Read Philosophy of Religion: Thanking about Faith, “The Problem of Evil.” As you read, make sure you understand and can answer the following points and questions:
· Explain the distinction between moral and natural (or nonmoral) evil.
· Explain the distinction between the logical form of the problem and the evidential form.
· Explain the difference between a theodicy and a defense.
· What are 2 inadequate ways of resolving the problem?
· What is Mackie’s form of the logical problem of evil?
· Explain the “greater good” response to Mackie’s argument.
· Explain the “logically impossible” response to the criticism of the “greater good” argument.
· How does the existence of certain “second-order goods” require the possibility of evil?
· What is the soul-making theodicy and what are some problems with it?
· How does the free-will theodicy support the soul-making theodicy?
· Explain Mackie’s objection that God could have created a world where creatures freely choose to always do good.
· Explain Plantinga’s libertarian free will response to Mackie’s objection.
· How is Plantinga’s argument a defense and not a theodicy?
· Explain the 3 ways a free-will theodicy can account for natural evil.
· Explain why a defense is all one needs to defeat the logical form of the problem of evil.
· Contrast the logical form of the problem with the evidential form of the problem—what is the difference?
· Explain the evidential problem in terms of pointless evil.
· How does CORNEA (aka the cognitive limitation defense) address the evidential problem?
· How does one’s belief in the existence of a benevolent and loving God answer the evidential problem?
· Explain the balance between faith and reason in applying the GE Moore shift to the evidential problem.
· Explain Adams’s theodicy concerning horrendous evils, why it requires an afterlife to work, and specifically why it requires universalism.
· Why is hell a problem?
· Explain the annihilation solution to the problem of hell and possible problems with it.
· Explain the mild-hell solution and how it is a version of the free will theodicy.
· What is the main criticism of the “free will” aspect of the mild-hell solution and how do supporters of the solution respond to the criticism?
· What is the problem of divine hiddenness and how is it an argument for atheism?
· What are 2 solutions to the problem of divine hiddenness?
