• Home Page
  • Examples Of Soul Building Theodicy

Examples Of Soul Building Theodicy

Improved Essays
Show More
Elliott Sober explains that the problem of evil is that its existence is proof for atheism. The proof for atheism based off the existence of evil is called the argument of evil. The first argument proclaims that if God existed, he would be all powerful, all knowing, and all good, and if he did exist, then there would be no evil in the world. Since evil does exist in this world, the conclusion is that god does not exist. There are various other forms of the argument of evil that add exceptions to the premises, one being the soul-building theodicy. I will explain the soul building theodicy in more detail and explain that although it makes sense, it is not enough to describe all of the “allowable” evils in the world, proving or disproving God’s existence. …show more content…
For example, if a bully picking on someone at school and the parents refusing to do anything can be considered an evil. This evil can be soul building because it causes the victim to learn to fend for himself/herself and become stronger. Not all evils are soul building, however, because some can torture someone beyond the point of recovery. If their soul and moral are destroyed by the evil, it can not be considered soul-building. The second form of the argument evil allows only soul building evils to exist if God is to exist.
One problem that I find with the soul building theodicy and the second form of the argument of evil is the suffering of those who perform evils on others. If those with malicious intentions are sentenced to suffering, is that really an evil that God would not allow? Sure it is not soul building, but it is a punishment for causing evils. Just as Hell is a punishment for those committing evils, I believe that evils surrounding just punishment should be included with the soul-building minimum evils in the second

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Rowe The Problem Of Evil Analysis
    • 781 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Rowe The Problem Of Evil Analysis

    Préciso of The Problem of Evil In Rowe’s work, The Problem of Evil and Some Varieties of Atheism, he discusses three interrelated questions which are the following: 1) Is there an argument for atheism based on the existence of evil that may rationally justify someone in being an atheist? 2) How can the theist best defend his position against the argument for atheism based on the existence of evil? 3) What position should the informed atheist take concerning the rationality of theistic belief? Before answering his question, he defines his view of theist and atheist.…

    • 781 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Richard Swinburne's Theodicy: The Logical And Evidential Problem Of Evil
    • 1073 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Richard Swinburne's Theodicy: The Logical And Evidential Problem Of Evil

    The evidential problem of evil determines the degree of how much evil must be a part of the evidence of God’s existence. While on the other hand the logical problem of evil is seen through our own eyes. It bares the question whether God is a perfect because of all wrong taking place in the world. Through these two problems it is hard to even imagine that God is perfect. Through Richard Swinburne’s theodicy (theodicy - an attempt to defend God's omnibenevolence in the face of evil) , one comes to find the case that initially escapes the evidential and logical problems…

    • 1073 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Summary Of Evil And Omnipotence By J. L. Mackie
    • 925 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Summary Of Evil And Omnipotence By J. L. Mackie

    Perhaps beings would never understand the power of goodness without seeing some evil. Evil is used to bring about goodness in people, much like wearing a cast after breaking your arm, you need to endure the pain to bring about the desirable end of a healed arm. This is why I believe that the problem of evil is not a compelling argument, because as someone who believes in God we can argue in the opposite direction to the problem of evil. The problem of evil argues that because evil exists it leads to there not being an existing god. One believes in God may argue that there may be an existing God and the existence unjustified evil.…

    • 925 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Hick's Soul-Making Theodicy
    • 636 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Hick's Soul-Making Theodicy

    Contrary to Hick’s thesis; pain and suffering are not needed for moral development or to complete one’s “soul-making” process therefore Hick’s argument for soul-making is untenable and should be rejected. The soul-making theodicy is as follows; the idea that God has only allowed the existence of evil into the world so that people are allowed to learn from these evils in order for us to develop our moral character; to learn and further understand values. As an end result of this moral development, we will be closer to God’s likeness and perfection and we will therefore have acceptance into Heaven when we eventually die. As shown in Hick’s thesis; God only allows evil in order to develop soul-making, but there are plenty of examples of evil that…

    • 636 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Gaunilo's Ontological Argument Analysis
    • 994 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Gaunilo's Ontological Argument Analysis

    Evil is necessary because, as stated, without it, how would we ever know what good is? For example, wisdom teeth can cause pain and suffering and getting them pulled is painful and there is suffering for a little while afterward. However, in the end, it is good to get them pulled because now there is no longer any pain or suffering. The evil that is in the world is unavoidable for a reason – to show us what good really is. Evil is just a means to an end, where the “end” is “good”.…

    • 994 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Mackie's Argument For The Existence Of God
    • 1014 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Mackie's Argument For The Existence Of God

    If the theist was to truly believe that God was not wholly good, then he is opening doors to a sadistic God. Also, the theist could reject that God is not omnipotent. But the problem still remains of the theist not truly accepting that God is not all-powerful, and he cannot eliminate evil. The theist’s adequate solutions are not enough to get out of the problem of evil because he cannot fully accept the rejection of one proposition. Therefore, it is assumed that if the theist when discussing the problem of evil rejects the proposition, the proposition is then assumed elsewhere in the…

