Dichotomy: The Battle Between Good And Evil

The book To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is often associated with a various number of themes such as racism, social inequality, the importance of family values, and much more. But one of the more hidden messages of the book centers around the idea that there is a coexistence of good and evil. This theme is really brought to life the more the reader is able to understand the book. Through sub themes such as coming of age, perspective, and intense characterization of many important characters the idea of good and evil is really brought to light.

Fairy Tales are a piece of actual reality, human nature and moral dilemmas we all have to face at one time or another. Cinderella brings the concept of good vs. evil to light in a way that we are all familiar with, we are presented with a beautiful young girl who is abused and ridiculed by her step-mother and step-sisters, she overcomes these evils through her goodness and innocence. The ‘Evil’ Stepmother despises Cinderella 's goodness, as it highlights her and her own daughter’s flaws. Throughout history we have been presented with these simple characters, but as our understanding of human nature grows we find more developed characters that push the benevolence of Cinderella and the maliciousness of her evil family to different extremes. As cultures changes, gain different values, and our need to understand the whole story grows Cinderella’s story has become more than that of good vs. evil. The characters reflect qualities we would most like to see in ourselves and goodness that can be found in the world when we feel lost in the darkness. Cinderella’s story means different things at different times, by focusing on the music associated with different characters at different times in the history of the Cinderella stories such as La Cenerentola (1814), Walt Disney’s Cinderella (1950) , Rodger’s and Hammerstein’s Cinderella (1957), Ever After: A Cinderella Story (1998), Into the Woods (1987), and Disney’s new Live-Action Cinderella (2015) we can see how the characters from

One of the oldest dilemmas in philosophy is also one of the greatest threats to Christian theology. The problem of evil simultaneously perplexes the world’s greatest minds and yet remains palpably close to the hearts of the most common people. If God is good, then why is there evil? The following essay describes the problem of evil in relation to God, examines Christian responses to the problem, and concludes the existence of God and the existence of evil are fully compatible.

Within the natural world good and evil simply does not exist. The framing of your reality is based solely on your perception. Good and evil is the result of that perception. If you distinguish something as good, than it is. If you distinguish something as evil, than it is. Some swoop in at the last minute to save the baby stroller rolling into oncoming traffic from its impending doom! However who is the villain, as far as, the mother who just pushed that baby stroller into oncoming traffic is concerned? Good and evil is a judgement, a judgement where we consider something to be of high value or not. Perhaps the mother has decided that her baby is not valuable enough to to outweigh the troubles it brings. A person makes a judgement based on their own perception; therefore perception of good and evil depends on the one perceiving it.

Does the problem of evil pose a challenge for theists and the existence of God? The problem of evil argues that there is so much suffering in the world that an all-good and all powerful God would not allow such suffering to exist. Therefore, a God with those characteristics does not exist. Unless the suffering is necessary for an adequate reason. Some people argue that suffering is necessary for there to be good and for us to able to understand what good is. In this paper, I will argue that suffering does not need to exist in order for good to exist, because the existence of good does not depend on suffering. I will then argue that good and suffering are not logical opposites. Finally, I will conclude that since evil is not justified, then the God that we defined does not exist.

The problem of evil is the notion that, how can an all-good, all-powerful, all-loving God exists when evil seems to exist also. The problem of evil also gives way to the notion that if hell exists then God must be evil for sending anyone there. I believe both of these ideas that God can exist while there is evil and God is not evil for sending anyone to hell. I believe hell exists in light of the idea that God is holy and just. The larger is how anyone can go to heaven. I will try to answer the problem of evil with regards to the problem of heaven and hell.

It was once suggested that evil was simply the absence of good, and while this statement is not entirely false, it is a vast understatement to the reality that is an all-powerful, omnipotent, God, or good, and ever scheming, ever tormenting enemy of all things good, or evil. This false dichotomy is equivocal to the argument that black is simply the absence of white. It is correct to state that there is no white in black, but the reality is much more complicated than that. Black is an amalgamation of all colors on the color wheel, not just the subtraction of white. Likewise, evil includes the absence of good, but also includes many other elements such as, “people [just being] people; petty, self-absorbed, stupid, unadmirable, but not wicked” (Ryken, 307) in the words of Susan Wise Bauer. Or, as she later states, “this is how the evildoers of Scripture are portrayed, as ordinary men and women who, for whatever psychological reasons, open the door to transcendent evil—and willingly leave it cracked.” (Ryken, 310) There is good, there is evil, and there is a great deal of ambiguity in the middle. These ideas provide evidence that evil is much more then simple the absence of good. This knowledge, as well as addressing the modern world’s perception of good and evil will be further scrutinized through the course of this essay.

