Theodicy

To ask the question why is there evil in the world if God is truly omnipotent and good is to bring up many different debates found within the Christian faith, among them the question of original sin and human free will. These questions have been debated since the foundation of the early Church and have never fully been resolved since that time. Ultimately all viewpoints on the subject -- if they are truly Christian viewpoints -- would agree that God is both omnipotent and good, at least to…

Evil Concepts One of the major themes in Dante’s Inferno and Beowulf is evil when we look at today’s society we still see that evil still has a prevalent force in today’s world whether it be words or actions the evil that inhabits this planet makes its presence known. It appears that even though these works were written long ago the concepts of evils have always been a topic of conversation and thought and when those topics of morality surface we are often left with more questions than answers…

why God allowed the Japan disaster to happen? (75%) Do you agree with Swinburne’s reasoning here? If not, explain what you think is wrong with his reasoning. If instead you agree with Swinburne, then how would you respond to those who say that his theodicy for “extreme” evils does not adequately explain those evils, such as the Japan disaster? (25%) First and foremost, we all can agree that there is so much evil in this World that human beings feel like there is no God. For that if…

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: (A discussion of Milton’s Theodicy in Paradise Lost) Mythology is a way for people to explain the unexplainable. From the Greek gods and mythology to the Biblical version of the creation, people use stories like these to explain how and why things happen the way they do. Milton uses the story of Adam and Eve to explain why terrible things like death, illness, and suffering occur in the world today. He uses the story to explain how God can be an all loving, all…

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…

Tarell El Masri Dr. Greenberg Religion 125 Theodicy and The Book of Job The book of Job is one of the most well-known and controversial of the books of wisdom in the Hebrew Bible, believed to be written between the 7th and 4th centuries BCE. The story not only questioned the conventional wisdom of the time, but provides the framework for addressing the issues of theodicy and man’s attempts to rectify the intrinsic good/omnipotent nature of god with their suffering. The story of Job shows that…

comes from Michael Tooley’s “The Problem of Evil: Theodicies”. In this reading, he states and debunks four theodicies that religious communities often use in their attempts to explain why God allows evil and suffering in the world. In his free will theodicy, he states that evil occurs in the world because humans have free will to do whatever they choose, good or bad. Though he provides counter arguments for all four…

If God exists, he must be omniscient (all-knowing), omnipotent (all-powerful), and omnibenevolent (all good). However, there is evil in this world. Evil is defined by suffering. Then comes the question of whether God exists and if he does, then why is there still evil and suffering in the world? If God were truly omniscient, omnipotent, and omnibenevolent, then our world would not contain evil whatsoever. There is a whole range of people who experience suffering but it is best to narrow it down…

issues of Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz’s Theodicy and the problem of evil as well as the objections to his argument. In life, I favor optimism over cynicism, but sometimes it can be hard when there are so many horrible things that occur within our world. After reading Leibniz’s theory for the problem of evil and why it occurs, I was moved because he finally put in to words my everlasting faith for the reason God does the things that he does. Leibniz’s theodicy is based on the “best of all…

The book of Job focuses on the suffering of Jon and the associated responses based on the orthodox that Job learned in his life. Tullock mentions that the book of Job also includes some theodicy, which are discussions about the theological problems raised by human suffering. The book of Job has had different interpretations and opinions in regards to how many authors contributed to the book. Traditional interpreters state that one author wrote the book, whereas, some believe the book is a…