence of God. Basically it states that since man perceives a moral law, a…...

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Works Cited

Dawkins, Richard. The Selfish Gene UK; Oxford University Press, 1989

Lamprecht, Sterling P. Our Philosophical Traditions: A Brief History of Philosophy in Western Civilization. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1955.

Martin, C.F.J. Thomas Aquinas: God and Explanations. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1997.

McIntyre, John. St. Anselm and His Critics: A Re-Interpretation of the Cur Deus Homo. Edinburgh: Oliver and Boyd, 1954.

Problem of Evil
Natural Evil vs. Moral Evil

Natural evil is a term that embraces theodicy, in the sense that there are devastating earthquakes, and tornados, tsunamis, and hurricanes, and other terrible weather situations that harm people and communities (Philosophy of Religion). God created the planet and in doing so He never promised to always have fair weather with puffy white clouds and rays of sunshine every day. The planet is a natural world reality, and besides the frightening weather events, natural evil could also be seen in a child's birth defects, in a mother's breast cancer; one could argue that a woman got breast cancer from eating too much red meat or other foods that are not recommended, but nevertheless when she is stricken with this deadly disease, it can be considered a natural evil that has caused her pain -- and maybe taken her life as well.

On the other…...

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Works Cited

Elwell, Walter A., Evangelical Dictionary of Theology (Second Edition). Edited by Walter A.

Elwell. (Ada, MI: Baker Academic, 2001): 434-436.

Flescher, Andrew Michael. Moral Evil. Georgetown University Press. (October, 2013).

Retrieved June 28, 2014, from  http://press.georgetown.edu .

Yes, of course. But Hick too is making an important initial assumption here: He is assuming that a test of human goodness is a necessary part of the universe. But this is only the case if one assumes the presence of a certain type of God -- one that demands that people demonstrate their faith and their ability to make the choices that God wants them to make. If one concurs with this view, then Hick's argument is a sensible and entirely believable one. But if one -- and I do -- rejects this assumption of his, the entire argument falls apart.
Evil exists in the world. This is undeniable. Cruelty also exists, as does simple bad luck. Terrible things happen for many reasons. Both Hume and Hick take the presence of evil in the world as a starting point to discuss the presence or absence of a benign God.…...

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 doomed to die? Why does it seem, moreover, that innocent people suffer? These are the questions that Lewis asks, noting in particularly that “all civilisations pass away and, even while they remain, inflict peculiar sufferings of their own probably sufficient to outweigh what alleviations they may have brought to the normal pains of man.”[footnoteRef:2] [2: C. S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain (Samizdat University Press, 2016), 2.]
2. To what extent would you defend the following claim: the time for one…...

Personal Theodicy Theodicy is the vindication or justification of divine goodness in spite of the evidence of a world where evil exists. When one has faith in the divine goodness of God, the question of why God allows evil things to happen is one that is not troublesome; it is one when one has no faith or has doubts that the question becomes pertinent. Thus, it is helpful to explain how and why a good God would allow evil to exist and evil things to befall innocent people so that others might come to believe or might come to believe more strongly. The main reason for the existence of evil is that God gave to men (and to the angels) freedom of will. Men and angels were given the choice, in other words, of whether they would serve Him or their own desires. The fallen angels (led by Lucifer now known…...