ipl-logo

John Hick's Epicurus: The Existence Of God

999 Words4 Pages

Epicurus questions how and why evil exists if God is omnipotent and omnibenevolent. He understands that God cannot be both all-powerful and all-loving if evil exists since s/he would then be limited in power and love. This means that God either does not have the power to stop evil or God is no so loving and will allow evil in the world. I will analyze Epicurus’ question through John Hick’s theodicy of soul making.
Argument
Because of imperfections in the world and humanity, evil exists. God created humanity to be imperfect; Therefore, God and evil co-exist. Hick’s theodicy states that in order for humanity to improve on their soul and growth, we need pain and suffering to aid us in this process. He suggests that evil and God can co-exist since …show more content…

According to Hick:
“Since God is good and loving, the environment which he has created for human life to inhabit is naturally as pleasant and comfortable as possible. The problem is essentially similar to that of a man who builds a cage for some pet animal. Since our world, in fact, contains sources of hardship, inconvenience, and danger of innumerable kinds, the conclusion follows that this world cannot have been created by a perfectly benevolent and all-powerful deity” (Hick, 129).
Hick answers Epicurus’ question by stating that the God is not all-powerful or all-loving, because of the imperfect world he created. Hick concludes that the suffering and heartache does not have a purpose of pleasure, but the purpose of growth and “soul making”. The reason that there even is pleasure is for humanity to know what pain feels like and to be able to recognize that it is because humanity is imperfect and so we must learn from it (Hick, …show more content…

An example of these evils would be the way humanity treats the environment and how the environment reacts in return. Global warming has taken place and now humanity must face the consequences and learn from their mistakes. Natural disasters such as hurricanes and floods occur constantly. These are forms of natural evils. This applies to Hick’s theodicy, because tragedies like this push humanity to work together to help one another. In today’s day and age, it has gotten to the point where there is so much controversy, that an event such as a natural disaster is one of the only things that will make humanity work together. Moral evils can be applied to Hick’s theodicy, because our words and actions help us to learn as we grow. If a crime is committed or if a person is deliberately harmed, then there are consequences that cause suffering for the one doing the hurtful actions. We learn from our mistakes and that is a part of being imperfect, proving Hick’s theodicy even more so. God created us to make mistakes so that we come to terms with what is good and right down the

Show More
Related
1121 Words | 5 Pages

Is he both able and willing? Whence then is evil?” In a similar vein: If God exists, he is all-knowing, omnipotent, and ethically flawless. If God were all-knowing, God would know about all the terrible occasions that occur in our reality. If God were omnipotent, God would have the capacity to do something.

Read More
979 Words | 4 Pages

In addition, how can humans treat each other as though another human is just a bug that needs to be exterminated? Through the shocking stories, the reader also begins to question where God is; however, there needs to be a separation of blame. Human’s evil actions are not the responsibility of God. It must be recognized that humans have freewill to choose to do good or evil. Evil is of the world, but since God is not of the world, God is not responsible for the evil in the world.

Read More
1272 Words | 6 Pages

“The Problem of Evil” by Peter van Inwagen, is a series of lectures that that presents van Inwagen’s various responses to problem of evil. In this essay, I will present “the local problem of evil” (from chapter 6 of the book), the solution van Inwagen proposes for this problem, and my critique of his solution. “The local problem of evil,” according to van Inwagen, is the hypothetical response an atheist would have towards van Inwagen’s solution of “the global problem of evil” which is, “If god existed, then why is there so much evil in the world?” The argument of “the local problem of evil” is “If god existed then why are there specific horrors that occur in the world, like children dying in a horrific car crash?” The argument that is drawn

Read More
381 Words | 2 Pages

1. “‘The ancient teachers of this science,’ said he, ‘promised impossibilities, and performed nothing. The modern masters promise very little they know that metals cannot be transmuted, and that the elixir of life is a chimera. But these philosophers, whose hands seem only made to dabble in dirt, and their eyes to pore over the microscope or crucible, have indeed performed miracles” (74). —The word “he” refers to M. Waldman, a man who the narrator refers to as “short” and his voice as “sweetest I ever heard”.

