Topic 1: Suffering and Evil: The Logical Problem
BOA Summary: A look at logical issues with the problem of suffering and evil.
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Notes from the video Suffering and Evil: The Logical Problem:
We’re all well aware of the suffering and evil in the world.
Horrific suffering, unspeakable evil.
How then can anyone believe in the existence of an all loving all powerful God?
If God does exist why would anyone want to worship him?
Epicurus (341-270 BC) Greek philosopher:
If God is willing to prevent evil but not able,
then he is not all-powerful.
If he is able to prevent evil but not willing,
then he is not good.
But if he is both willing and able,
how can evil exist?
If he is neither able nor willing,
why call him God?
Premise 1: It’s logically impossible for God and suffering to both exist.
Premise 2. Suffering exists.
Conclusion: Therefore, God does not.
Is the above, a good argument?
Are premises 1 and 2 logically inconsistent?
An example of two logically inconsistent statements is:
David is married
David is a bachelor
There is no explicit contradiction between the two statements:
An all-powerful, all-loving God exists.
Suffering exists.
So, there must be hidden assumptions that bring about this alleged contradiction, they are:
Assumption 1. If God is all-powerful, he can create ANY WORLD HE WANTS.
Assumption 2. If God is all-loving, he PREFERS a world without suffering.
Are assumptions 1 and 2 necessarily true?
Assumption 1 – What is God wants to create a world with Free Will?
It may be logically impossible to create people who always freely choose to do what is morally good.
Assumption 2 – Is it necessarily true that God prefers a world without suffering? How could we know this?
We all know of cases where we permit suffering in order to bring about a Greater Good, like removing bad teeth in dentists chairs.
If it is even possible that God allows suffering to achieve a Greater Good then we can’t say that assumption 2 is necessarily true.
For the logical problem of suffering to succeed then the atheist would have to show that:
1. It’s logically impossible that free will exists.
2. It’s logically impossible that God has good reasons for permitting suffering.
Even Atheist philosophers have given up on the logical problem of evil:
J.L. Mackie atheist 1982, The Miracle of Theism, Oxford University Press p. 155
“We can concede that the problem of evil does not, after all, show that the central doctrines of theism are logically inconsistent with one another.”
William L. Rowe atheist, The Problem of Evil and Some Varieties of Atheism.
American Philosophical Quarterly 16 (October 1979) p. 335
“Some philosophers have contended that the existence of evil is logically inconsistent with the existence of the theistic God. No one, I think, has succeeded in establishing such an extravagant claim.”
William P. Alston, The Inductive Argument from Evie and the Human Condition.
Philosophical Perspectives, Vol. 5, Philosophy of Religion (1991) pp. 29-67
“It is now acknowledged on (almost) all sides that the logical argument is bankrupt.”
End of video notes for Suffering and Evil: The Logical Problem
Topic 2: Suffering and Evil: The Probability Version
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https://web.archive.org/web/20200225033641/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxj8ag8Ntd4&app=desktop
Video length 8:19
Video Notes for Suffering and Evil: The Probability Version:
With the Logical Problem of suffering of evil answered in Topic 1: Suffering and Evil: The Logical Problem, it may still be argued that:
While it’s logically possible that God and suffering both exist,
it’s far from likely.
There’s just so much pointless suffering that it seems improbable that God could have good reasons for permitting it.
Assertion: Suffering provide empirical evidence that God’s existence is not impossible but Highly Unlikely.
Let’s consider if the above assertion is a good argument.
Point 1. We’re not in a position to say with any confidence that:
“God probably lacks reasons for allowing suffering in the world.”
The problem is that we are limited in space and time and in intelligence and insight.
God on the other hand sees every detail of history from beginning to end, and orders it through peoples free decisions and actions.
In order to achieve His purposes, God may have to allow a great deal of suffering along the way.
Suffering which appears pointless within our limited scope of understanding, may be seen to have been justly permitted by God within his wider framework.
Sometimes what we experience makes no sense until we gain a wider perspective and see the big picture designed by the creator
Point 2: Relative to the full scope of the evidence God’s existence may well be probable.
If an atheist claims that God’s existence is improbable, ask, improbable to what background information?
If we consider, only the suffering in the world, then God’s existence may very well appear to be improbable.
If we are willing to look at the full scope of background information and take into account the powerful arguments for Gods existence, we may come to a very different conclusion.
Point 3: Christianity entails doctrines that increase the probability of the co-existence of God and suffering.
4 Christian Doctrines:
Doctrine 1. The chief purpose of life is not happiness.
Rather, the purpose of life is to know God.
Suffering can bring about a deeper, more intimate knowledge of God, either on the part of the one who is suffering or those around him.
The whole point of human history is that God having given us free will is drawing as many people as he can into His unending kingdom.
Suffering is one of the ways God can draw people freely to Himself.
If fact, countries that have endured the most hardship often show the highest growth rate for Christianity.
C.S. Lewis – The Problem of Pain, and A Grief Observed
“God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our consciences, but shouts in our pains. It is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world.”
Doctrine 2. Mankind is in a state of rebellion against God and His purpose.
Terrible human evils are testimony to mans depravity, a consequence of his alienation from God.
The Christian isn’t surprised by moral evil in the world; on the contrary, he expects it.
Doctrine 3. God’s purpose is not restricted to this life but spills over beyond the grave into eternal life.
This world is just the beginning. The entryway to an unimaginable never ending life beyond deaths door.
Paul, of the new testament, underwent afflictions hardships calamities beating imprisonment and hunger, yet he wrote:
“We do not lose heart… for this slight momentary affliction is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, because we look not to the things that are seen, but to things that are unseen; for the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.” 2 Corinthians 4:16-18
Paul understood that life on earth, and whatever suffering it holds for each of us is temporary, our pain will not endure forever, but our lives with God will.
Paul was not belittling the plight of those who suffer horribly in this life. Indeed, He was one of them, but he saw that those sufferings will be overwhelmed forever by the ocean of joy that God will give to those who freely receive Him.
Doctrine 4. The knowledge of God is an incomparable good.
Knowing God is the ultimate fulfillment of human existence and infinite good.
Thus, the person who knows God, no matter how much he has suffered, can still say, God is good to me.
If Christianity is True, it is not at all improbable that Suffering and Evil should exist.
In summary for all these reasons:
- We’re NOT in a position to say that God probably lacks reasons for allowing the suffering in the world.
- Relative to the full scope of evidence, God’s existence may well be probable.
- Christian doctrines increase the probability of the co-existence of God and suffering.
The Probability Version of the Problem of Evil is no more successful than the Logical Version.
As a purely intellectual problem then, the Problem of Evil does Not disprove God’s existence.
But, even if the intellectual arguments fail the Emotional problem remains very powerful.
If you have suffered deeply, or if you have watched someone you love go through intense pain, you may be thinking, so what if God exists, why would I want to respond to Him, or worship Him, I feel cold and empty and want nothing to do with Him.
You are not alone, God knows your name, He knows who you are, and what you’re going through.
God promises to be with you through your suffering.
He can give you the strength to endure.
Jesus Christ also suffered.
Although he was innocent he was tortured and sentenced to death.
His suffering had a purpose to provide you and me with a life giving connection to God.
Not only does God exist but He loves you, He seeks after you, He offers you hope, and in time He will make all things new.
“He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” Revelation 21:4
End of Video Notes for Suffering and Evil: The Probability Version