There Are Acts Of Evil

The issue of evil in the world raises questions with which everyone wrestles. Pain and suffering come into everyone’s life to some degree or another. Trying to find meaning and purpose in the midst of suffering, whether our own or someone else’s, is difficult regardless of what worldview one holds. How individuals and societies deal with this issue will have important implications for those individuals as well as to the whole of society.

John Hick argues in this writing that the all-powerful, all-knowing, and all-good Christian god is compatible with an abundance of suffering. He offers solutions to the problem of suffering which relies heavily upon a tripartite foundation. Hick divides evil into two: Moral Evil = the evil that human being cause - either to themselves or to each other. And Non-Moral Evil = the evil that is not caused by human activity - natural disasters, etc. He tries to explain that a world without pain and suffering, moral traits such as courage, patience and sympathy would not be developed.

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.

Many people would like to believe that God has a good reason for making them suffer, but Kushner argues that such a theology doesn't reconcile the goodness of God with the existence of evil. Lastly, some people try to explain suffering by believing that it comes to liberate humans from a world of pain and lead them to a better place. "Sometimes in our reluctance to admit that there is unfairness in the world, we try to persuade ourselves that what has happened is not really bad. We only think it is" (p. 27). In the end, this explanation attempts to work by denying the existence of evil altogether. Kushner finds these responses to suffering unsatisfying, because they assume that God is the cause of human suffering and they attempt to comprehend why God would want humans to suffer. The reasoning behind these justifications of suffering is that it is punishment deserved, it is for one's own good, or God does not care about what happens to people. Kushner recognizes that these rationales can cause people to blame themselves, can lead to a denial of reality, or cause the repression of one's feelings. Because of this, Kushner attempts to create his own reasoning for why bad things happen to good people.

Theodicy attempts to explain why evil and suffering persists in the world. There are multiple theodicies ranging, from Augustine’s free will defense to Maimonides rejection of human suffering altogether as a state of mind. However, a simpler and perhaps easier stance to hold is that, evil and suffering exist and that there is no God that responsible for it, since no God exists. Christopher Hitchens would use Occam’s razor and conclude that his answer is most likely to be correct due to its simplicity (Hitchens 87). Theodicies while often eloquent, are often long-winded, complex and always leave some questions unanswered. The Irenaean theodicy as outlined by John Hick explains that suffering experienced by humanity is a way that humanity is molded and shaped towards perfection (Hick 44). The Irenaean theodicy fails at explaining great calamities and assumes too optimistically that humanity can learn from their suffering. In fact, great suffering is perhaps even more capable of destroying character than building it. In times of disaster, desperation sets in and humans act more selfishly, causing looting and crime to skyrocket. In the interest of national security, we have deployed nuclear weapons and napalm and employed torture and extrajudicial executions of US citizens. Sometimes in response to human evil we

We all like to look at things that appeal our preferences. But sometimes, appearances can deceive us, such as a good deal you may see. One common example would be online shopping. The price that is offered upfront is very appealing, all until it comes down to the final cost after including shipping and handling, taxes, or any other unmentioned expenses. Or maybe a movie that has an interesting trailer, but the actual film as a whole was not as good as it appeared to be. Instead of judging at first glance, one should first investigate and then make a decision after their analysis. The main characters in the short stories “Lamb to the Slaughter”, by Roald Dahl and, “The Possibility of Evil”, by Shirley Jackson, should have known this lesson. In “Lamb to the Slaughter,” Mary Maloney is a kind housewife this sweet who loves her husband dearly, but changes to a bitter and angry widow after her husband leaves her. In “The Possibility of Evil,” Miss Strangeworth appears to be a kind elderly lady, but behind close doors, she is the complete opposite. After reading both stories, the readers learn that even though something may appear one way, it can turn out to be something completely different than we expected. True colors are not always revealed at first sight.