    • 1014 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Superior Essays

    Swinburne Vs Adams
    • 1631 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Swinburne Vs Adams

    In conclusion, evil serves the purpose of establishing the existence of free-will which subsequently enrichens and deepens the meaning of human existence. Hell, however, serves no other purpose than the eternal torture and dehumanization of its victims. Evil is a…

    • 1631 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Mccloskey Argumentative Analysis
    • 758 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Mccloskey Argumentative Analysis

    McCloskey believes evil is nothing more than imperfection inside the world and uses this notion to argue that there is no divine purpose of the world. In this case we must acknowledger the flaws in the teleological and the cosmological argument. In addition, he believes no perfect being would create a world with suffering and evil. To this I would say in order to distinguish that something is good you have to know something is bad. This comes along with feelings and emotions that brings us to the thought of how our feelings are created.…

    • 758 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Superior Essays

    Walter Sinnott-Armstrong
    • 1623 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Walter Sinnott-Armstrong

    In the “Roundtable Discussion on the Problem of Evil”, Meghan Sullivan, Trent Dougherty, and Sam Newlands discuss the Problem of Evil for theism. All three people do not take the side of a theist or an atheist, but instead discuss the problem from a mostly objective view. The Problem of Evil is also discussed by Walter Sinnott-Armstrong and William Craig in God? A Debate Between a Christian and an Atheist, where Sinnott-Armstrong argues from the atheist’s point of view and Craig argues from the theist’s. In this paper, I will discuss the points made in both sources to make my argument: God and evil can coexist because God may have reasons for evil existing, the main reason being to allow humans to have free will.…

    • 1623 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Problem Of Evil Response Paper
    • 664 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Problem Of Evil Response Paper

    Response Paper “The Problem of Evil” The “Problem of evil” is the problem of reviving the existence of the evil in the world with the existence of an omnipotent and a perfect God. The argument from evil is an argument saying that the existence of such evil should not be in this world with an existence of a God. Christianity says that God created the world we live in and that he sustains it.…

    • 664 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Swinburne's Existence: The Logical Problem Of Evil
    • 1182 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Swinburne's Existence: The Logical Problem Of Evil

    The first idea we face, is the logical problem of evil. What this questions is the possibility of there being an omnibenevolent, omnipotent, and omnipresent God and why evil still exists. One of the arguments made is, there is a God who is omnibenevolent and supposedly all good eliminates evil as far as it can, but we still have evil existing when there’s a God. By stating all of these, we have to give up one of the statements in order to make the argument true. The one fact that we can more than likely give up, is all good eliminates evil as far as it can.…

    • 1182 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    The Problem Of Good Analysis
    • 882 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The Problem Of Good Analysis

    An important topic within metaphysical philosophy is theodicy, which works to justify the existence of God even though evil exists. John Hick and Steven Cahn in their respective works, “The Problem of Evil” and “The Problem of Good”, provide valid arguments for the existence and probable non existence of God in the presence of good and evil. Through the reversal of Hick’s argument, I feel that Cahn establishes the illogic behind Hick’s view and proves that because both good and bad will always exist within the world, based on Hick’s reasoning and premises, it is likely that soul making and God do not exist to serve the greater good. In order for one to truly understand Hick’s missteps in logic, first you must understand what he is trying…

    • 882 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Superior Essays

    Elliot Sober Arguments From Evil
    • 1445 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Elliot Sober Arguments From Evil

    Theodicy and Sober A theodicy is used to object to the argument of evil because there are some evils that can be considered “soul building.” Theists use this to explain why God allows evil to exist. Sober admits that there are some evils that could help benefit a person this being classified as “soul building.”…

    • 1445 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    John Hick's Soul-Making Theodicy Analysis
    • 1508 Words
    • 7 Pages

    John Hick's Soul-Making Theodicy Analysis

    Introduction John Hick, the British Philosopher was born in 1922 in the United Kingdom. Hick is credited as a profound religious epistemologist, philosophical theologian, and religious pluralist (Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2015). Hick contributed largely to the world of theology, writing one of his more famous works, Evil and the God of Love, where the chapter Soul-Making Theodicy is included (Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2015). The attempt to explain the presence of evil, pain, and suffering has been asked and investigated throughout the centuries by philosophers, theologian, and layman alike.…

    • 1508 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Problem Of Evil In Philosophy
    • 550 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Problem Of Evil In Philosophy

    Evil exists because we chose it to. We, as free agents can choose between right and wrong. Through this we can justify our actions. What kind of world would we lead if everything was already decided for us and all we would have to do is perform it? God, although knows how we will choose, plays absolutely no role in our process of choosing.…

    • 550 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More

Related Topics

Ready To Get Started?
Discover
Company
Follow
©2024 Cram.com
Privacy Policy |  About Ads |  Site Map |  Advertise  | 
  • Cookie Settings