PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION

GOD AND THE PROBLEM

OF EVIL
INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION
P h i l o s o p h y o f R e l i g i o n is the
branch of philosophy that is
concerned with the philosophical
study of religion, including
arguments over the nature and
existence of God, religious
language, miracles, prayer,
the problem of evil,
and the relationship between
religion and other value systems
such as science and ethics.
Forms of Religious Bel
i e fThe main forms of religious belief are:
Theism
The belief in the existence of one or more d
ivinities or deities, which exist within the uni
verse and yet transcend it.
These gods also in some way interact with th
e universe (unlike Deism), and are often cons
idered to be omniscient,
omnipotent and omnipresent.
Forms of Religious Bel
ief Monotheism
The view that only one God exists. The Abrahamic faiths (Judaism,
Christianity and Islam), as well as Plato's concept
of God, all affirm monotheism, and this is the usual conception de
bated within Western Philosophy.

Pantheism
The belief that God is equivalent to Nature or the
physical universe, or that everything is of an allien
compassing immanent abstract God.
Forms of Religious Bel
ief Panentheism
The belief (also known as Monistic Monotheism), similar to
Pantheism, that the physical universe is joined to God, but
stressing that God is greater than (rather than equivalent to)
the universe.

Deism
A form of monotheism in which it is believed that one God
exists, but that this God does not intervene in the world, or
interfere with human life and the laws of the universe.
Forms of Religious Bel
ief Misotheism
The belief that a God or gods exist, but that they are actually
evil. The English word was coined by Thomas de Quincey
in 1846. Strictly speaking, the term connotes an attitude of
hatred towards the god or gods, rather than making a
statement about their nature.

Dystheism
The belief that a God or gods exist, but that they are not
wholly good, or possibly even evil (as opposed to eutheism,
the belief that God exists and is wholly good).
Forms of Religious Bel
ief Ditheism
The belief in two equally powerful gods, often, but not always,
with complementary properties and in constant
opposition, such as God and Goddess in Wicca, or Good and
Evil in Zoroastrianism and Manichaeism.

Polytheism
The belief in, or worship of, multiple gods (usually assembled
in a pantheon). These gods are often seen as similar to
humans (anthropomorphic) in their personality traits, but wit
h additional individual powers, abilities, knowledge or
perceptions.
Forms of Religious Bel
ief
Animism
The belief that souls inhabit all or most objects (whether they
be animals, vegetables or minerals).

Atheism
The belief that gods do not exist, or a complete rejection
of Theism in any form. Some atheists argue a lack of
empirical evidence for the existence of deities, while other
s argue for Atheism on philosophical, social or historical
grounds.
Forms of Religious Bel
ief Humanism
Humanism is more an ethical process, not a dogma about
the existence or otherwise of gods. But in general terms, it
rejects the validity of transcendental justifications, such as
a dependence on belief without reason, the supernatural,
or texts of allegedly divine origin.

Agnosticism
The belief that the nature and existence of gods is
unknown and cannot ever be known or proven.
Arguments for the Existence of God

THE ONTOLOGICAL ARGUMENT

The Ontological Argument, initially proposed by St. Anselm and Avic
enna in the 11th Century, attempts to prove the
existence of God through a priori abstract reasoning alone. It argues
that part of what we mean when we speak of “God”
is “perfect being”, or one of whom nothing greater can be conceived,
and that that is essentially what the word “God” means.
Arguments for the Existence of God
The Cosmological Argument
The Cosmological Argument is the argument that the existence
of the world or universe implies the existence of a being
that brought it into existence (and keeps it in existence).
The Modal Cosmological Argume
nt
This argument, also known as the Argu
ment from Contingency, suggests that
because the universe might
not have existed, we then need some ex
planation of why it does exist.
Arguments for the Existence of God

T h e Te m p o r a l C o s m o l o g i c a l A r g u m e n t
Argues that all indications are that there is a point
in time at which the universe began to exist, (a universe
stretching back in time into infinity being both
philosophically and scientifically problematic), and that t
his beginning must either have been caused or uncaused.
Arguments for the Existence of God