“If the universe is so bad, or even half so bad, how on earth did human beings ever come to attribute it to the activity of a wise and good Creator?” (Lewis, C.S. The Problem of Pain, p. 3.) Prehistoric man first wrote of fear of a supernatural being, and Lewis describes a feeling of awe and fear which he calls Numinous. He describes man’s consciousness of morality, and the inherent feeling of knowing right from wrong. God is all powerful and good, yet the world is full of evil, tragedy, loss and suffering. Lewis argues that life cannot exist independent of the natural world and because we have the freedom to make choices, human suffering is inevitable. “We have seen that in a stable and meaningful universe a possibility of pain is inherent; and in a universe of creatures, inclined, by virtue of their fallen nature, to move away from God, evil becomes, so to speak, endemic.” (Bacz, Jacek.) God is full of love and goodness. Man, however, is not perfect, we make mistakes, we make bad choices, we can be wicked and evil resulting in great suffering to ourselves and others. The pain we experience is the mechanism to bring us closer to God, and to become blessed and

Chapter 9: Why Is There So Much Suffering?, pp. 77-87 In the introduction of this chapter, the Dr. White cited several tragic situations in which, both, believer and non-believers experienced great suffering and emotional pain. It is not unusual for these tragedies to prompt seekers to inquire, especially of those faiths that believe in a loving , personal, caring God — such as Christianity — “Why should God allow this pain and suffering?” The author believes the answer lies within what is called free will, and he seeks to bring a solution to this inquiry in the remainder of this chapter.

William Rowe defines gratuitous evil as an instance of intense suffering which an omnipotent, omniscient being could have prevented without thereby losing some greater good or permitting some evil equally bad or worse.(Rowe 335) In a world with so much evil it raises the questions If God is all powerful, all knowing and all good, how can he allow bad things to happen to good people? Can God even exist in a world with so such gratuitous evil? These are questions that has afflicted humanity for a very long time and has been the question to engross theologians for centuries. The existence of evil has been the most influential and powerful reason to disprove the existence of God. It is believed among many theist that God is the creator and caretaker

Many times in history we’ll look back and ask each other, “Why did such a horrible thing happen?” Or, “How could those people do such horrible things to those other groups?” Well even in today’s world, we are still asking those same questions, and more. It also seems that the more bad things that happen and are unexplainable in regards to why, more people will continue to turn away from believing in God. The following paragraphs will explain “who” are the ones oppressed by evil, “why” evil exists, and “how” evil can be view in a perspective as good, part of God’s will.

People who are suffering emotionally, physically, and mentally in their everyday lives usually pray to God and ask Him to watch over them. Though on the other side, many people will question themselves, “Why is God doing this to me?”. Due to being taught that God is loving and caring to those who believe in Him, it brings about an expectation that as long as an individual remains faithful to God and is able to wisely make decisions between right and wrong, the individual will not experience a traumatic sense of suffering. However, as the individual continues to live on, they realize that they will experience a moment in their life when they will be suffering, either for a moment or for an extended period of time whether or not it is unexpected. Therefore, the view in a religion that God is merciful, loving, and caring would not be helpful to those who are suffering.

I argued that their arguments fell short due to merely assuming the wills and thoughts of God. I then presented a possible counterclaim arguing that even without understanding the wills of God, humans have defined suffering and God should have eliminated it. However, I concluded that despite this strong rebuttal it was not sufficient in withstanding my critique because it still assumes the intentions of God. Ultimately the problems of evil assume the thoughts of God and as such do not discredit God’s

When we talk about objections to the Christian faith, none seem harder to respond to than the problem of evil and suffering. Because the problem is both intellectual and emotional, there isn’t really a way to win the argument easily, like we would during a game of scrabble by pulling out a dictionary. But I also don’t think that the skeptics among us have a slam dunk argument against the existence of God. There are some satisfying answers to the question of why God allows suffering, at least when viewed from the intellectual perspective. The emotional perspective is much harder to get a grasp on. I’d like to talk through this difficult topic in order not only to help you respond to skeptics, but also because I believe that our faith can be strengthened as we understand it more.

When pain and suffering attach people lives, again, because of their brokenness, they hunger for God’s solutions. When God does not give them what they want, their emotions take over. People start to ask why He allows it. More than that, they question: is He there? This question has caused incalculable individuals to judge their religion, question their beliefs, and, in some cases, abandon the concept that there's a God. Several reach a conclusion just like this: If there is a caring, almighty God, he would rid of the planet of evil currently. Since he does not, there should not be a God—and if there is, he is either not caring or not almighty, either of that makes Him unworthy to our worship. To answer this question, Zacharias points out: “the explanation must meet both the intellectual and emotional demands” (89). Christianity as a worldview is the only one that accepts the reality of evil and suffering, explains both the cause and the purpose, and offers God-given strength to survive it. Evil is real and the source of it is: humanity rebelled against the holy Creator. Because they both suffer and cause suffering, evil seems mysterious to them and they put the blame on God. The only solution is they have to allow God to transform their hearts to bring an end to evil because He already has a plan for

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