Read More
933 Words | 4 Pages

At the beginning of the article, Mackie states that the initial issue with God’s existence is that, “God is omnipotent; God is wholly good; and yet evil exists” (Mackie, Paragraph 3). If god is such a pure and good being, then he should be able to combat all evil. The first statement that showcases that God is omnipotent, God is wholly good, then evil cannot possibly exist. The definition of omnipotent is

Read More
2012 Words | 9 Pages

Contrarily it’s right for Epicureans to believe that its wrong genocides to happen and then for people to turn to a God who won’t protect them. It’s important to know that it is a balance of how morals run the world balancing out evil with good and allowing people to have free will. Whether people like to admit it or not it’s by free choice that men like Hitler take up extreme malicious values and the free will of people decide to support him. Ensuring that God can’t be all-powerful or all-good if he stomps out one moral side to just have one which would break one of the two traits that God is known

Read More
436 Words | 2 Pages

Natural evil is evil that is not caused by human choice such as natural disasters and disease. Moral evil is caused by human choices and

Read More
590 Words | 3 Pages

Charles Darwin's theory of evolution is the best evolutionary theory of history. But Charles Darwin was not always an Evolutionist, he use to be religious. His wife was a religious woman but didn’t support the idea of him becoming an evolutionist. Do you ever wonder what changed Charles Darwin’s mind about being religious? Charles Darwin was born in Shrewsbury, England, on February 12 in the year of 1809.

Read More
2349 Words | 10 Pages

The problem of evil takes into account three defining features of God: all-good, all-knowing, and all-powerful and questions whether such a God would permit evil and not interfere. Sinnott-Armstrong discusses his stance by countering responses he coins as the Glorious Response, the Modest Response, and the Overriding Response. Whereas, Craig counters the arguments made by Sinnott-Armstrong. The Glorious Response Thus response suggests evil is

Read More
507 Words | 3 Pages

In his Letter to Menoeceus, Epicurus discusses pleasure and desire and the human need to seek out pleasure. Epicurus explores the different kinds of desire and how they affect happiness. Happiness is the main goal. And happiness, is the maximization of pleasure. According to Epicurus there are three categories of desire that lead to pleasure.

Read More
1529 Words | 7 Pages

Arthur Schopenhauer was a 19th century German philosopher whose ideology is a prime example of philosophical pessimism. Schopenhauer was strongly influenced by Plato and Immanuel Kant, as well as by Eastern religions like Buddhism, yet he rejected the prevalent at the time post-Kantian philosophies of German idealism and optimism. He believed that humans live in a world dominated by a malignant metaphysical “will to live” which causes our lives to consist only of suffering in the form of pain and boredom. In order to at least somewhat alleviate this endless strife of life, Schopenhauer proposed the adoption of an ascetic mindset. “Studies in Pessimism” is a selection of essays from Schopenhauer’s Parerga (Greek for “Appendices”), the first

Read More
1242 Words | 5 Pages

Another Milestone that effects the way we define the notion of “Good and Evil” is largely based on our religion. Therefore, the way we see right from wrong, heaven and hell, light and darkness, Good vs. Evil and God and the Devil comes from the moral criterion that we attempt to apply to our worldviews. However, given the conspicuous contrasts amongst religions, ranging from Christianity to Islam to Judaism. Many people believe that due to the simple fact of religious diversity, this provides the basis to discredit any assumption of moral truths. Some religions define evil as “the result of human sin” or that “Evil is the result of a spiritual being who opposes the Lord God”

Read More
1719 Words | 7 Pages

Christianity has always been subjective and ambiguous, which allows for theories and speculation to develop regarding the religion’s values and characteristics. A key matter in theology seeks to understand those values and to identify a model of living that guides people away from corruption to remain in God’s image. Athanasius of Alexandria’s On the Incarnation and Friedrich Nietzsche’s The Anti-Christ address this issue with viewpoints that directly contradict each other. Athanasius examines the Incarnation to defend his position that natural human desires corrupt mankind and suggests there is nothing to prevent evil and sin other than God’s salvation while Nietzsche asserts that corruption occurs from a loss of instinctive nature and proposes

Read More
877 Words | 4 Pages

“The Problem of Evil” is simply the question, why does God allow evil to happen? God is omnipotent, omniscient, all-loving, and rational, therefore why does evil exist? There is either no God or he is not what we think he is, since evil could be prevented by him with no risk. Atheists and anti-theodicist see a problem with the idea that God could prevent evil. They believe that because God is so powerful and perfect, that he would not allow such immoral actions to be done.

Read More
929 Words | 4 Pages

A lot of arguments have been known to prove or disprove the existence of God, and the Problem of Evil is one of them. The Problem of Evil argues that it is impossible to have God and evil existing in the same world. Due to ideal characteristics of God, evil should not have a chance to exist and make human suffer. In this essay, I will examine the argument for the Problem of Evil, a possible theodicy against the argument, and reply to the theodicy. First of all, to be clear, the Problem of Evil is an argument that shows that God cannot be either all- powerful, all-knowing, and/or all good.

Read More

More about John Hick's Epicurus: The Existence Of God

Related Topics

Open Document