Theodicy

Dualism can be defined as dividing life into two separate categories, the first being secular and the second being spiritual. Secular involves things within the physical and changing world in which humans live. Sacred includes things related to the spiritual and unchanging existence of God. Secular is evident in places/activities such as education, business, arts, sciences, government, hobbies, and entertainment. Sacred is only involved in church-related activities. However, secular/sacred…

Hierarchy of Creatures and the Environment Homily I have been listening to recorded lectures of a biblical scholar. In one lecture, he comments on the last portion of today’s gospel passage. The reason he commented on this passage is that an environmentalist asked the biblical scholar what Jesus taught on our relationship to animals. The scripture scholar could only find two specific references: one to sparrows, from today’s gospel passage, and the other to sheep (Matthew 11: 9-14). In both…

The Problem of Evil It is often asked why evil and suffering exists if the world was created by a God who is omnipotent, omniscient, and good. This question is often referred to as the problem of evil, which can be stated as follows: “Quite frequently horrible things happen. We know that we ought to do all in our power to prevent these things, but often we have not the means of doing so. […] Good people do not intervene because they are powerless. Wicked people do not intervene because they are…

A Problem of evil is the Acceptance of the assumption that God does not exist in the minds of atheists. Atheists argued that should God exit, then a pious person, such as Job in the Biblical Book of Job, who kept his faith in God, should not have suffered miserably from undeserved evil on earth. To support this statement, Job’s friend, Eliphaz suggested that the problem of Evil emanated from man and did not spring from the earth and that man is born to trouble. The religion of Manichaeism…

Evil, the absence of God, can be found anywhere in the world in which pain, suffering, and in all that is bad in the world and in people. Such evil could be summed up in three categories, poverty, war, and sickness and pollution. The reason it can be summed up so simply into these categories is because for the most part the different aspects of evil can be found linked to one of these categories such as greed. As my mother would say about watching scary movies when I was a kid, “Fear is not a…

Evil have been around for as long as anyone can remember. Evil is the cause of unforeseen natural occurrences that happens in the world such as: earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions and other natural disasters. Evil has been named for the cause of death, sickness and suffering. Many philosophers have asked how could an all-powerful, all-knowing, and all-loving God allow evil and suffering in the world. Because of humanity’s limited knowledge, humans cannot simply understand God or his plans…

Adam Makarewicz Philosophy take-home quiz The problem of evil is a very difficult topic to break down and take an absolute side on. Since a supposed deity is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnibenevolent, then how can evil exist naturally in our world? My views of this question are fairly mixed. In comparison to Demea, Philo, and Cleanthes, I could more or less agree with Demea and Philo. The reason that I say this is because my views are more faith predominant, I see evil as a coexisting presence…

Then again who is or is not to say what is absolutely good, and what is absolutely evil? Do we as human beings, each agree on what is right and what is wrong? Certainly not! So then how do we know for certain what is good and what is evil. Well, according to St. Thomas Aquinas the life of an individual is the way to knowledge of what is good and evil. If the individual’s life goes well, and they become morally successful, then that person had a good sense of what is morally right and what is…

In the “Roundtable Discussion on the Problem of Evil”, Meghan Sullivan, Trent Dougherty, and Sam Newlands discusses the Problem of Evil for theism, as well as defences theists have come up with against the problem. 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…

An Australian philosopher named John L. Mackie is widely known for his argument against the problem of evil. Mackie’s argument was very similar to the problem of evil. The problem of evil in summary states that a God cannot exist with the existence of evil, but Mackie’s argument was not that God did not exist entirely, but rather that God did not exist as an all-powerful or perfect God. He argued that having an all knowing God, and the present existence of evil were both logically inconsistent.…