The Problem of Evil
Key Terms:
Omnipotent: All-powerful
Omniscient: All – knowing
Omnibenevolent: All-good and all-loving
Inconsistent triad: the omnibenevolence and omnipotence of God, and
the existence of evil in the world, are said to mutually incompatible
Theodicy: An attempt to justify God in the face of evil in the world and
offer a morally sufficient reason- this word was first used by the
philosopher Leibniz and is used to show that God can still have the
character which is claimed by believers despite the existence of evil and
suffering
Natural evil: Evil and suffering caused by non-human agencies
Moral evil: The evil done and the suffering caused by deliberate misuse
of human free will
Privatio boni: A phrase used by Augustine to mean an absence of
goodness
Free will: The ability to make independent choices between real options
Epistemic distance: A distance in knowledge and understanding
Key Terms:
Omnipotent: All-powerful
Omniscient: All – knowing
Omnibenevolent: All-good and all-loving
Inconsistent triad: the omnibenevolence and omnipotence of God, and
the existence of evil in the world, are said to mutually incompatible
Theodicy: An attempt to justify God in the face of evil in the world and
offer a morally sufficient reason- this word was first used by the
philosopher Leibniz and is used to show that God can still have the
character which is claimed by believers despite the existence of evil and
suffering
Natural evil: Evil and suffering caused by non-human agencies
Moral evil: The evil done and the suffering caused by deliberate misuse
of human free will
Privatio boni: A phrase used by Augustine to mean an absence of
goodness
Free will: The ability to make independent choices between real options
Epistemic distance: A distance in knowledge and understanding
