Essay on Why do bad things happen to good people?

owe to prove his thesis about the problems of evil and atheism, Rowe asks three fundamental questions. The first question, “is there an argument for atheism based on the problem of evil that could rationally justify atheism?” Supporting his question, Rowe by uses the idea of human and animal suffering.is it reasonable for omnipotent, omniscient being(s) to permits its creation to suffer by extinguish each other for their own personal benefits. If there is such a thing as an omnibenevolent, omnipotent holy being how come the ultimate and unescapable suffering is this world has no vanish. How good is a god(s) that permits humanity to suffer greatly? In religious Christian Bible study, Jesus, many times referred to as god, vanish evil from

Many of the choices we make, using our free will, lead to suffering. We participate in risky behavior, without thinking of the consequences. For example, people that smoke have greater chances of developing health problem (e.g., cancer), which results in pain and suffering. This type of suffering is caused by our errors and mistakes. Many of the choice we make have consequences, but is it is impossible to live in a way in which we do not take risks. Furthermore, God's existence comes from intellect and not the sense, but suffering is felt through through our senses, whether it be external or internal pain. Suffering is adventitious and not

In Module Five, Dr. Bryan Maier discusses “The Problem of Evil,” is the question of “How God can be all sovereign and all good at the same time?”. As a counselor, I can’t remember any client, who has experienced suffering, who doesn’t struggle with The Problem of Evil.” Maier reminds counselors that our role is not to provide a reason for the client’s suffering or God’s role in it because counselors cannot know the answer. The counselor’s proper response when the Problem of Evil is brought up by the client is to simply state, “I don’t know.” A caregiver’s role is not to give their opinion or to speculate what the answer may be.

The problem of evil or problem of suffering is an argument against the existence of God. It claims that the existence of evil, such as pain and death, is incompatible with the existence of an omnibenevolent, omnipotent, and omniscient God. The first statement of this problem is presented by the greek philosopher Epicurus. He basically says that “if God is willing to prevent evil but not able then he is not omnipotent if he is able to prevent it but not willing then he is not omnibenevolent. If he is both, able and willing then where does evil come from, and if he is neither able nor willing then why call him God”.

Hawkins’ list of Biblical examples on the various reasons suffering could occur. I think most Christian counselors probably know that the Bible shows us various “reasons” for suffering, but I don’t know how many of us has actually pulled various examples of suffering in Scripture into a list that actually paints a wide spectrum of reasons but in one context. For me, this was extremely helpful to solidify my own theology of suffering (as Dr. Hawkins suggests). In this lecture, Hawkins briefly discusses the following examples and possible reasons for suffering we can see in

The age old question that is still being debated. In this essay I hope to answer a few of the big questions such as: How can a good God allow suffering? Why does evil exist? Is God like many have attributed to Him, a watchmaker, who winds us up and lets it go until it runs out? How could God allow the Holocaust? The theological field of inquiry called “theodicy”, which investigates the basic question: If God is all powerful (omnipotent), all knowing (omniscient), and all-good, (omni-benevolent) how can evil and injustice exist? Since reading Elie Wiesel’s soul shattering Night, this topic seemed fitting. I will provide rational and logical arguments as to why these things occur and how God can still be who He says He is. I will be stating dispassionately the critics of a free-will defense such as J.L Mackie and B.C Johnson, and then I will proceed to offer my responses. After having read Wiesel’s account, my heart only broke more and my mind was spinning with the question itself of How could God allow this? However, we can be mad at God for the Holocaust or for other human tragedies, but this is like a teenager who begs you to let him drive a car - promising to be responsible -, gets drunk, crashes in to a telephone pole, and then blames you for giving him the keys. If we agree that humanity must have free will, we must accept the consequences of its decisions. As Elie Wiesel wrote, “After the Holocaust I did not loose faith in God. I lost faith in mankind.”

Many arguments were made in Viktor Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning about the term “suffering” and how us as individuals respond to others suffering. Frankl says that if suffering has no meaning, then there is no reason to live at all. Simone Weil incorporates this in her book An Anthology by arguing that it is our obligation as human beings to aid to ones suffering. Frankl and Weil both have the same idea in that they both look at people who are suffering. Seeing what each side argues will help determine which argument is more reasonable than the other.