“And they stand still and watch the potatoes float by, listen to the screaming pigs being killed in a ditch and covered with quicklime, watch the mountains of oranges slop down to a putrefying ooze; and in the eyes of the people there is a failure; and in the eyes of the hungry there is a growing wrath” (Steinbeck 349). John Steinbeck, the author of The Grapes of Wrath, portrays the migrant’s resentment of the California land owners and their way of life and illustrates that the vagrants from Oklahoma are yearning for labor, provisions, and human decency. Similarly in To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee elucidates the concept that people should be treated with inclusive human dignity and be affected by good aspects rather than deleterious

The constant battle between good and evil rages still rages. Good rests upon a pedestal, surrounded by the amazing holy light from above. It remains in the positive light, often being looked up to and sometimes even applauded. On the other hand, evil fails to maintain the same respect and honor as good. Evil remains surrounded by the darkness. It lingers around every corner, waiting for the next chance to seduce anyones’ mind and soul at any given moment. It waits for the chance to bring havoc into one's life ,but right as the chance comes, good emerges from the distance, right on time to interfere with the evil scheme. The battle between good and evil never ends and becomes more violent as each day passes. It occurs everywhere and all the time. The constant battle of good versus evil remains proven by the epic poem Beowulf, the poem “Good Vs Evil” which shows the ongoing battle, and the Holy Bible that shows evidence that this battle of good and evil has always existed.

Good surrounds us all. However, as well does the evil. It's a dangerous over-simplification to believe that some people are innately ‘good’ while others are innately ‘evil’ or ‘bad.’ This misleading concept has corrupted the justice system of many countries. It is believed ‘bad’ people commit crimes, and since they are intrinsically ‘bad’, they should be locked away to prevent any harm to the ‘good’. This concept has also fueled many wars and conflicts in history, and even in the present day. For example, the terrorist group named ISIS is currently terrorizing the United States. This evil forces the United States to take action and fight back in order to maintain the good and peace within the nation. The good versus evil concept makes groups

Many questions arise when attempts are made to explain the problem of evil and why it exists in our world when God is all-knowing, all-powerful, and all-good. The subject of evil and why it exists is a difficult topic to find an exact answer to, especially when evil is presented in the form of nature. Natural evil and moral evil are two different types of evil that take form and cause suffering to humans. Natural evil is “events and maladies in nature that bring suffering upon mankind and nature.” Natural evil can be difficult to explain because it does not seem likely that a tornado or hurricane is the result of a human acting in sinful ways. Moral evil has to do with the bad things people do to cause suffering. According to Reese, moral evil is “by the choice of human free will, an individual breaks a moral, ethical standard and causes suffering upon self, others or nature.” Many ways used to describe the problem of evil are in the form of a theodicy. A theodicy is an “attempt to offer different answers to the problem of evil.” Two of the theodicies discussed in this paper will be the Augustinian Theodicy and the Iranaean Theodicy. Both theodicies direct their explanations toward moral evil than natural evil. First, the Augustinian theodicy and the pros and cons associated with its attempt to explain the problem of evil will be discussed.

Good and evil are often considered to be very different, but are actually quite similar. They are both used to describe people who exceed the expectations of the typical citizen. Those terms describe different sides of the spectrum for the connotation within society with good typically viewed positively by society and evil usually viewed negatively by society. People enjoy believing that the common citizen can accomplish amazing tasks to keep their hope up. However, Socrates believes that only extraordinary people can accomplish extraordinary feats, good or evil, due to their intelligence, nature, and skills.

Evil and suffering are two very similar terms. Dating back to the creation of the universe, evil and suffering have influenced our existence as human being. Many factors are responsible for how humans cope with, experience, and perceive evil and suffering. Evil can be defined as a moral or natural suffering that affects human beings (Reuter, 29 August 2016). Furthermore suffering can be defined as "a response to threat to integrity of self" (McFarland, 12 September 2016). One of the greatest challenges with evil and sufferings is the differences humans share in dealing with these particular issues both from a Christian point of view and a non-Christian point of view [thesis].

In other words, some people refer to evil as sin and suffering; others think of it as a separation from God while still more people personify it in the form of satan. My purpose here is not to discuss what form evil may take in an individual's life even though it may come up periodically. The central fact remains that evil, in one form or another, does exist and anyone not willing to believe in this reality quite frankly lives in a different dimension. Either that, or they simply live in a total state of denial! Keeping all this in mind, what I want to accomplish in this paper is to first explore the idea that evil is a relative term that exists within the context of each situation. Ah, yes! Even as I wrote that last sentence, I could see the wheels turning in your head. But not to worry. I will clarify soon. From this point, I will seek the wisdom of people who have tried to answer these tough questions proposed on the first page, come to some more conclusions through personal interviews and then end on a more personal note, using the help of my life experience as a Christian. This topic hits me hard at times. I often find myself in reflection, trying to formulate an answer to the evil that I see, and yes, the evil that I do. This evil will sometimes leave me feeling totally powerless and at its mercy. Yet I never give up hope for I know that just through the process of writing this paper, some new insights will be

Throughout mankind's existence, people have struggled with good and evil. The struggle began with the fall of man in Genesis 2. St. Augustine addresses this issue in his book, “The Confessions of St. Augustine.” In this book, He discusses God character, man’s free will, the causes of evil, and the struggle between how can a loving God allow evil to exist in the world.