Natural And Moral Evil Essay

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Is belief in the existence of a supremely perfect deity compatible or incompatible with natural and moral evil? Justify your answer. Work with Hick and Mackie.
Introduction
The question on the existence of an omnipotent God has been subject to debate by various philosophers over time, among them being John Hick and J.L. Mickie. One point of contention has been whether it was possible to have an omnipotent deity and at the same time have evil existing in the world.
In this paper, the focus shall be a discussion as to whether believing in a supremely perfect deity is compatible or incompatible with natural and moral evil. The discussion shall be guided by the works of both John Hick and J.L. Mackie.
Natural and Moral Evil
The concept of evil has been recognized by philosopher and theologians as either moral or …show more content…

It is normally referred to as non-moral evil. Being dependent on nature, this type of evil is therefore not affected by the person’s activities or his free will. Destructive hurricanes and floods caused by extreme weather conditions are two examples of natural evil because they are caused by nature and therefore a person can not do anything about them.
Compatibility or Incompatibility of belief in God with Natural and Moral Evil
According to Mackie’s 1955 article, Evil and Omnipotence, the belief in a supremely perfect deity who is all-powerful and all-good would not co-exist with evil. He notes that on the face of it such an omnipotent and benevolent God would not allow evil to exist at all. He further notes that human beings only solve the problem of evil by either abandoning the traditional beliefs about God. For example, to explain why God would allow evil to exist in the world, then a person would have to abandon the belief that God is omnipotent and instead accept the belief that God has limited powers which therefore leave Him unable to prevent

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