The death toll from the cyclone that hit Burma at the weekend is now estimated to be in the region of 22, 000. Such naturally occurring events cause untold suffering for millions of people and lead to very serious questions about the existence of a loving God.Natural disasters such as cyclones, floods, volcanoes, drought, earthquakes and cancer are all examples of natural evil. Natural evil is not caused by humans unlike moral evil which is the result of choices that people make. All humans have free will but often make choices that cause others to suffer. War, murder and rape are all examples of moral evil. Most Christians call moral evil sin because it is contrary to the way God wants people to live and goes against the moral code of the 10 commandments.
Key words.
natural evil = things that cause suffering, but have notheng to do with humans, for example earthquakes.
moral evil = actions by humans that cause suffering
3 comments:
Am I right in thinking that according to the first cause arguement God created natural disasters and therefore God creates natural evil?
If so why are we all told that God is good and Satan is evil?
Does the first cause apply to satan sometimes to absolve God of such acts?
Or have I got the whole thing wrong?
There is a certain logic to assuming that first cause arguments imply that God created natural evil.
However, when Christians have used the argument they have asserted that originally God created a perfect world and that it was an event sometime after this that led to evil entering the world. The evil that entered the world is two fold but both parts are related. When man used free choice in the garden of Eden and ate the forbidden fruit (moral evil) he was expelled from the garden as a punishment and the sin that entered the world not only effected him, it effected the whole natural order (hence natural evil)
Regarding the devil, most Christians (that is most christians who believe in the devil, and not all do) believe he was a fallen angel. Like Adam he refused to do what he was told and was cast out of heaven. Most Christians would assume that this happened around the same time as the incident in Eden. Satan is generally thought to be behind moral rather than natural evil.
One problem here is that the arguments for the existence of God are philosophical and the stuff about God, Adam and the devil are Biblical. Two different kinds of writing, different kinds of thinking, not always compatible.
Long answer!
There is a certain logic to assuming that first cause arguments imply that God created natural evil.
However, when Christians have used the argument they have asserted that originally God created a perfect world and that it was an event sometime after this that led to evil entering the world. The evil that entered the world is two fold but both parts are related. When man used free choice in the garden of Eden and ate the forbidden fruit (moral evil) he was expelled from the garden as a punishment and the sin that entered the world not only effected him, it effected the whole natural order (hence natural evil)
Regarding the devil, most Christians (that is most christians who believe in the devil, and not all do) believe he was a fallen angel. Like Adam he refused to do what he was told and was cast out of heaven. Most Christians would assume that this happened around the same time as the incident in Eden. Satan is generally thought to be behind moral rather than natural evil.
One problem here is that the arguments for the existence of God are philosophical and the stuff about God, Adam and the devil are Biblical. Two different kinds of writing, different kinds of thinking, not always compatible.
Long answer!
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