The major world religions are premised on the identification of fundamental problems in the human condition: we suffer, we die, we grieve, we fail. The question you will try to answer is this: Do you think that religious concepts and practices can provide a coherent solution to these problems, or do you think that the persistence of these problems invalidate a religious worldview?
- Discuss
The “problem of evil” has always been one of the sharpest arrows in the atheist’s quiver: How can an all-knowing, all-powerful, all-good God allow all the unnecessary suffering that we see in the world? The attempt to answer this question is called theodicy, the effort to find a justification for why a divine being would allow suffering to occur on earth. For the first step of the project, chose any one of these three essays, each of which takes a different approach to this problem, and provide a ~3-page analysis in which you summarize the author’s argument and then critically analyze it. 3Pages
Eleonore Stump, in “The Mirror of Evil,” takes a stronger position: reflecting more on the phenomenology of suffering than on theodicean arguments, she asserts that suffering is not merely justifiable but may be a necessary means for humans to seek and find the divine.
- Reflect on a previous RWA
I Have a provided a RWA (previous paper of mine) explain how ideas in either the summary or your reflection can support your critical analysis of the article you selected in Step 1. Do not simply repeat what you wrote in the original RWA, but reflect on it anew with this connection to your analysis in Step 1 in mind. This should take ~. (2 PAGES) - Conclusion
In a 2 page conclusion, discuss what your analysis in Steps 1 and 2 demonstrates about the problem of suffering. Have you identified and defended coherent ideas that provide rational support for thinking that religious frameworks can provide solutions to the problem of human suffering, or conversely does your analysis lead to the conclusion that traditional religious concepts and practices cannot adequately address the fundamental difficulties in the human condition?