Course Paper 1 The Problem Of Evil And Theodicy

Course Paper Option 1: The problem of evil & theodicy

God is gracious. To say that God is gracious means God desires good and wants humanity to flourish. God’s justice is the claim that God is fair. The problem of evil makes it hard to defend God’s graciousness and justice. The problem of evil questions if God is all-good, all-powerful, and all-knowing then why does evil exist? Theodicy is the attempt to defend God’s omnibenevolence while evil exists (Hanneken, 2.3.1).

Evil is the absence of good. Evil and suffering are very similar, however, suffering can occasionally be good (Scherschligt). Suffering can occasionally be good because after we suffer, we can flourish. Hanneken’s first and second biblical solutions represent how suffering can

Humans have free will to choose between good and evil, when they fail to choose good, they sin. God does not want humans to sin, but when they do, God punishes humans so they will repent (Hanneken, 2.3.2). Hanneken explains that God's justice "works for communities as a whole over the long course of history"(Hanneken, 2.3.2). God punishes societies as a whole over time through broad punishments such as plague and famine (Hanneken, 2.3.2). Natural evils are evils that happen naturally such as natural disasters. Plague and famine are natural disasters, as well as examples of God’s broad punishments for sin. God’s punishments are examples of natural evil because God’s broad punishments are natural disasters. Moreover, natural evil is God’s punishment for human sin.

There are three classical attributes of God. God is all-good, all-powerful, and all-knowing. The problem of evil questions: if God is all-good, all-powerful, and all-knowing then how can evil exist? Secondly, the problem of evil questions God’s graciousness, if God desires good and wants humanity to flourish then why does humanity suffer and not

Can we still say that God is fair if evil exists? Ultimately, this brings up the question: “Why do bad things happen to good people and good things happen to bad people?” God is fair, good people who suffer short term will flourish in the long run, while bad people who flourish short term will suffer in the long run (Hanneken, 2.3.3). Hanneken’s second biblical solution: “God prospers the righteous in the long run” is the best defense of God’s justice (Hanneken, 2.3.3). This solution states that hard-working righteous people will prosper in the long run, while lazy evil people will fail (Hanneken, 2.3.3). Moreover, the bad things that happen to good people is temporary, they will prosper in the long run. On the contrary, the good things that happen to bad people are temporary, and they will fail in the long run (Hanneken, 2.3.3). That being said, everyone gets what they deserve, good people will be rewarded in the long run, whereas bad people will be punished in the long run (Hanneken, 2.3.3). Furthermore, the problem of evil does not disprove God’s justice because God remains fair by rewarding good people in the long run and punishing bad people in the long