The Question of Evil and Suffering
Evil is done is everyday life throughout the world. It's done in multiple ways throughout different worldviews. The three world views that are going to be talked about in this are Christianity, Islam, and Hinduism. Discussing the definition, source, origins, results, and solutions to evil.
The first worldview that is going to be talked about is Christianity. The definition of evil in a Christian world view is whatever is morally wrong, sinful, or wicked (gotquestions.org). Meaning that anything that purposely goes against God or anything morally right is evil. Some main stream examples of evil are things such as unbelief, murder, and adultery. Unbelief meaning that you don't believe in God and deny him. Murder
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Their definition of evil is the devil "Shaytan" tempting the people to make poor decisions and it is their choice whether or not to fight against the devil (al-islam.org). The main source of evil is the people. They say evil is built into the fabric of existence to prove and to show their God who is really and who is really righteous (Patheos.com). Another source of evil is if someone who doesn't believe there is only one God. Because in Islam one of the most important beliefs they have is that there is one God and one God only. Their gods' name is "Allah"; meaning God in Arabic. They don't disprove any other religions; they just think their religion is the true religion. The origin of Islam started with Shaytan rebelling against God after the creation of humanity (People.opposingviews). By rebelling Against God, when he called down all of the spirits, he refused and God judged him until judgment day. From that point on the devil said that he would curse the people with evil and attempt to turn them away from God (People.opposingviews). This is why evil occurs today according to Islam. Solutions to evil in Islam have to come from the people; they have to reject the devil from tempting them to do things. Even though in the worldview of Islam, the people believe everything that happens to them good or bad still come from …show more content…
For example in Christianity their definition of evil is doing things that you know are morally wrong like being sinful, being wicked, or any other thing that you know are morally wrong. Their definition of evil in Islam is the devil "Shaytan" tempting the people to make poor decisions and it is their choice whether or not to fight against the devil. The last example is Hinduism's belief and definition of what evil is represented and looked upon by impurity (tamas), darkness, imbalance or extremity, chaos, sinful conduct, and selfishness. Similarities that all three of the worldviews have are that they all involve the devil in some sort. Two of the worldviews being Christianity and Islam have similar features of being monotheistic meaning that you only believe in only one God. With the last worldview, Hinduism, it is a henotheistic type belief. Meaning that you believe in multiple gods, but believe in one supreme God over all.
In the end, my personal view of evil is the Christianity worldview. Meaning that my definition of evil is whatever is morally wrong, sinful, or wicked (gotquestions.org). I also think of evil in doing something harmful or doing something you know is bad in the first place. Without evil in the world the world would be a completely different and better
There are two kinds of evil, moral and natural. Moral evil is things like murder, rape, stealing, terrorism, etc. Natural evil is things like suffering and unpleasantness typically as a result of moral evil. Evil is that which has no power of its own. Evil is darkness, a negation of light. Its power is in us, in our fear of it, in that we consider it a "something" worth responding to.
The problem of evil is inescapable in this fallen world. From worldwide terror like the Holocaust to individual evils like abuse, evil touches every life. However, evil is not a creation of God, nor was it in His perfect will. As Aleksandr
“Inside each of us, there is the seed of both good and evil. It's a constant struggle as to which one will win. And one cannot exist without the other” (Eric Burdon). People do not think they are doing good or evil, they just think that they are doing the right thing. Evil comes from within each one of us. You just need to something to bring it out.
Evil, one word, two syllables, two vowels, two consonants. Definition: The opposite of that which is ascribed as being good. Evil? What is it? What is it made of? Can you eat it?. Any preacher, teacher, mentor, master, professor, coach, educator, or tutor who claims to know what is evil and where does it emanates from is simple and utterly a liar. Evil is not a thing you can touch or some microscopic parasite that you can examine under a microscope. Evil is not physical, although it sometimes it is said to be. Evil in its most purest form is mental. Take for instance the story of the perfect girl with no one ounce of impurity who ends up killing her whole family over night, or the tale of two little children who murdered their parents by only using their imagination. They are the living example of mental “evilness”.
There is so much evil in the world such as: murder, child mortality, torture, rape, assault and more. So how can there be an all loving God if these things are constantly happening? In this paper, I will be arguing that there is in fact no such thing as an all loving and all powerful God due to Evil. When I think of an all-loving God, I think of God as someone who would never allow a child to be kidnapped, raped, tortured and killed. I think of God as someone who would not allow anything bad or evil to happen in this world. I am not saying people would not get their fair share of misfortune now and again, but they would never experience evil, pain or suffering. That being said, there would be no evil or vindictive people in this world
Evil is to be morally wrong, bad, wicked, and a whole bunch of other synonyms that all boil into one pot. There is so much to this word that it’s almost impossible to pinpoint someone as truly evil. To be evil for no other reason than to be evil would be the worst possible evil. Adolf Hitler and Osoma bin Laden believe the evil they committed was justified by God, or some higher power. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, from the play by Shakespeare, were not evil because they wanted to be, they did it for a greater good.
