Philosophy of the Mind

Expounding upon the Theological Explanation of Evil

In chapter 8.4 Kessler tackles some of the theological problems of evil. He claims that the theological problem of evil has five theodicies which are "Recompense", "Free Will," "Soul-making", "Restricting God's power", and "Denying the existence of evil". I agree with some of these theodicies, and a few of them I reject. My goal in this paper by expounding on this topic is to help you understand why I agree and disagree with some of Kessler's theodicies on the Theological Explanation of Evil

Let's start with the opening of Kessler's statement in paragraph four where he says "[t]he inductive or evidential problem of evil does not rely on the mere existence of evil to try to prove God does not exist... Rather it points to the degree, variety, or amount of evil does exist and argues that this kind of evil makes it highly improbable that God exists." (174). This phrase talks directly about denying the existence of evil and in my opinion I completely disagree with this statement because of the fact that God is involved in everything that we say, do, and think. Yes God is omnipresence, omnipotent, and omniscient, and yes sometimes bad things happen to people and nature because he allows it to happen so that he can gain our attention, and so that he can show us the right way to walk to keep us away from evil. God does exist in the evilness of this world. Even if we took God out of the equation and if the entire world did not believe in him I believe that the evil in this world would be far more worst that it is now.

"What might a greater good be that justifies God's permitting intense suffering exists? One kind of answer that people give this question is punishment for sin. God would not be an-all knowing God if he did not punish sin... The Christian theologian St. Augustine (354-430) suggested this answer when he said that "evil is either sin or punishment for sin"" (175).

This points right to recompense theodicy and to me St. Augustine is correct with God allowing evil to be present and that evil is sin and or the punishment of sin, but evil and sin are the exact same thing in God's eyes. God never intended for sin and evil to run ramped in this world but it's unfortunate that our spiritual parents (Adam and Eve) disobeyed him and caused this to happen, which is why we also have free will.

"If my sin is not freely done, then I am guilty of nothing and deserve no punishment. So perhaps free will is the greater good that explains why God permits instances of evil? This is called the "free will defense" ...This kind of theodicy says in effect, a world in which beings have freedom of choice, even if it is something that leads to sin and evil, is better than a world in which there is no choice." (175-176)

Kessler in the quote is referring to the free will theodicy and this is my response. We were born into a peaceful perfect paradise, yet because of Adam and Eve and their disobedience we are sinful, but because of Jesus dying for us we are saved by grace, and are given the choice of following Jesus or sin which these two choices brings us to the path of free-will. Yet it is very unfortunate that people misuse and abuse the term to justify that the world is the way it is because God allows sin to run wild, but no it's because we manipulate and trample all over "free-will".. God did make us free human beings.

"God's purpose in creating this world is to aid us on our road to spiritual and moral growth, not to give us a paradise of constant pleasure in which we will be as comfortable as possible. Evil is for our own good." (176). I am disagreeing with Kessler's statement again its more focused on his opinion of Soul Making Theodicy because of the fact that God created this world to be a perfect paradise for us to dwell and rule and prosper in as sons and daughters of the living God. Our growing spiritually and mortally was supposed to an easy process but as I have already stated we had a stumbling block due to our spiritual parents and their disobedience. Now evil yes is sin but evil sometimes is used to teach us a lesson. My Aunt Teresa said it this way she said "God will use evil to do two things. He will either use it to teach you a lesson or he will use to get you closer to your destiny." This brings me to the next point in my essay; sometimes evil can be a great teacher and sometimes we might not be able to understand why we are going through this evil process but we know that in the end it will propel us to where God intends us to be.

Kessler states "The world in which we live contains a large amount of intense pain and suffering, much of which appears pointless. Think of the last century alone: two world wars, Hitler and the Holocaust, massacres by Stalin, Milosevic's ethic cleaning, AIDS, and terrorism" etcetera (176). Our pain is pointless because we as a people have decided and chosen to do things in our own way and power and have made our own wounds which cause our pain, and pointless suffering. Kessler only seems to be correct in this statement and this statement alone. Unfortunately, this is the only time I give him credit for saying that our pain and suffering lately has been pointless for he is referring to the recompense theodicy again. Hitler and the Holocaust was pointless because his attack was on the Jews and their religion, which fortunately did not take them out or cause them to lose their faith in God, but it was painful because his attacks killed Jews, Catholics, Christians, and homosexuals. AIDS, an acronym for "acquired immune deficiency syndrome" is nothing but a sexually transmitted disease and the effects of the disease kills the victim from the inside, and the suffering is the hurt and labeling that you go through along with isolation from friends and family, the taking of medication, and knowing that they have to go through this until they die.

Kessler is agreeing with the denying the existence of evil theodicy by quoting Mary Baker Eddy stating: "According to Mary Baker Eddy Book Science & Health with Key to the Scriptures: "God is Mind or Spirit and the only true reality because God is truth." If this is so, she reasons, then illness, disease, pain, suffering and even death only seem real...Evil is an illusion, a bad dream, something that does not really exists." I agree with Mrs. Eddy and Kessler to an extinct. I agree that God is spirit because he himself said that he is three in one being: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. I also agree with her saying that evil can be an illusion, or a bad dream because sometimes evil can come from our minds with our mind playing tricks on us as well as sickness, pain, and suffering. I honestly believe that we have programed our minds into believing that evil is always a punishment from God, yet evil is a punishment from our own doings and our own wickedness. The correct definition of theology of evil is the sins and wickedness of the world that has been blamed on God.

My retorting to Kessler is this; evil is a pointless painful suffering that most people see as a curse from God, but it actual can also be a gift to put us on the right direction in life. Evil is connected to sin which is also a spirit, and has been a part of humanity since the beginning of the world's formation and being crafted, destroyed by flood, and now with all the bombings and killings. Our bodies are indeed a spirit or as others would say a soul; either way we are vulnerable to sin. Sin does not come because God created it. In fact God did not create sin or the concept of evil, nor does he congratulate it, but instead he hates it and it is a distasteful thing to his lips. Sin and evil starts out as a misconception of who God is and that comes from there being a separation of man and God, a unity that was destroyed through the first Adam and that was redeemed through the second Adam who was sacrificed as a lamb for the salvation and everlasting life of the world.

Bibliography

Kessler, Gary. 2008. Studying Religion: An Introduction Through Cases. 3rd Edition. New York: McGraw-Hill.