| What are the two types of evil? | Moral and natural evil |
| Who are the key thinkers when it comes to the problem of evil? | Epicurus, J.L Mackie, William Rowe and Gregory S. Paul |
| Who is one of the more notable people to start the discussion on the problem of evil? | Epicurus |
| Key quotes from Epicurus? | “Either God wants to abolish evil, and cannot; or
he can, but does not want to. If he wants to, but
cannot, he is impotent. If he can, but does not want
to, he is wicked.” |
| What did J.L Mackie believe in? | ‘inconsistent triad’; |
| What is the inconsistent triad? | evil and suffering are incompatible with the notions
of omnipotence and omnibenevolence. |
| What was J.L Mackie's views on theodicies? | Mackie also pointed out that any theodicy depends
upon re-interpreting the idea of omnipotence and
so is not successful. Either God is omnipotent in its
fullest sense or God is not omnipotent. There is no in
between. |
| What did J.L Mackie use to demonstrate the problem of evil at a basic level? | ‘Paradox of Omnipotence’ |
| What is the ‘Paradox of Omnipotence’? | ‘Can an omnipotent being make things which he cannot
subsequently control’ or, ‘make rules which bind
himself?’ To answer either yes or no would compromise
omnipotence. Indeed, for Mackie, the notion of
omnipotence seemed illogical in our world. |
| Key quotes from J.L Mackie? | “Quite apart from the problem of evil, the Paradox
of Omnipotence has shown that God’s omnipotence
must in any case be restricted in one way or
another.” |
| What did William Rowe believe in? | Rowe’s argument is that if there are instances of intense suffering that God could do something about without impacting the greater good then it is
logical to assume that God could, by definition, prevent this. |
| Where does Rowe argue that evil is unnecessary? | However, there are instances of unnecessary intense
suffering, for example a fawn that is ‘trapped,
horribly burned, and lies in terrible agony for several
days before death relieves its suffering.’ |
| Why does Rowe believe unnecessary evil reduces God's omnipotence? | God, by definition, could and should prevent this (because it would not interfere with free will) but does not. Therefore, there are rational grounds for
rejecting an omnipotent, omniscient, wholly-good being. |
| Key quotes from William Rowe? | “Intense human or animal suffering is in itself bad,
an evil, even though it may sometimes be justified
by virtue of being a part of, or leading to, some
good which is unobtainable without it.” |
| What did Gregory S. Paul believe? | Paul’s main point is that there is a complete denial
of free will to new-born, and premature, human
beings. This does not work with any theodicy based
in the God of classical theism. |
| What is an example of a statistic used by Gregory S. Paul? | For example, demographic statistics that detail the full extent of the early death of immature humans through natural evil: ‘the estimated total prematurity loss of conceived humans is in the area of 350 billion.’ |
| How does Gregory S. Paul prove his point? | Gregory S. Paul used statistics to demonstrate the
extent and indiscriminate nature of human suffering
through natural evil. |
| Key quotes from Gregory S. Paul? | “It is said that God is in the details, and that
the nature of creation reveals the nature of the
creator. This is a valid point, but the implications
are not necessarily what Christians wish for them
to be.” |