Hinduism and Christianity are two religions that have been around for thousands of years. Both of these religions have developed many philosophies on different aspects that can be compared to show their similarities and differences. The Hindu and Christian religion agree on many things. Based on humanity, our society follows some of the rules also because of the religion and laws. From the holy literature, there have been many different concepts that have been pledged but they all are supposed to lead you to the same effects such as a happy, healthy life, contribution to the world around us humans, and some kind of freedom after death. Some of the main subjects that can be reflected upon after learning of the history and fundamentals of these religions are the paths to enlightenment and/or salvation, the style of treating women through religions aspects, and the afterlife. This paper will give an analytic comparison of these two religions relating to the topics.
The concept of suffering plays an important role in Christianity, regarding such matters as moral conduct, spiritual advancement and ultimate destiny. Indeed an emphasis on suffering pervades the Gospel of Mark where, it can be argued, we are shown how to "journey through suffering" (Ditzel 2001) in the image of the "Suffering Son of Man" (Mark 8:32), Jesus Christ. Although theologians have suggested that Mark was written to strengthen the resolve of the early Christian community (Halpern 2002, Mayerfeld 2005), the underlying moral is not lost on a modern reader grappling with multifarious challenges regarding faith in the face of suffering. In his article "A Christian Response to Suffering", William Marravee (1987) describes suffering as an "experience over which we men and women continue to stumble and fall". The way we view God is crucial to the way we view suffering according to Marravee, who delineates the disparity between a view of God as an ‘outsider’ and the biblical image of God – where God is an ‘insider’ who suffers with us in our struggle. This essay seeks to explain the Christian view of suffering and the purpose suffering can have in our lives.
Satan, is red, has a pitch fork, pointed tail and horns. Ask a child to represent evil and this is likely one answer received. Discussions of good and evil often revolve around highly honed perceptions of good versus evil. “Good and evil are not figments of the mind or the subjective creations of men; they are inherent in creation.” (Kinneging 256) Concepts of good and evil conform to absolute perception in western cultural philosophy. Buddhist philosophy has a different perception concerning good and evil.
There are many different interpretations of evil, yet it is most commonly defined as inflicting harm on others or on the world consciously, whether it be by humans, gods, or other creatures. Evil occurs in many different forms and the origins of evil differentiates by cultures and time periods. The question of why terrible things occur varies since the Ancient Greeks explain evil with the notions of gods, Aquinas argues that fallen angels who had free will create evil, while the Cathars directly oppose Aquinas noting that God created a dualist theology of good versus evil . In Ancient Greek myth, the gods are all powerful beings that control nature and the will of people.
The scale of evil cannot be interpreted or defined. “Evil” does not even belong to a clear part of speech in the dictionary. Some argue that evil is a psychological complex, a noun. Others perceive it as a word attached to reality after the fact, an adjective. Joel Feinberg acknowledges the different layers of evil, but peels them back to reveal one common distinguishing factor, regardless of part of speech. While pieces of his argument are compelling, Feinberg ultimately argues that evil causes confusion beyond explanation. Feinberg’s argument crumbles when emotion is removed from the situation because “evil” is, oftentimes, the simplest resolution to a given problem. If these acts of evil are viewed with understanding, evil becomes entirely
Evil exists. This bizarre conundrum has perplexed philosophers since the dawn of civilization, and remains in hot debate today because of the theological implications inherent in the statement. To many on this planet, the source of life is an all-loving, all-powerful, omniscient god who created the universe – and all the laws therein – in seven days, as described in the Bible. And yet still, evil exists. How can these two premises be simultaneously true? Surely, an all-loving god would want to do something about this problem, and an all-powerful god could absolutely remedy a situation if it so desired. It seems as though the common perception of the Bible’s god is inaccurate. However, it could be argued that the Bible’s god is accurate, and that said perception is somewhat skewed, considering that on numerous occasions, God claims responsibility for evil. “I make peace and create evil. I the Lord do all these things.” (Isaiah 45:7). The Greek philosopher Epicurus put the Good God’s Evil puzzle in a very clear logical progression:
To understand evil we must first understand the concept that good and evil are term or words referring to what one given individuals believes to be the right and wrong thing to do. Good, many times symbolized as god or light, is usually associated with an action that many individual see as helping one or many people. This definitions is again very hard to define due to it bias and opinionated nature. But many and most people will agree that good, is what helps not only the common people become a stronger as a community but also become stronger as in...
Envy, agony, grief, gluttony, greed, and lust are just a few examples of evil and suffering caused and experienced by humans. Most cultures have unique notions that explain why suffering and evil are justified. In the Greek, Maori, and Norse cultures these concepts are called reincarnation, utu, and destiny. The Greeks believed that between lives, humans do penance for their earthly sins determining their subsequent life, while the Norse culture says that divine creatures called Norns carved everyone’s fate into a tree. In the Maori culture, the concept of utu is meant to be the power that balances out evil and good.
The major similarities that all three religions share are that they are all monotheistic. This all means that they believe in one god and that he is the supreme ruler of all things. They also believe that all things are created equal under one god. They all have books of what they believe to be God's word. The Jews have their book known as the Torah. The Christian's have their book known as the Bible. Lastly the Islamic people have their book known as the Qu'ran. All three of these books have scriptures.