Evil & Suffering & The Nature of God (Edexcel GCSE Religious Studies B)
Revision Note
Written by: Glenn Millington
Reviewed by: Bridgette Barrett
The Nature of God vs Evil & Suffering
The Nature of God
Christians believe that God has certain characteristics that allow them to understand God better
Christians believe that God is one but exists in three different 'persons', God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, and that these three Persons form a unity
This is the Christian belief in the Trinity which comes from the word 'tri' meaning 'three' and 'unity' meaning 'one'
Christians believe that God is Omnipotent
He created the world and was responsible for the resurrection of Jesus
Christians believe that God is omnibenevolent
God sacrificed his own son for humanity, which shows how much he loves all human beings without exception
‘The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. He will not always accuse, nor will he harbour his anger forever’ (Psalm 103: 8)
Christians believe that God is just
God is fair to all and he forgives those who say sorry for their actions
The Psalms say, ‘God is fair and just’ (Psalm 25:8)
Christians believe that God is omniscient
Christians believe that God knows every person's inner thoughts as well as knowing all that has happened and all that will happen in the future
Christians believe that God is transcendent
For example God does not live and die as we do, he is eternal, and complete understanding of God is beyond the human intellect
Christians believe that God is also immanent
God has interacted with the world throughout history for example, Jesus being sent to earth
Nowadays, people believe that God is immanent, working miracles and answering people's prayers
Because Christians believe that these things represent God’s nature, it means that the existence of evil and suffering in the world is problematic
Questions about the Existence of God
The Problem of Evil
Christians believe that God would not want anything within his Creation to suffer and that God is fair and just
‘And the heaven proclaim his righteousness, for he is a God of justice’ (Psalm 50: 6)
However, evil and suffering do exist in the world leading to many Christians asking the questions
How can a loving and righteous God allow people to do evil things?
Why do good people need to suffer?
If God does exist and he is omnipotent and omnibenevolent, then why does he allow evil and suffering to exist?
The Inconsistent Triad
The problem of evil can be regarded as an ‘inconsistent triad’ or in other words, three ideas but only two of them can be true
As there is clear evidence and experience of evil, either God is not all-powerful (he cannot stop evil) or God is not all-loving (he does not love us or care enough to stop evil) or he does not exist at all
For some people, this is evidence that the God of Christianity does not exist but there are some Christian responses to this philosophical problem
Natural & Moral Suffering
Natural and Moral Evil
There are two types of evil and suffering in the world and they are moral evil and natural evil
The Types of Evil & Suffering
Natural Evil | Moral Evil |
|---|---|
Natural evil / suffering relates to things that cause suffering in the world that have nothing to do with humans | Moral evil / suffering relates to things that cause suffering in the world that is caused by mankind |
Examples of this could be natural disasters or famine | Examples of this could be murder or war |
These two types of evil can relate to each other
For example, moral evil can make natural evil worse
A drought brought on by lack of rainfall which causes crops to fail, could be the result of government policies which affect the weather
The Cause of Natural and Moral Evil
Religions differ in what they teach about the origins of evil
Some consider it to have been present in the world from the beginning as the work of evil forces
Some believe it is part of God's creation which may have a purpose that humans cannot understand
Some consider it to be the outcome of ignorance and to have no beginning
Most religions teach that moral evil should be opposed and that attempts should be made to minimise the impact of natural evil
Most people experience suffering at some time in their life
Religions attempt to explain suffering, help people to cope with it and learn from it
For some religious people, the fact that people suffer can raise difficult questions about why God allows this to happen
Some people say that God allows humans to make decisions for themselves (free will) and that suffering is caused by the choices that people make
Worked Example
Explain two problems the existence of suffering causes for Christians
(4 marks)
Answer:
Christians might wonder why an omnibenevolent God would allow suffering because if he loves mankind he would not want us to suffer (2 marks)
Christians might also wonder why an omnipotent God does not prevent evil and suffering because if God was powerful enough to do anything, he should be able to stop it happening (2 marks)
Examiner Tips and Tricks
Some of the terms relating to the qualities of God may be difficult to remember. This may help you to remember three of them
Omnipotent - Contains the letters po in the word which are the first letters of powerful
Omnibenevolent - Contains the letters evol in the word which is the word love backwards
Omniscient - Contains the letters scient at the end of the word. These letters are also the start of the word scientist and this is someone who is knowledgeable
Last updated:
You've read 0 of your 5 free revision notes this week
Sign up now. It’s free!
Did this page help you?
