This theory may be attractive to many because it answered a profound philosophical question: if God is all-powerful and compassionate, then why is there so much evil in the world? Evil From Morals Words the problem of evil essay Pages. HIRE A WRITER! The argument stems from the logic that if God is a perfect being and created everything; how can evil exist? According to Hick, moral evil is that experienced by people where God is a spectator.
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In the book, Exploring the Philosophy of Religion, David Steward puts forward the idea about two types of evil: moral and natural. Moral evil addresses the sufferings caused by human perverseness and people have been presented as the ones who are capable of bringing great physical and moral pain to each other, which reveals natural evil as less damaging in comparison. In this way, the books present different ideas expressed by Griffin, Hick, and Doniger on the reasons and nature of evil. The authors the problem of evil essay present theodicy in addressing the definitions of natural and moral evil. Hence, Griffin first relies on the traditional explanation of perceiving evil as the one contributing to a higher good. At this point, Griffin leads to the point that each thing has an innate power that should be controlled by God Griffin Therefore, the philosopher justifies suffering experienced by people as the soul-making process.
In other words, moral evil serves as a means of comparison with good. Both moral and natural evil is necessary to God, whose omnipotence is revealed through freedom of choice allowing to address either the good or bad side. According to Hick, moral evil is that experienced by people where God is a spectator. Doniger presents an alternative interpretation of moral and natural evil. In particular, she believes that our evil actions, thoughts, and behavior can be subjected to causality thus affecting our future. Through the representation of Karma, Doniger explains the origins of moral evil.
In contrast, natural evil is the one that does not depend on human actions and behavior, which is often misunderstood in other religions. Therefore, these two displays of evil are strictly distinguished in Hinduism. Then, they are also unanimous regarding the consideration of humans as self-determined beings, the problem of evil essay, which are entitled to the right the problem of evil essay choose either evil or good. However, the ideas expressed by Wendy Doniger present a different view on the origins of moral evil. As for natural evil, all the philosophers consider it as an independent variable. Doniger, Wendy, the problem of evil essay.
Exploring the Philosophy of Religion. Stewart, David. US: Prentice Hall, Griffin, David, the problem of evil essay. Hick, John. Need a custom Essay sample written from scratch by professional specifically for you? certified writers online. The Problem of the Evil. We use cookies to give you the best experience possible. If you continue, we will assume that you agree to our Cookies Policy. Learn More. This essay on The Problem of the Evil was written and submitted by your fellow student. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly.
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Then, the structures of cultures and societies very much go to laws and norms that express good and defy, and prevent, evil. People universally come together to address evil behaviors and make efforts to limit any opportunity for evil to exist, from laws exacting punishment for crimes to support organizations for many kinds of victims of injustice or cruelty. Goodness is more than a concept; it is in fact a reaction very often, and a practical effort to redress evil. As noted, light can only be known because of darkness, and the same may be said of evil. This view in place, there is no issue with reconciling a benevolent God with it.
It is, as the phrase goes, part of the larger reality understood fully only by God. There is also another consideration regarding the permitting of evil by an otherwise caring God. This goes to the inability of human beings to actually understand the nature of God, and their usual way of attaching expectations to God that do not apply. People historically and today ask the same question: why does God let evil happen, when He is all-powerful and can remove all evil forever? One answer lies in the discussion above, in terms of evil as necessary to create goodness.
The other, however, is that God is not a divine power who directly intervenes in human affairs and behavior. It seems that many perceive God as a kind of employer, and one who should involve himself in the concerns and matters of all human beings. The reality of the world, nonetheless, offers no evidence of any such involvement, and simply because what humanity does occurs apart from God and divine influence. Then, and importantly, it is an enormous element of Scripture that God does not directly act in human affairs, and the key to this is the affirming of human beings as exercising their own will. God does not permit evil, then.
Rather, he permits mankind to do what it will, and suffer the consequences when it acts in evil ways. Evil is a source of misery to many, as has been true since the earliest days of humanity. As there is widespread belief in God, there then arises the long ongoing question of how evil can be in a world ordered by a benevolent God. There is no one answer, but there are explanations. With animals, the evil of pain prompts behaviors that go to survival. Regarding gratuitous evil to animals and to people, more is necessary, and it is seen that good exists only because evil must be addressed.
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, God and evil are reconciled because evil itself is both a human concept and the force created by humans, acting with the wills given to them by God. He permits evil, then, as He permits the universe itself to exist. Ultimately, and in my estimation, evil is only a natural force among others enabled by God. It is a force that actually creates opportunities for good, and a behavior that is necessary for humans and animals to exercise their own instincts and wills as God wishes them to. Keller, James A.
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Get a Free E-Book! The Problem of Evil, Essay Example. Pages: 8 Words: Essay. This Essay was written by one of our professional writers. Need a custom Essay written for you? HIRE A WRITER! Even natural evils, such as disease, are indirectly related to human action, since they become evil only when in contact with people. Augustine gave a more theological explanation later in his life: we cannot understand the mind of God, and what appears evil to us may not be evil at all. Before Augustine, Manicheanism was extremely influential among early Christians. Manicheanism was a cult that first arose in Roman North Africa, begun by a Persian named Mani, who died around A.
This cult combined elements of Christianity with elements of Zoroastrianism, the ancient religion of Persia, or Iran. Mani taught that the universe was a battlefield of two conflicting forces. On one side is God, who represents light and goodness and who seeks to eliminate suffering. Opposing him is Satan, who represents darkness and evil and is the cause of misery and affliction. Human beings find themselves caught in the middle of these two great forces. According to Manicheanism, the human body, like all matter, is the product of Satan and is inherently evil, whereas the soul is made of light. The only escape from evil is to free the soul from the body through the practices of asceticism and meditation. Manicheanism taught that Satan is solely responsible for all the evil in the world, and humankind is free of all responsibility in bringing about evil and misery.
Augustine became a follower of Manicheanism during his student days in Carthage, but he ultimately broke with the Manicheans over the question of responsibility for evil, since he believed that human beings are capable of free will and are among the causes of suffering in the world. The philosopher Plotinus a. Plato taught that the physical world is changeable, perishable, and imperfect, in contrast with world of ideas or Forms, which is constant, perfect, and everlasting. Because the physical world is marked by change and corruption, it is impossible to fully know it. True knowledge can be achieved only by thinking about the eternal and perfect forms, of which the tangible world is only a copy, just as a painting is only an imitation of something real.
The Neoplatonists used this distinction between the physical and the ideal to explain the relationship between the body and the soul. They taught that the soul is perfect but trapped in an imperfect body. Because the body belongs in the physical realm, it is the root of evil. Thus, the soul seeks to break free of the body so it can live true to its perfection, in the realm of ideal forms. In Plotinus, Augustine found the important idea that human beings are not a neutral battleground on which either goodness or evil lays claim, as the Manicheans believed. Rather, human beings are the authors of their own suffering. Plotinus carried this line of thought further than Augustine was willing to accept, asserting that the body is unimportant in defining a human being and that true human nature involves only the soul and has nothing to do with the body.
Augustine disagreed, maintaining that human beings are both body and soul together. We bring evil on ourselves because we actively choose corruptible elements of the physical world rather than the eternal, perfect forms, which are spiritual. Augustine argues that God does not allow evil to exist so much as we choose it by our actions, deeds, and words. Later, he came to the conclusion that it is impossible for us to understand the mind of God, and therefore we cannot come to a proper comprehension of why suffering exists. Augustine disagreed with this premise and sought to demonstrate philosophically that certitude is in fact possible.
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