Good and Evil Unit B602

Good and Evil
1. Definitions
  1. Suffering: Pain and or distress
  2. Evil: Anything deeply immoral, wrong or harmful
  3. Moral suffering: Human actions that cause suffering
  4. Natural Suffering: Suffering caused by nature. It is not intentional so therefore is not evil
2. God and the Devil
  1. Christians believe that God has created us with free will. This means that it is up to us whether to perform evil deeds or not
  2. Christians have personified evil as Satan.
    1. Satan can be described as a supernatural evil force over which we have no control
  3. I believe that the devil is some kind of evil force that tempts is to do bad things. It joins in with our conscious and tries to persuade us to do bad things. It could be God's way of testing us to see if we have the strength to do God's will and the morally good thing
3. The Fall, original sin and redemption
  1. The Fall: Adam and Eve's breaking of God's commandments, and expulsion from the Garden of Eden
  2. Traditionally, Christianity teaches that every human being was born with a flawed nature after The Fall- this idea is of original sin
  3. Christianity teaches that the only way we can be forgiven by, ad reconciled with God is through the sacrifice of Jesus. This concept is know as redemption.
The Problem of Evil
1. Concepts of Natural and Moral Evil
  1. Natural evil is caused by the world in which we live in and is nobodies fault.
    1. This includes things like diseases, flood, earthquakes and hurricanes
      1. However, many recent natural disasters may have been caused by human interference.
  2. Moral evil is brought about by the cruel actions of people
    1. This includes things like murder, rape and tourture
      1. The person causing the evil is able to make a choice about what is morally right or wrong. This ties in with the concept of free will.
2. Different approaches to why there is evil and suffering in the world
  1. Many people say- if evil came into the world because of the original sin, why did God allow Adam and Eve to disobey and why did they choose to if they were perfect.
  2. Some people may say that evil and suffering is test so that we can choose between right and wrong. However, young babies do not have anything to learn yet they still suffer.
  3. Augustine (354-430) said that evil was a lack of good. What we call evil is when people fail to live up to the standard that we expect of human beings. To summaraise, evil is not a thing but lack of good.
  4. Some people may say that Evil is an absence of good and that evil is a subjective idea.
  5. Other people might argue that God can't be very powerful if he is unable to prevent suffering
  6. Some Christians think that evil is necessary for there to be free will-without the choice of doing something wrong what freedom is there?
    1. They believe that there has to be evil in the world for it to be possible for us to do good. Otherwise, we would not be able to be good stewards like God told us to be; follow the bible teachings and follow the example of other Christians such as Jesus and Mother Theresa
  7. If there was no suffering then it would be difficult for us to be good stewards and help to improve peoples quality of life.
3. Responses to the problem of evil
  1. Evil is mystery that cannot be explained
  2. Evil is a force acting in the opposite direction to good.
  3. Evil is the absense of good
    1. Good would not exist without evil. So evil could be a thing so that people can experience happiness in their life.
Coping with suffering
1. Ways of coping with suffering (from Christianity)
  1. Prayer is a powerful tool in coping with suffering. Christians pray for strength and guidance.
    1. They accept that God does not always answer their prayers in the way that they would like him to, but that God chooses the best best for them.
  2. Reading the bible is another importat method in helping them cope with suffering.
    1. The story of Job in the bile refers to coping with suffering and still keeping your faith in God. In the end, Job retains his faith in God and is finally rewarded by God, this gives Christians an example to follow.
  3. Christians try to follow te example of Jesus. God is able to understadnd and relate to human suffering becaus Jesus himself came to earth and suffered.
  4. There is a promise of a perfet eternal life in heaven. They believe that in heaven there is no more pain or suffering.
  5. Matthew 9: 1-8. Jesus heals a paralytic, because of his faithfulness towards God
Source and reasons for moral behaviour
1. The Bible
  1. Christians look at the bible for moral guidance.
  2. Some people claim that religious texts should be written for a society with different values, and should be interpreted to suit the times
    1. Others argue that it is the word of God and so should be interpreted to the letter
2. Conscience
  1. The voice in your head telling you what is right or wrong
  2. Some Christians believe that this is the voice of God
    1. Others say that it s the result of your upbringing, for example, your parents opinions
3. Types of Morality
  1. Absolute Morality: A situation where there is little doubt that the action is right or wrong. E.g Racism, sexism
  2. Relative Morality: This is when morality is not simple. We have to weigh up what is right or wrong in the circumstances. E.g Drugs, Murder
4. Faith in Christ
  1. Because Christians have faith in Christ, it gives them a reason for moral behaviour because they should be like him and perform good deeds.
  2. Jesus set an example for Christians today. He set an example of self sacrifice

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Good and Evil Unit B602

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