STARTER:
What is the problem of evil
and suffering for Christians…?
Using your mini whiteboards
finish the following sentences.
If God is OMNI-BENEVOLENT
IfIfGod
GodisisOMNIPOTENT
OMNISCIENT
then…
then…
then…
he would
he would
KNOW
BE ABLE
howtotoremove
removeororprevent
preventevil
eviland
andsuffering.
suffering.
not want us to feel pain and WANT to remove evil and
suffering.
To use the teaching of
Original Sin to
understand how
Christians respond to
the problem of evil and
suffering.
Grade C – Will be able to
list the different
explanations Christians give
for the existence of evil
and suffering.
Grade B – Will be able to
give examples from the
story of Adam and Eve
fitting the Christian
responses to evil and
suffering.
Grade A - Will be able to
evaluate whether these
Christian responses solve
the problem that evil and
suffering poses.
Christian
responses to the
PROBLEM of
evil and
suffering…
Fill in the FIRST TWO
COLUMNS of the table
provided using the
PICTURE CLUES you are
given.
God is sometimes called
Father. At times parents
will either act or stand
back to let you feel pain.
Christians believe it
is important to learn
from our mistakes
and the existence of
evil and suffering is
God’s way of allowing
this to happen.
Pain is punishment for the bad things
we do against God (SIN).
Everybody does things that are wrong. The pain we feel happens
because we have done bad things. Evil and suffering exists because
God is punishing us.
Pain teaches us the
difference between
right and wrong. It
teaches us
responsibility. Learning
to take care of what
God has given us. Bad
things happen when we
don’t take
responsibility.
EXAMPLE: If we don’t
look after the
environment bad things
such as natural
disasters happen.
We need to experience bad things so we can
appreciate the good things.
If we did not have bad things then
how would we recognise good
things. There has to be a balance
between the two.
EXAMPLE: You love holidays because they are a break from school and work.
It is different to your normal day.
Evil and suffering is a result of bad choices.
What about natural suffering?
God gave mankind
free will. We can
choose whether to
do good things or
bad things. As a
result evil and
suffering is down
to us.
When bad events affect others they might create a force.
This negative force might cause natural suffering to happen
somewhere. If we change our behaviour we can make a
difference.
Evil and suffering is all part of
God’s plan of which we will
never understand.
Don’t question God. Accept his
will.
We are only human and
some say that we do not
have the ability to
understand God.
If we can not
understand God
then how can we
really
understand what
goes on in his
world.
The devil causes all of the evil and suffering.
The devil wants people to
suffer and so he is controlling
people who do bad things.
He tempts people to abuse
their free-will and to do bad
things. This causes evil and
suffering in the world.
Evil and suffering is a test of
faith
God allows evil and suffering to
exist in the world to test
human beings faith in him.
Those who believe in spite of
evil and suffering are truly
faithful.
• Use the notes you have made to answer Q2
on p9.
• It is a (c) question so you need to give four
points and four examples or explanations
to go with each one.
• Remember an example can be a quote, a
teaching, something Jesus did or an
explanation of your point.
Swap with a partner and mark each
others
work in GREEN
Complete
pagePEN
6
of
your
The type of question is (c) and the
marks for
the question are (8).
REVISION
WORKBOOK
Write your P’s and E’s in the margin.
using your notes
Please comment – giving a POSITIVE
from
this
lesson.
and a TARGET
Grade C – Will be
able to list the
different
explanations
Christians give
for the existence
of evil and
suffering.
HOW TO REMEMBER…?
• Christians believe
that the story of
Adam and Eve
help them to
understand why
evil and suffering
occurs on the
Earth.
ORIGINAL SIN
The FIRST ever SIN.
A sin inherited by all
descendants of Adam.
Adam and Eve committed
the original sin when they
ate the forbidden fruit in
the Garden of Eden.
ORIGINAL SIN
Sub Heading: Original Sin
Watch the following clip.
How many of the 8 Christian
explanations for evil and
suffering can you spot?
On your table sheet TICK all
the explanations that you
find.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=channel&v=NRGnPIlclps&ytsession=87m0JJvdgpfzsJtfBt_aw7U6fG77GZvq_kJgjLFKMxZ4Dc6lNUsit_p7r_BEX5WVgDBlcd3SGV32hI_yewYUcgIDPenPjYTWehzGxz7sKwKug8i_ENwMYPNT0TuhsXg99TSNRgo0JXzl1Bnkf1cEjsSwkJF7BC97BQVQIkpNcAmgEGvp7ilh78SqFBbGFG27VNbEQ72t4p81nVP8s3Ei5uA8AYQAOv_6n2KtwGp12sGFqdxuVA_QdT3PZqxW1FE9ZIjujdxe4
ORIGINAL SIN
Sub Heading: Original Sin
Write the following headings
and leave 5 lines between each.
TEST of FAITH
PUNISHMENT
FREE-WILL
THE DEVIL
Now give an example of each
from the story.
God tests Adam and
Eve’s FAITH by
asking them to follow
His rules without
questioning Him.
By putting the tree in
the garden God is
testing their FAITH.
Adam and Eve
are PUNISHED
for going against
God (committing
SIN).
The serpent is
PUNISHED for
tempting Adam
and Eve.
Adam and Eve
are given the
FREEDOM from
God to CHOOSE
whether to obey
Him or to break
His commands.
The DEVIL appears
as the SERPENT and
tempts Eve to break
God’s commandment.
Grade B – Will be
able to give
examples from
the story of
Adam and Eve
fitting the
Christians
responses to evil
and suffering.
Do the responses you have looked at
today solve the problem of evil and
suffering for theists?
Look at each Christian response
individually…
Fill in the last column of your sheet –
remember to explain your ideas (give
reasons for your answer).
Grade A - Will
be able to
evaluate whether
these Christian
responses solve
the problem that
evil and suffering
poses.
Using your
mini
whiteboards…
Guess the
Christian
response to evil
and suffering
from the
picture shown
Punishment
Test
Responsibility
The Devil
Free Will (making
choices)
A lesson
Experience