Atheism and the problem of evil and suffering
Theme C2 covers atheism, the problem of evil, religious responses (theodicies), and personal responses to suffering. It is one of the most significant philosophical topics in AQA Religious Studies.
Atheism and agnosticism
- Atheism — the belief that God does not exist. "Strong" atheism: God definitely does not exist. "Weak" atheism: no reason to believe God exists.
- Agnosticism — the view that God's existence cannot be known. Thomas Huxley coined the term (1869): "It is wrong… to pretend to certainty where none exists."
- Secular Humanism — atheistic worldview: ethics, meaning and flourishing without religion. The British Humanist Association defines itself as non-religious, based on reason, empathy and scientific consensus.
Key figures: Richard Dawkins (The God Delusion, 2006), Christopher Hitchens, A.C. Grayling.
The problem of evil
The problem of evil is the most powerful challenge to belief in a God who is omnipotent, omniscient and omnibenevolent.
The logical problem (J.L. Mackie, 1955):
- God is omnipotent (can prevent any evil).
- God is omnibenevolent (wants to prevent all evil).
- Evil exists.
- Therefore, God does not exist. (If God existed with these attributes, evil would not exist.)
Two types of evil:
- Moral evil — evil caused by human free choices: murder, war, genocide, slavery.
- Natural evil — suffering caused by nature: earthquakes, tsunamis, cancer, childhood disease.
Natural evil is particularly challenging — it cannot be attributed to human free will.
Theodicies — religious responses
A theodicy is a defence of God's goodness and power in the face of evil and suffering.
Augustine's theodicy
- Evil is not a "thing" — it is the absence of good (privatio boni).
- God created a perfect world; evil entered through the free disobedience of Adam and Eve (the Fall).
- Humans are responsible for moral evil; natural evil is the consequence of the disruption sin introduced into creation.
- God is not the author of evil.
- Challenge: Natural selection shows that suffering predates humans by hundreds of millions of years — predators and death long predate Homo sapiens. The Fall cannot explain this.
Irenaeus's theodicy (soul-making)
- God did not create humans as perfect beings; humans are created "in the image of God" but must develop into the "likeness of God" through moral struggle.
- Evil and suffering are necessary for soul-making — developing virtue, character, empathy and faith.
- John Hick developed this in Evil and the God of Love (1966): a world without challenge would not allow genuine moral development.
- Challenge: Not all suffering builds character — some destroys it. Holocaust victims, dying children, and animals do not benefit from their suffering. The God who creates such a world is morally questionable.
Free will defence
- God created humans with genuine free will — without it, love and virtue would be meaningless.
- Moral evil is the price of genuine freedom.
- Alvin Plantinga: God cannot create free beings who always choose good — that is a logical impossibility. Even an omnipotent God cannot do the logically impossible.
- Challenge: Free will explains moral evil but not natural evil (earthquakes, cancer). God could presumably have created a world with free will but without tsunamis.
Other responses
- Sceptical theism: God's reasons for allowing evil may be beyond human understanding (Job 38–39). Isaiah 55:9 — "My ways are higher than your ways."
- Eschatological justice: ultimate justice will be done in the afterlife; present suffering will be redeemed.
How people respond to suffering
- Religious believers: prayer, trust in God's plan, finding meaning through suffering, community support, hospice care.
- Christianity: the cross — God enters into human suffering with Jesus. "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" (Mark 15:34). God is not absent from suffering but present within it.
- Islam: suffering is a test from Allah (ibtila). Qur'an 2:155–157 — "We will test you with fear and hunger… but give good tidings to those who are patient." Suffering can bring spiritual growth and reward.
- Humanism: suffering has no divine purpose. The ethical response is to reduce suffering through medicine, social justice, and compassion. "The world is full of suffering; it is also full of overcoming it" (Helen Keller).
Examiner tips
- Distinguish moral from natural evil clearly.
- Name both Mackie (the challenge) and Hick/Augustine/Plantinga (responses).
- For 12-mark evaluate questions, give two theodicies and two challenges before a reasoned conclusion.
- The cross is a central Christian response to suffering — do not neglect it.
AI-generated · claude-opus-4-7 · v3-deep-religious-studies