Blog 4

Below are some concepts from philosophy, their definitions, and a few words about their relevance to my topic.

1. The Problem of Evil

Definition: “The God of classical theism is believed to be omnipotent, omniscient, and wholly good. Many thoughtful people maintain that such beliefs are in tension with certain beliefs about evil.” (90)

Relevance: This is going to be the basis of my topic. Everything else will have to revolve around the idea of whether a wholly good God could have a way or a reason to create evil.

2. The Free Will Defense

Definition: Although some may think this has something to do with defending our right to make our own decisions, it is actually part of a philosophical argument that claims our God-given free will as a reason for evil.

Relevance: This will be a helpful part of my paper because so many people want to believe that they have free will. They do not want to think that they are “destined” to do things in life. They do not want to feel like they are robots, doing what they are programmed to do and nothing more.

3. The Evidential Problem of Gratuitous Evil

Definition: A philosophical argument that probes the question that even if some evil has to exist, why does so much pointless evil exist?

Relevance: Basically an expansion upon the argument that says evil is necessary. Without evil there would be no good, obviously. Why so much evil then? Couldn’t we have a little less?

4. The Task of Theodicy

Definition: Describes how theodicy must explain evil using elements “drawn from Scripture, church doctrine, our common moral experience, etc.” (95-96)

Relevance: Will be relevant to the topic because since all the arguments are based on the existence of God, they must be addressed from a religious stand point.

5. The Existential Problem of Evil

Definition: “…happy people who do not regret their own individual existence cannot meaningfully raise a problem of evil…” (97)

Relevance: Will tie in nicely to show that the problem of evil does not necessarily exist for everyone.

Work Cited

Rachels, James, and Stuart Rachels. The Truth about the World. 2nd ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2008.