T h e Te l e o l o g i c a l A r g u m e n t :
The Teleological Argument (also known as the Argume
nt from Design or Intelligent Design) suggests that the
order in the world implies a being that created it with a
specific purpose (the creation of life) in mind. St Tho
mas Aquinas was the most famous subscriber to this
argument.
Arguments for the Existence of God
The Moral Argument
The Moral Argument argues that the existence or nature of morality
implies the existence of God. Three forms of moral
argument are distinguished, formal, perfectionist and Kantian

The Formal Moral Argument:

This argument suggests that the form of morality implies
that it has a divine origin. If morality consists of an
ultimately authoritative set of commands, where can thes
e commands have come from but a commander that
has ultimate authority (namely God)?
Arguments for the Existence of God

The Perfectionist Moral Argument

This argument suggests that morality requires perfection
of us, but we are not in fact perfect.

The Kantian Moral Argument

This argument, proposed by Immanuel Kant, presupposes
that moral behaviour is rational and that we should
have good reason to behave morally.
Arguments for the Existence of God

The Religious Experience Arg

ument
The Religious Experience Argument posits that one can
only perceive that which exists, and so God must exist
because there are those that have experienced him.
The Miracles Argument
The Argument from Miracles argues that the occurrence of
miracles (which involve the suspension of the natural
operation of the universe as some supernatural event occurs),
presupposes the existence of some supernatural being.
Arguments for the Existence of God

P a s c a l ’s W a g e r
Blaise Pascal argued for belief in God based not on an appeal
to evidence that God exists, but rather that it is in our
interests to believe in God and it is therefore rational for us to
do so: If we believe in God, then if he exists we will
receive an infinite reward in heaven, while if he does not then
we have lost little or nothing.
LOGICAL Problem of Evil
The existence of evil and suffering in our world seems to pose a serious
challenge to belief in the existence of a perfect God. If God were all knowing
(omniscient), it seems that God would know about all
of the horrible things that happen in our world. If God were all powerful
(omniponent), God would be able to
do something about all of the evil and suffering. Furthermore, if God were mor
ally perfect, then
surely God would want to do something about it. And yet we find that our world
is filled with
countless instances of evil and suffering. These facts about evil and suffering see
m to conflict
with the orthodox theist claim that there exists a perfectly good God. The challe
nged posed by
this apparent conflict has come to be known as the problem of evil.
Arguments for the Existence of God
T h e P r o b l e m o f E v i l B a c k t o To p
The Problem of Evil has been stated in differe
nt ways:
Importance to non- believers and believers:

Believers because they have to reconcile their belief on God

with their day- to- day encounter with pain and suffering in
the world…
Non- believers because the existence of evil is often cited as
evidence against the existence of God…
Arguments for the Existence of God
T h e P r o b l e m o f E v i l B a c k t o To p
The Problem of Evil has been stated in differe
nt ways:
The Logical Problem of Evil, considered by many to be one
of the most formidable objections to the existence of God,
was first identified in antiquity by Epicurus when he noted t
hat there were four possibilities:
1) If God wishes to take away evils and is not able to, then
he is feeble.
2) If God is able to take away evils but does not wish to,
then he is malevolent.
Arguments for the Existence of God
T h e P r o b l e m o f E v i l B a c k t o To p
The Problem of Evil has been stated in differe
nt ways:
3) If God neither wishes to nor is able to take away evils, then
he is both malevolent and feeble and therefore not God at all.

4) If God wishes to take away evils and is able to, then why ar
e there evils in the world, and why does he not remove them?
LOGICAL Problem of Evil
Plantinga's Free Will Defense
What might God's reason be for allowing evil and suffering to occur? Alvi
n Plantinga (1974,
1977) has offered the most famous contemporary philosophical response t
o this question. He
suggests the following as a possible morally sufficient reason:
God's creation of persons with morally significant free will is somet
hing of
tremendous value. God could not eliminate much of the evil and suffering
in this world
without thereby eliminating the greater good of having created persons wi
th free will with
whom he could have relationships and who are able to love one another a
nd do good deeds.
Good day!!!!