(The explanation of God's plan according to John Hick).
Epistemic distance' (knowledge) between humans and God. If God is difficult to know this makes the faithful more virtuous as they have struggled. The Fall' ( a term used to describe the chapter of Genesis in the Bible where Adam and Eve are removed from the Garden of Eden or Paradise by God because they disobeyed Him when Eve was tricked into eating forbidden fruit from a certain tree by a snake, perhaps a personification of the devil?) is seen as a mythological account of the testing of humans. Adam and Eve sent from Eden because they needed to develop into God's likeness and they needed further testing. The Fall' allows for Jesus to arrive and set the example of how to develop into creatures fit for salvation.
This view also fits in with Evolutionary theory, as humans of God's image are the culmination of the Evolutionary process. Growing into God's likeness gives potential for further development and involves making responsible choices in real situations.
John Hick gives two reasons why God doesn't create everybody perfect in the first place:.
Goodness must come through making responsible free moral choices.
The epistemic distance gives humans freedom which creation would not have allowed. It is best that free beings freely choose to love God.
There are, however, criticisms of this theory. Adam and Eve were not at epistemic distance from God, they failed and were held fully responsible in spite of immaturity'.
The theodicy suggests that suffering is good for you and that you can't be good without suffering:.
Surely you can be good without suffering .
Many people who suffer usually end up feeling bitter.
It doesn't fit in with Jesus' actions when he tried to stop suffering. .
Can there be true goodness in heaven?.
Does the ends, justify the means? For example, does the final outcome of heaven reward' you for the way you got there (to heaven) the suffering?.
Schizophrenia Outline I Intro/ Schizophrenia is a serious problem. ... Schizophrenia is a serious problem. ... After that the started thinking it was evil causing the madness. ... Holes were drilled in the skulls to let the evil out. ...
Also, in order to further comprehend this essay we need to outline the Bible's conception of free will. ... Upon further examination in this paragraph, we will realize yet another dilemma if we accept omniscience to be true: the problem of evil. ... Evil existing in the world would imply that God is responsible for the evil existing. ... The contradiction between God's benevolence and the problem arises because if God is benevolent, how could he have made the choice to create a world in which evil exists? One objection to this conclusion is that evil is just an illusion to us; evil...
Mackie next outlines the problem of evil and how it applies to the reader. "The problem of evil, in the sense in which I shall be using the phrase, is a problem only for someone who believes that there is a God who is both omnipotent and wholly good. ... Mackie states the problem of evil in what he calls its "simplest form." ... The next part of Mackie's argument is outlined in his fallacious-solutions section. ... The solution assigns the problem of evil to human actions rather than to God. ...
In contrast, Zorba does not view conceptions of good and evil based on religion. ... He does not follow exactly what God says is good or evil on the earth. ... "(229) As outlined, religion is a prominent part of each mans life. ... As outlined earlier, the role of power is shown in many different ways. ... "(56) The pearl that was supposed to solve all of Kino's problems ends up destroying his life. ...
The Torah, the whole of the laws given to the Israelites, outlines God's rules for daily life, which Jews must follow. ... EVIL AND SUFFERING. ... (Suffering & Evil: Jewish Thinking on a Universal Problem [06/04/03]). ... Islam outlines life as a precedence for the afterlife. ... This response to the question of evil and suffering in the world is satisfactory as it outlines probable reasons and possible solutions or means to avoid these issues as much as possible. ...
In the preface to Mary Barton, Gaskell outlines her reasons for writing the book. ... Gaskell's biggest problem is that she does not understand the working class people on a personal level. ... As a social problem novel, Mary Barton starts well. Gaskell depicts the problems faced by the urban poor in the 1830's and 1840's. ... What could have been a gritty, hard-hitting critique of industrial Britain becomes something of a disappointment, with its fairytale happy conclusion and no solution offered to the problems she had initially outlined. ...
King Lear Essay Outline #6 - Examine the characteristics that make the evil characters temporarily succeed. ... The evil characters temporarily succeed but fail in the end. ... Evil characters had to many obstacles to succeed and failed due to other conflicts. ... Personifications of evil and greedy ambition. ... Created a problem for him by professing love for both sisters. ...
It also outline the necessity of balance in all things. For example, evil result from an imbalance in Ying and Yang, and good comes from the two being in harmonic balance. ... In conclusion, the circle is a model used for group interaction to convey teaching and promote the development of individual and community values, and on the practical level used as a structure for discussion and problem solving. ...
Light is the metaphor for innocence, purity, truth, and goodness as opposed to dark - evil. ... But the world is a nightmare; "to be" means to escape to live in another world where: " Rebellious dead, rise never... ... and our high-placed Macbeth Shall live the lease of nature, pay his breath To time and mortal custom" /IV.i.98/ Therefore, in tragedy there is conflict of two realities - not only opposed but irreconcilable; illusory freedom and the main outlined goals in life are lost in the past or asserted before their time. ... All is left is contempt - the concept of man was ...
