Wolterstorff On Evil

Before we can dive into the problem of evil, we must define a term. Whenever the word “God” is used in this paper, it is referring to the classical theistic conception of God. In this view of God, God is that, “than which nothing greater can be conceived” in your mind. Any attributes or qualities that make a being great, God has to the maximum. This means that, among many other qualities, God is benevolent(all good), omnipotent(all powerful), and omniscient(all knowing). Furthermore, God is the creator of the universe and is personally connected to the human race.

Evil in this context is regarding to all suffering, pain and horror. Evil can be categorized as natural evil and moral evil. Natural evil is that which occurs by natural means e.g. earthquakes, tsunamis etc. Moral evil is that which is imposed on humans by humans e.g.

All throughout our history, we have come to label events, object and people as either good or evil/bad. We tend to believe that the world itself is driven by good forces and evil ones. Since this is a term we often take for granted, it should not be debatable, and all of us should have the same concept about it. Sadly enough that is not true. Societies and culture shape our understanding of evil.

Evil can be categorized into two forms, moral evil and natural evil. Moral evil is brought about by bad choices that stem from our free will. Natural evil is bad things that happen to people, whether they deserve them or not. The problem with evil is,

Firstly, Inwagen examines a theist’s reply that God brings a greater good out of the evils in the world. However, the problem with this reply, Inwagen notes, is that it does not take into account God’s omnipotence. In other words, God could have brought out a greater good from evil than He has. This implies either God is not omnipotent and so is unable to bring about the greater good or if He is omnipotent then this reply implies a moral imperfection. Therefore, Inwagen admits, his defense must include “…the proposition that God was unable bring about the greater goods without allowing evils…” (Reason and Responsibility, 110). Secondly, a theist may reply that there is evil in this world because it allows for an understanding of good. However, Inwagen again notes God’s omnipotence which could teach this contrast through something less evil, such as vivid nightmares. (Reason and Responsibility, 110) Lastly, Inwagen believes, a theist may reply using free will. Inwagen defines free will as a free choice between different options, for example A or B, where God cannot make a person choose A over B because it is a contradiction to the definition of free will. Moreover, humans abuse free will which causes or “produces a certain amount of evil”. Nonetheless, free will is good that outweighs its evil affects, so, that is why God has allowed it. (Reason and Responsibility, 111) Inwagen notes the objections to this solution as well: (i) the good from free will

Evil is in the eye of the beholder, sometimes a daily reality. To present the problem of evil you must first know that evil exists. Since God reveals himself as the all-powerful, all knowing and all good, how can the same God allow evil to exist and for bad things to happen to good people? Our suffering, as well as the suffering of others, vividly marks the presence of evil in our world. The majority of us struggle at one time or another in life with why evil happens to our family, friends, nation and ourselves. In recent news we also hear about particularly disturbing instances—a child raped, a school shooting, genocide in another country, a terrorist bombing. In this paper, I will review the literature from authors Robert M. Adams,

Evil confronts one no matter where they go. Earthquakes, ISIS, plane crashes, the Charleston shooting, each of these are unfolding before the human eye. The age old question “Why?” is asked. How did this start? Will it get better? These are not easy questions to answer as J. S. Feinburg points out “a problem of evil is always a problem that confronts some theological position.” What one believes about evil is a reflection of their view of God and is consequently shown in their behavior.

To understand evil we must first understand the concept that good and evil are term or words referring to what one given individuals believes to be the right and wrong thing to do. Good, many times

In a world that seems to be going crazy and is filled with evil it is easy to often wondered what is going on wars are everywhere, genocide, and famine are rampant. The problem is that evil exist and that evil itself has a problem. Michael Peterson claims that the problem of evil is a moral protest in the following questions how could God let this happen? People often claim, It's not fair that God has let this happen. Sometimes people will question if God know how to prevent evil and is powerful enough but does not is he good unless he has a reason for it? The source of evil was the fall of Adam and the use of his free will disobey God, the problem of evil gets more problematic when one considers there are two types of evil moral and natural a theodicy must be consistent to answer the question of evil.

It does not seem fair to permit innocents to be hurt by evil. Holocaust, slavery, plagues, natural disasters, and other harms are terrible. What is evil then? Why does it exist? Why God allows it?

Everyone always has the two little devils and angels on their shoulders tempting them to go forth with their actions whether right or wrong. Evil is a choice based off of the actions and intentions of those actions. Some actions offend others, while others do not find offense to those actions. Every person in their day to day life is conflicted with the choice of doing right or giving in to the temptations of evil.

Evil can come in many different forms. Desmond Tutu claims this to be as he once said, “When people think of the sort of things that happen when genocide happens, it's again not people who are intrinsically evil.” This quote by Desmond Tutu is a definition of evil because not everybody was born being evil it depends on a persons real nature. When many people think of evil they think of the people that they do not like or do not care for. Without people being evil are world would not be as it is today because we have overcame many of those challenges that it has brought to us. Even though the Holocaust was horrible, people may debate that the Darfur Genocide was worse.

 Evil doesn 't necessarily have to be an action by a human; it can also be a result of a natural disaster such as: hurricanes, earthquakes, illness, etc. A hurricane can take away everything from thousands of humans. This causes the people to have no home, clothes, or food. This is also a form of evil, due to the suffering it causes. This is called natural evil. People can bring about moral evil upon themselves, although, they rarely can bring natural evil upon themselves. There is a distinct difference between the two, and one evil does not cause the other. The reason I point the

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.

Its impossible to reflect on the origins of evil without bringing up the concept of free will. God created man with this idea of choice; the choice to believe and obey, or the choice to disobey. It was this free will that allowed Adam and Eve to fall from their initial glory and introduce evil and suffering into the world. We can justify a large amount of sustained suffering by acknowledging that it actually benefits us and is not incompatible with God's loving nature. We learn lessons both physically and spiritually that allows us to grow and mature according to God. Some suffering is used to spark revival or for a great advancement in his kingdom, cause after all we're