Problem of Evil:
Possible Solutions
James A. Van Slyke
Review
1. God is all Good
Wants to Prevent Evil
2. God is all Powerful
Able to Prevent Evil
3. Yet There is Evil
How can this be Amended?
History of
Theological Answers
 Augustine (354 – 430)
– The Confessions
– The City of God
 Combined Biblical Faith
with Platonic Philosophy
 Plato
– Metaphysics – World emanates from ‘the
Good’
– Forms a type of hierarchy where each step
down ‘loses goodness’
The Hierarchy of Being
Plato’s list
The Good
Forms
Divinities
stars
Soul
planets
humans
Body
animals
plants
inorganic material
Augustine’s list
God
Forms
Planets
Soul
angels
Humans
Body
Animals
Plants
Inorganic Material
Augustine and Evil
Evil as privation
– Absence of good
– Thus, God is not responsible for the
creation of evil
– Each step down the hierarchy, more
possibility for evil
Augustine’s Free Will Defense
God wants creatures who freely
give trust, obedience, adoration,
etc.
– Used by many apologists to deal with
problem of evil
– Ultimately, evil is the result of free will
and sin
Instrumentality of Evil
More important for human’s to have
freedom to choose God
– Evil brings about a greater good for
humankind
– Sickness allows us to appreciate our
health
– Greater good accomplished with evil
in the world than without it
– Justifies evil in the world
Augustine’s
Reconstruction
 Adam and Eve
lived in a prehistory paradise
– Their fall was the
first step
downward in the
hierarchy of being
– Not human beings,
but super humans
– Merging of
Creation Story
with other Greek
Myths
Augustine and Sin
Human sin is wanting to be like
God
– Adam and Eve chose to sin
– No predisposing factors
•
•
•
•
Ignorance
Lust
Hunger
Fatigue, etc.
– Nothing could be blamed on God;
created with perfect free will
Consequences
Sin leads to disorder in the
hierarchy
– When the ‘rung’ occupied by humans
and/or angels is disrupted leads to
disorder all the way down
– This is another reason for suffering
and evil in the world
Consequences
Concupiscence
– Sin also leads to disorder within the
person
– The disorderly arrangement of the
human soul leads to sin and suffering
– When the will is in rebellion, no ability
to control the self
– Not able to control the body
Hierarchy of the Soul
Rational powers Control Exerted downward
Will
Understanding
Mind
Irrational powers
Memory
Sense-perception
Appetites
Emotions
Desires
Body
Consequences
Disorder in hierarchy also leads to
disorder in nature
– Earthquakes, Floods, etc.
– Reason for suffering of animals and
nature
– Disordered world causes nature to be
less than it could be
Problems with Augustine’s
Account
 Ancient Metaphysics has been replaced
– Hurricanes, etc. caused by natural effects
 Platonic reading of Genesis account
rejected
 Disorder of soul no longer accepted
• Will is not most important aspect of humans
• Emotions and the body also important
Recent Solutions
 God had sufficient reason to permit evil
– Evil may be instrumental to other purposes
– Evil may bring out other ‘goods’
– Evil is a by-product of other good things
 God has remedies for evil
– The Christian Tradition provides different
remedies or ways to contain evil
– God is not indifferent to our suffering
Free-Will Defense
 In order for humans to exercise free will, it was
necessary to allow the possibility of evil
 It is logically impossible for God to create free
creatures and guarantee they will never do evil
 If human behavior determined, no free
response to God
Sufficient Reason
 Best of all Possible Worlds
– G. W. Liebniz (1646-1716)
– The development of our particular
world necessitates the possibility for
evil and suffering
– It is not possible to change certain
aspects of physical creation without
creating disorder
Fine-Tuning of the Universe
Anthropic Principle
– Values of the Fundamental Constants
of the Universe are such that they
allow for the evolution of life
– If these Laws were modified even
slightly, there would not be life
– Imposes certain limitations on the
world
Recent Solutions
 Evil is a by – product
– Secondary or Incidental product
– The result of another action, often
unintended or unexpected
 In order for nature to work, certain laws
and limitations were necessary
 In order for persons to be free, they must
be free to do evil
Soul-Making Defense
 John Hick (1922 -)
– Evil and the Love of God
– God allows evil to enhance the spiritual
character of humanity
– “Soul-making”
Problems with Defenses
 Were the great atrocities necessary?
– Auschwitz, Rwanda, the starving and poor
 Is our freedom worth the evils others have had
to face?
 Couldn’t God have allowed free will but stopped
the extent of evil in the world