Just as western religions accept that G-d exists, we know that evil and suffering exists. Western religions know G-d as omnipotent, omniscient, and morally good. With these three fundamental characteristics in mind, G-d would have the power to destroy evil, the knowledge to know what evil is, and the will and desire to destroy it. Thus, the western conception of an all-powerful, all-knowing, and all-good G-d gives rise to a new Problem of G-d. To answer this problem, many scholars have searched for a theodicy, a rational explanation for evil in the world. When analyzing Judaism, the necessity for theodicy is most prevalent, and possibly most difficult, when trying to come to terms with the Holocaust. Using Elie Wiesel as my starting point, I will address the three conclusions scholars have reached: theodicy is possible, there is a human inability to construct a convincing theodicy, and a completely rejection of any possibility for theodicy. After presenting these options, I will offer criticisms as well as explain my own rationale for supporting Wiesel’s claim that G-d deserves to be questioned because He bears responsibility for evil in the world.

The problem of evil (the problem of suffering) is an argument against the existence of God

In the chapter,”The Crucified God of Compassion”, Elizabeth Johnson outlines different types of suffering that ocuurs in the world and how God plays a part in their suffering. The Holocaust is the first topic outlined in this chapter. As knowledge of the incomprehensible Holocaust spread many questions about God were asked, however Christian Theologians no longer asked why God allows suffering to happen but rather “Where is God?” (Johnson 2007,p.51). They wanted to know where God was during all the pain and suffering.

Catholicism teaches us that God gave us the freedom to decide and choose what to do with our own lives. Some say that if he had not given us any freedom In what we choose to do then people may not know the difference between right or wrong. However, god gave us some rules known as the Ten Commandments. When and if we choose the wrong path, suffering may arise to ourselves or cause the suffering and pain of others. An example of this is how Adolf Hitler made the decision to lead the mass murder of millions of innocent people. After learning about this, my views on suffering were changed a lot. Some people may believe that it is more than reasonable to assume that suffering may be a result of the sins that we commit or when we go again god’s will and rules even if we do it without meaning. This theory is involved in the Jewish theology of suffering. Some Jewish people that suffering is a result of ours sins as I mentioned before. This is shown plenty of times throughout Schindler’s list when the people in Auschwitz did not seem to put up a fight in the camp and didn’t argue with anything which may indicate to us that they may have felt that they deserved it. Evidence for this in Schindler’s list is a quote given by a man saying “I had a dream that I was taken from my home and made to share a room with a bunch of people I don’t know. Then I woke up and I was sharing a room with a

Since suffering correlates to evil, I believe that almost all suffering does not always lead to a greater good. For example, suffering not caused by humans but by nature. Natural evil such as, hurricanes, floods, diseases, etc. kill millions of humans and animals every year. Those instances don’t benefit anyone.

Christians have belief in a moral and caring Maker. Jehovah's process for fulfillment is an ethical and caring plan. This tenet of faith has prompted Christians to seek explanations or justifications for suffering (Patheos, 2016). There are several forms of human suffering: emotional, natural, and moral. Sadness, regret, fear, are examples of emotional distress. Cyclone, storm surge, avalanche, volcanic, mental illness and AIDS are some example of natural disasters. Moral suffering is brought on by the deliberate acts of fellow human beings to cause suffering, something Christians call a moral evil (Patheos,

Suffering is so perverse in our world that we may even call it a part of the natural human condition. No one is exempt from experiencing one form of hardship or another at any point in life. What then is the ideal purpose of these afflictions ? Aligning with Christian belief, I assume that God, beyond being both powerful and knowledgeable, is also compassionate. As one who is - as St. Augustine calls him - “Goodness itself”, how does God transform sufferings, commonly perceived to be evil, to become something good? To answer this question, I turn to the speeches of Elihu in the Book of Job. Unlike Job’s other friends, Elihu argues that humans have much to gain from sufferings. Additionally, I will also explore what God achieves on his part

There are acts of evil in our world constantly. More so than in years past, we hear about school shootings, terrorist attacks, murders, and natural disasters such as earthquakes, tornadoes and hurricanes. Everyday there is a new headline in the news that proves that evil is happening all around us. This news is seen differently from person to person based on their religious beliefs. Those who believe in God think of him as having unconditional and infinite love for us. This being said, it is very difficult for someone with this belief to think that someone so good could let something so evil occur. The problem of evil is important because where there is evil, there is suffering. As humans, we do not like suffering, either physically or emotionally. However, since it does happen so often in our daily lives, we tend to wonder why we suffer in the first place and many times we ask ourselves “where is God through all of this?” Non-Christians and Christians view and respond to this question differently. While some believe that free-will causes suffering, other believe that evil helps us figure out our role in the world and allows us to find peace within ourselves. The Core 9 readings have presented several theodicies explaining what other religions think of suffering and evil. These theodicies help contribute to my understanding and my view of evil and suffering. I have concluded that God does not intend to do evil things to us. But rather the reason for suffering is caused by