Corrections to books correction to responsibility and atonement. Richard swinburne offers an answer to one of the most difficult problems of religious belief. His account includes beauty, actions, thoughts and feelings as various goods. You must not circulate this book in any other binding or cover and you must impose the same condition on any acquirer british library cataloguing in publication data data available library of congress cataloging in publication data van inwagen, peter. My top 5 books on the problem of evil picks from john stackhouse, author of can god be trusted. But why cant god create a world where there is only good. This book will constitute a major source for the present study.
In this video, i discuss richard swinburne s interesting argument from a need for knowledge which claims that the need for knowledge of the consequences of our moral actions necessitates some. Without the evidence of natural evil swinburne claim human free will would be gravely diminished. Hare, and basil mitchell, a debate on rationality and religious belief blaise pascal, faith is a rational wager w. Swinburne presents us with an explanation of evil that focuses not just on our free will, but on the importance of mutual responsibility as. Over the last 50 years swinburne has been an influential proponent of philosophical arguments for the existence of god. The problem of evil and the free will defence the argument god is traditionally understood to be perfectly good, omnipotent and omniscient. An allgood being would want to prevent evil from happening in the world. In particular, the author has developed a careful analysis of philosophers like swinburne, ward, and griffin. An objection to swinburne s argument for dualism with norman kretzmann, faith and philosophy 1996 405412. If god is good, then he has the desire to eliminate evil. It would seem that this freedom necessarily entails that an agent is capable of.
Theodicy in christian tradition oxford scholarship. Providence and the problem of evil, oxford university press, 1998. The problem of evil is considered by many to be the greatest challenge to theism. The problem of evil, pain, and suffering by david l. If god is omnipotent, then god is able to eliminate evil. This position is inspired by the book of job, in which his friends claim that jobs suffering is divine. It defends the probability of an omnipotent and omnibenevolent allpowerful and perfectly loving god in the face of evidence of evil in the world. The monotheistic god of christianity, judaism and islam assumes the divine qualities of omnipotence, omniscience and omni benevolence. The paper then develops a different strategy for dealing with the problem. In his bestselling book when bad things happen to good people, rabbi harold. And the obvious objection to the fwd is, is the good worth the pain. A new study john hick, lecturer in the philosophy of religion at cambridge university, has written one of the most serious and important studies of the problem of evil to appear in english for a lon1 itg i time. The irenaean theodicy is a christian theodicy a response to the problem of evil.
By omnipotent i understand able to do anything logically possible. Review of richard swinburnes providence and the problem. The problem of evil arises only if there is positive badness in the worldreal evil and not merely if there is a lack of perfect goodness, i. Problem of evil responses introduction to philosophy. The most famous argument against theism is the argument from evil does not the occurrence of pain and wickedness show that there is not a good god in control of the universe. Logical problem of evil internet encyclopedia of philosophy. This book offers an answer to one of the most difficult problems of religious belief. Swinburnes problem of evil essay place an order considering the prevalence of natural disasters such earthquakes and hurricanes that beleaguer humankind across the world, swinburne is categorical that they are just but bad consequences of moral evil. Response to plantingas argument from dwindling probabilities. He has done important work in metaphysics, epistemology and the philosophy of religion. I do not think that it shows that at all, but in a short paper i can only refer to my arguments on this point elsewhere,4 and to the arguments of others. The problem of evil eleonore stump this paper considers briefly the approach to the problem of evil by alvin plantinga, richard swinburne, and john hick and argues that none of these approaches is entirely satisfactory. Why god allows evil richard swinburne richard swinburne is the nolloth professor of philosophy of the christian religion at the univeristy of oxford. Evaluate sceptical theism as a solution to the problem of natural evil.
Richard swinburne and gods timelessness catholic culture. The epistemic question posed by evil is whether the world contains undesirable. Richard swinburne, a theistic response to the problem of evil c. The problem of evil and the power of god is a brilliant and very well argued analysis of some of the most important modern christian theodices. An allpowerful being would be able to prevent evil from happening in the world. Thus a rape or a murder of an innocent child is defended as having a gods purpose that a human being may not comprehend, but which may lead to lesser evil or greater good. The central core of any theodicy must, i believe, be the freewill defence. Swinburne on the problem of evil there are 4 points. Augustine, in his book confessions, recognised this problem. Richard swinburne a theistic response to the problem of evil god is, by definition, omniscient, omnipotent, and perfectly good. The existence of evil causes problems for this definition.
