Transcript The Problem of Evil

The Problem of Evil
The Sacred Quest, ch. 7
Why is this a problem?
 Theodicy:
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belief in divine justice
Religions see a tension between ordinary
experience (how things seem) and sacred
reality (how experience should be
transformed according to sacred reality)
What is the Buddhist belief in how experience
should be transformed according to sacred
reality?
Jewish belief?
Holocaust
 Older
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Jewish responses
Suffering is punishment for disobedience
(Deuteronomy)
Suffering is mysterious (Job)
Suffering has greater meaning for the whole
people (Isaiah’s suffering servant)
 Why
don’t these work in the case of the
Holocaust?
Emil Fackenheim

New (614th) commandment: Jews must not grant
Hitler a posthumous victory
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Survive as Jews
• Jews and Israel have a right to exist, not be martyrs
• Religious and secular Jews must be united
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Keep memory of victims alive
• Must “tell the tale”, because it is holy
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Do not despair of the world
• Tikkun olam: repair the world
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Do not despair of the God of Israel
• Religious Jew: continue to wrestle with God, like Jacob
• Secular Jew: do not deny God b/c of Auschwitz
Classic responses
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Evil and Karma
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Consolation of promise
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Evil will be overcome in the future (example: a day of
judgment)
Appeal to sovereignty
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There is justice in a future life, if not now
God’s ways are higher, people can’t always
understand, but God is in control.
Example: Job
Dualism

There are good and evil powers, who wage war in
universe
Evaluation
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Is it logical?
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Is it coherent?
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Does it fit what we know about human experience?
Is it psychologically satisfying?
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Does it present a consistent view of God/the sacred?
How does it affect the emotions? (Kushner)
Would you say this to someone who is suffering?
What are the moral consequences?
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What actions does it suggest people do? Does this fit
with the religion?