Concept of Theodicy: Logical Problem of Evil Has Been A Lynchpin for the Atheistic Belief of Nonexistence of God
By Dr
Suhail Anwar
January 9,
2021
The term
Theodicy, coined by G W Leibniz (1646-1716), literally mean “Justifying God”.
Theodicy is a response in theology and philosophy to what is known as the
“problem of evil”. In the presence of an all loving God how can we have evil
and suffering in the world. The problem of evil is the reconciliation between
the existence of suffering and evil in the world with an omnipotent (all
powerful), omniscient (all-knowing) and omnibenevolent (infinitely kind) GOD.
Evil is understood to encompass both moral evil (caused by free human actions)
and natural evil (caused by natural phenomena such as disease, earthquakes, and
floods).
The
Scottish philosopher David Hume in his Dialogue concerning natural religion
(1779) said: “Is [God] willing to prevent evil, but not able? Is he able, but
not willing? Is he both able and willing? whence then is evil?”
The logical
problem of evil has been a lynchpin for the atheistic belief of nonexistence of
God. As described by Epicurus
(341-270BC):
Premise
one: If God exists,
then he isomnipotent, omniscient and omni ambivalentand perfectly good.
Premise
two: A perfectly
good being would eliminate evil as far as it could- there is no limit to what
an omnipotent being can do.
Deductive
conclusion: If God
exists, there would be no evil in the world; there is evil in the world;
therefore, God does not exist.
In this
argument and in the problem of evil itself, evil is understood to encompass
both moral evil (caused by free human actions) and natural evil (caused by
natural phenomena such as diseases, earthquakes, and floods).
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George Bΰchner, a German atheist and poet,
calls the problem of evil the “immovable boulder of atheism”.However the fact
remains that the existence of human and animal suffering has perturbed both
theist and atheist alike. The modern atheistic world view depicts human beings
as mere replicators for genetically coded information. Even the concept of
altruistic behaviour is tied to the selfishness in propagating one’s own kin
ship and progeny. Nonetheless even if we disregard a religious, or lack of it,
point of view materialism seem to have a profound effect on our perception of
the problem of evil and suffering.
The
European renaissance and the ensuing period of enlightenment gave rise to the
concept of “quality of life” almost replacing it with the “purpose of life”.
The debate of presence of evil has raged for ever but undoubtedly gained more
momentum inside the framework of modern day humanitarian and legal framework.
The western secular network which follow the moral ethical code of
consequentialism and utilitarianism (actions judged by greater good for
greatest number of people) have set a limitation on the cosmic understanding of
the problem of evil. Herein lies the dilemma for the modern secular world view
where the anthropocentric (human being is the most important entity) view is at
loggerheads with the human beings just mere replicators for gene transfer. If
human suffering disproves the existence of God than by default we are Gods
special creation not deserving any pain- a view that does not sit right with
the atheistic world view of humans just being a conglomerate of atoms and
molecules.
As Victor Frankl put it, “More people today
have the means to live, but no meaning to live for. In The Inductive Problem of Evil, William
Alston explains how humans are firmly shackled by their lack of data, the
crippling complexity of many phenomena, the obscurity of what is metaphysically
possible or necessary, their ignorance of the full range of possibilities and
values, and their biased judgments as subjective creatures.
St
Augustine’s of Hippo (354-430AD) proposed that evil unlike good, is not
“substantial”. Evil is not an entity and perse, is just the absence of good.
Rejecting the idea that evil is a positive force, he argues that it is merely a
“name for nothing other than the absence of good”.Thus, God did not create
evil, but God allows for the absence of good so as to give God’s creatures
rational free will—choice based in reason.
This view
has gained popularity in the recent times by Cambridge professor Simon Baron Cohen’s
recent “empathy scale”. In his 2011 book Zero Degrees of Empathy, Baren Cohen
uses empathy erosion as a better term for evil. People on the extreme end of
empathy scale demonstrate a profound lack of goodness thus demonstrating evil
traits. This resonates with the concept of evil as a non-entity and the mere
absence of virtue and goodness.
The
existence of free will has been a hot topic of debate between philosophers
since recorded history. The debate between determinism and freewill
respectively denies and accepts human capability to shoulder responsibility for
their own actions, albeit good or bad.Moral actions are rational choices
between good and evil. If humans are granted with a free will and choose to
accept or reject good or evil, the collective human societies ends up bearing
either the burden of evil or the rewards
of good deeds. Committing an evil act consumes individuals, societies and often
whole populations. Non resistance to evil both actively or passively promotes
the spread of evil beyond individuals to large communities.
The modern
day atheistic worldview denies the presence of freewill since according to the
atheistic philosophy human decision making is governed by physical, biological
and physiological laws with no overriding element of a “higher consciousness”.
This view clearly exonerates human beings of any immoral behaviour. On the
contrary most religions accepts the concept of free will, promoting reward and
punishments in the life here and hereafter, as incentives and deterrents for
good and evil.
According
the English theologian Richard Swineburne (1934- ) the maximum amount of good
that God can give us requires the presence of evil. Natural evil (suffering not
caused by a misuse of human free will) is a necessary part of achieving a
“greater good.” It motivates us to understand the natural world (in order to
prevent natural evils).It provides opportunities for us to learn things like
courage and compassion—it promotes human “moral growth.” The opportunities to
achieve certain kinds of moral goodness (courage, self-sacrifice, etc.) only
arise in a world in which certain natural evils occur. The greatest possible
good requires the presence of at least some (natural) evil. John Hicks (1922- 2012) offered the “soul
making theodicy” which states that “ we are not God’s little pets and he is not
our benevolent owner whose sole job is to keep us in safe comfortable
environment”. According to Hicks the presence of evil help our growth as
humans- that the world is not perfect and evil is important for development of
our character.
To
reconcile the different perceptions of suffering and evil between a theist and
an atheist, requires a deeper understanding of metaphysical realities and
continuum of life beyond the our current existence. The biggest stumbling block
is the faith, or lack of it, in the existence of a supreme being and the life
hereafter. Theodicy is dependent on this. The presence of evil in the world
would always be a strong argument against the existence of God. The counter arguments
whether strong or feeble, would require a degree of faith in the omnipotence,
omni benevolence and omniscience of God.Our rationality and logic are limited
by our myopic vision of the world and our inability to see beyond the physical,
will always be a hindrance in fully understanding the problems such as the
existence of evil in the world.
Original
Headline: The logical problem of evil in the world and the concept of Theodicy.
Source: The Daily Times
URL: https://newageislam.com/spiritual-meditations/concept-theodicy-logical-problem-evil/d/124212
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