Plantinga, swinburne, and the analytic defense of theism is extremely readable, is full of wit and humor, and was a joy to read. Richard swinburne is a remarkable scholar, but in this particular case im not quite sure what to do with him. Therefore, it must not be the case that any being is both allpowerful and allgood. Providence and the problem of evil is the final volume of richard swinburne s acclaimed tetralogy on. Responses to various versions of the problem of evil, meanwhile, come in three forms. Swinburne first develops an account of goods within creation. My top 5 books on the problem of evil christianity today.
Providence and the problem of evil in providence and the problem of evil, richard swinburne attempts to rebut the common charge that the world we see around us filled with pain and evil is inconsistent with the existence of the christian god. Hes written a number of books, commended by many deeply committed christians. For some time, however, there has been a need for a collection of readings that adequately represents recent and ongoing writing on the topic. Numerous variations of theodicy have been proposed which all maintain that, while evil exists, god is either not responsible for creating evil, or he is not guilty. Providence and the problem of evil richard swinburne. Apphil b stephen bedeau 214332449 dennis vasilis papadopoulos december 3, 2015 word count. However, the existence of evil and suffering in the world provides a challenge to the loving god of classical theism. Is some free will defence an adequate response to the problem of moral evil. But a theists set of beliefs includes the belief that god exists, so that atheists. Swinburne argues that god wants us to learn and to love, to make our choices about good and evil for ourselves and others on our own, to form our characters in the way we choose, and, above all, to be of great use to each other. One downfall is that, because it was published in 1990, it lacks the newer developments of, say. Swinburne argues that god wants much more for us than pleasure or freedom from suffering. God is defined as an essentially everlasting, omnip. The problem of evil 393 since hume, there have been attempts to solve the problem of evil by attacking or reinterpreting one of the first four assumptions.
Richard swinburne has developed a theodicy which he considers to be a satisfactory response to the atheistic objection to the existence of god. Weidemann et al, the philosophy of richard swinburne,ontosverlag, frankfurt, 2008. The problem of evil is one of the most discussed topics in the philosophy of religion. Start studying problem of evil learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. This response has come to be known as skeptical theism.
The community of christians, gathered around a suffering lord, has unique resilience to respond to evil creatively. If the inline pdf is not rendering correctly, you can download the pdf file here. What is the biblical solution to the problem of evil. There have been various strands of theodicy in christian traditionthat evil is simply the absence of good, that evil was caused by the fall of adam or of the angels, that human free will requires the possibility of moral evil, and that evil is needed to promote the growth of souls. Critics claim that the existence of evil is proof that the omnipotent, omnibenevolent god of the bible cannot exist. He is an emeritus professor of philosophy at the university of oxford. In providence and the problem of evil, richard swinburne, one of this centurys best christian apologists, finally gives us a fulllength treatment of evil. One argument, known as the free will defense, claims that evil is caused not by god but by human beings, who must be allowed to choose evil. By omniscient i understand one who knows all true propositions. Onsite pdf includes swinburne s response saadia gaon on the problem of evil, faith and philosophy 14 1997, pp. Like swinburne s other books, providence and the problem of evil is clearly written and meticulously argued.
The problem of evil is the question of how to reconcile the existence of evil and suffering with. Providence and the problem of evil by richard swinburne. Publications, richard swinburne university of oxford. Broadly stated, the problem of evil is the seeming contradiction between an allpowerful, allloving god and the human experience of suffering and evil in the world. The problem of evil stanford encyclopedia of philosophy.
Swinburne s goal is to specify, for every single evil in the world, goods that would justify gods allowing that evil. This volume fills that need, offering the most uptodate collection of recent scholarship on the problem of evil. Evaluating theists response to the argument from evil. Response to a statistical study of the effect of petitionary prayer. To diffuse the logical problem of evil it is enough just to point to the logical possibility that god has a morally sufficient reason for permitting evil. A variety of arguments have been offered in response to the problem of evil, and some of them have been used in both theodicies and defenses. The answer to this seems to be that if god is to give us significant control, then. But because of the good that god gives to humans in this life, and because he makes it possible for us, through our choice, to share the life of heaven, he does not wrong us if he allows suffering. In book viii, chapter vii, of the confessions, augustine describes.
The first strand is worthless, and the value of the second has been exaggerated. Clifford, the ethics of belief william james, the will to. The book is one of the best accounts of the challenges of modern theodices that presently. His philosophical contributions are primarily in the philosophy of religion and philosophy of science.