Evil Is Divided Into Two

¶ … Evil is divided into two main categories. First, there are moral evils. Moral evils are "bad deeds committed by agents who are capable of moral decision making" (p.415). Examples of moral evils include, but are not limited to: wars, murder, abuse of power, domestic violence, rape, child abuse. Second, there are natural or physical evils. "Natural evil refers to events that are not committed by human beings, but that have evil consequences for humanity or other sentient creatures" (p.415). Natural disasters are probably the most commonly-recognized type of natural evils, though things like birth defects could be considered natural evils as well.

How do process theologians explain evil?

Process theologians take a metaphysical approach to theology. They believe that suffering and tragedy are inherent to the human condition, and reject attempts to sanitize evil. However, that does not mean that they necessarily think that God is evil or uncaring for allowing suffering to occur; instead, God empathizes with this suffering, as exampled by the willful sacrifice of His Son / Himself. This requires abandoning the idea of an omnipotent creator-Father version of God, and embracing a more universal, empathetic, caring version of God. This still leaves room for an omniscient God, as Hartshorne would suggest, but leaves God unable to directly intervene in acts of either moral or natural evil (p.420). That might suggest a God that suffers even more than any member of humankind, because He knows of all the evil that occurs but is absolutely powerless to prevent it from occurring.

3. How does Kushner explain evil?

Harold Kushner provides an interesting example of process theology. Kushner had previously accepted a very traditional Judeo-Christian approach to evil, placing natural evil as the consequence of sin. However, Kushner had a young son afflicted with the disease progeria, which not only caused his early death, but also caused him tremendous pain during his lifetime. Watching his son's death, Kushner changed his approach to the question of evil. Instead of assuming that evil things occurred because of punishment for sin, a difficult concept to swallow when an innocent child has been afflicted by such a natural evil, Kushner instead embraced the idea that evil and suffering were random occurrences. Kushner felt that his son's illness put him in the position of having to choose between an omnipotent God and a totally good God, because an omnipotent God who would refuse to intervene in a child's suffering conflicted with his concept of a good God. Therefore, while Kushner's version of God is still a creator being, it is a being that cannot continue to interact in the same way with the universe. God created universal laws and randomness. Moreover, while God may not be able to directly intervene in times of evil, He can still send people into lives to help people deal with the consequences of evil.

4. How does Luther and Calvin's view of moral evil differ from that of Catholicism?

The classical Christian approach to the dilemma of moral evil has been that people are abusing the freedom of choice given to them by their creator. With free will and the ability to choose between good and evil actions, people who exercise the wrong choices can create moral evil, which impacts others. The Catholic Church essentially takes this approach to evil. To understand their approach, one must understand the concept of original sin. When Adam and Eve were in the garden, they were created in the image of God, but with a presumably much more limited intellect than modern humans. They were forbidden to eat the fruit of the tree of knowledge, because it would give them moral reasoning, thus making them closer to God. However, they chose to eat of this fruit, which distanced them from the image of their creator. While doing so gave humans greater intellect, it was also their first act of disobedience against God and humans continue to pay for this original sin through the specter of moral evil. Luther and Calvin's view of moral evil is heavily linked to the idea of predestination. While Calvin believed that damnation could be preordained, Luther did not. However, both believe in the idea of a creator God who determined the actions and events of the universe for eternity when establishing the universe. Therefore, the idea of moral evil is less linked to the notion of original sin and moral choices, than it is to simply God's will. In this way, they almost approach moral evil as others approach natural evil.