Short Essay on Topic Hamartiology: the Problem of Evil

Short Essay on Topic Hamartiology: The Problem of Evil

There is no doubt in anyone’s mind that evil exists. Even someone, who is unsure of the existence of God, can see that the there are problems in the world that cannot be explained. Perfection could be achieved easily if all the evil was erased from the world. There are so many types of evil we deal with also. It is not that we are just fighting one type of evil; if we were, I think the battle would be easier. There are many different types of evil; when we think we have figured out how to stop one, another pops up like an unwanted advertisement on the Internet. That is what makes evil so difficult is there are so many ways it approaches us. We face two main evils in our lives everyday. Moral evils are evils committed by human choice and decision. God gave us freewill, and we choose to do the wrong thing. Natural evils are events that happen around us, forced by nature or the supernatural. This type of evil is not based upon human decision. Shooting a teller while robbing a store would be an example of moral evil. Natural evil occurs when a natural disaster such as hurricane Sandy which ravaged New York recently. We always hear, “how could a God who loves everyone let that happen?” This is a tough question that can only be answered by talking about sin among man. God gave Freewill to everyone, and this makes it our choice to sin. God saw it better for us to have a choice to do evil, then for Him to force us to do good always. This is the free will defense of theodicy, which is just a big, theological word for explaining the ways of God to man. I side with the ideas of a free will path that God gave us. Another popular view of mans evil in the world is called the soul building theodicy. This states that God put man in a world of evil, to give them a free choice. With this choice, they are being built into better people, who follow God, by choosing not to sin. If God had put them in a world of no evil, then they...