The Problem of Evil and Theodicies

Study Notes

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Philosophers are interested in questions that can never be answered.
One of the most persistent challenges to God's existence is the question of why there is evil.
The logical problem of evil is a contradiction between the existence of evil and the belief in an omniscient, omnipotent, and omnibenevolent God.
The Free Will Defense is a popular theodicy that argues that God created free beings, and being free means we have the choice to do evil things.
Natural evil is the evil that we are not responsible for, and the Free Will Defense cannot resolve it.
Fictional stories can let us see how hypothetical people deal with hypothetical situations.
Ivan, a character in The Brothers Karamozov, denies God's goodness and returns his ticket to heaven because of the existence of evil.
The soul-making theodicy argues that God deliberately creates us "unfinished" and our earthly lives are designed to toughen us up.
The problem of evil goes beyond the logical problem of evil and includes the evidential problem of evil.
The problem of evil questions why there is so much evil in the world.
Theodicies attempt to reconcile the existence of evil and the existence of God.
Hick's soul-making theodicy suggests that evil is necessary for personal growth.
Some argue that there is no corresponding good to some evils, such as genocide.
Some people find theodicies satisfying, while others reject God's omni-nature.
The problem of evil is a significant issue in theism.
Justification for religious beliefs will be considered in the next lesson.
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The episode was produced in association with PBS Digital Studios.
The episode was filmed in the Doctor Cheryl C. Kinney Crash Course Studio.