What is the root of all evil
What is Evil? This question has been asked by many, but first posed and propagated by Epicurus. This has been called the “Epicurean Paradox” or the “Epicurean Riddle.” David Hume in his Dialogues concerning Natural Religion (1779) cited Epicurus in stating the argument as a series of questions:
“Is [God] willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then is he impotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then is he malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Whence then is evil? Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?”(Epicurus)[1]
So, what is Evil Really? There are two different divisions of Evil, but before we discuss them there is a more general definition. It can be, and has been simply stated that Evil is simply the absence or lack of Good. Norman Geisler and Ron Brooks state that “Evil is, in reality, a parasite that cannot exist except as a hole in something that should be solid.”(Geisler; Brooks 61)[2]
The fifth century theologian Augustine of Hippo mounted what has become one of the most popular defenses of the existence of God against the Epicurean paradox. He maintained that evil was only privatio boni, or a privation of good. An evil thing can only be referred to as a negative form of a good thing, such as discord, injustice, and loss of life or of liberty. If a being is not totally pure, evil will fill in any gaps in that being’s purity. This is commonly called the Contrast Theodicy that evil only exists as a “contrast” with good. However, the Contrast Theodicy relies on a metaphysical view of morality that few people, even theologians, agree with (that good and evil are not moral judgments). In On Free Choice of the Will, Augustine also argued that Epicurus had ignored the potential benefits of suffering in the world. (Wikipedia 3)[3]
This now brings us to the place where we must discuss the two major divisions of Evil. We must understand these fully to have the correct view on Evil and why it exists. Actually, the reason most philosophers see evil as a disproof of God is because they do not fully understand these two points. The two variances of Evil are Natural and Moral Evil, of which we will discuss the Natural segment first.
Natural evil is not sin, and we must strive to keep it separated so. Natural evil is exactly what its name is says it is: evil that occurs in a natural sense; not spiritual. The natural includes weather (earthquakes, tornadoes, blizzards, hurricanes, etc), pain, and suffering at the hands of another’s moral
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