The Nature of God and The Nature of God and the Problem of Evilthe Problem of Evil

Learning ObjectivesLearning ObjectivesTo understand the keywordsTo understand the keywordsTo understand how the problem of evil could lead to an To understand how the problem of evil could lead to an disbelief in God.disbelief in God.

KeywordsKeywordsMoral EvilMoral EvilNatural evilNatural evilOmnipotentOmnipotentOmniscientOmniscientBenevolentBenevolent

Moral Evil Or Natural EvilMoral Evil Or Natural Evil

SufferingSuffering

SufferingSuffering

SufferingSuffering

SufferingSuffering

SufferingSuffering

Where does evil come from?

1. The Devil

2. A force

3. A psychological phenomenon

1. Christians

and Muslims believe

that there is a force of

evil that goes

against everything

God represents.

He is called…• Satan• Shaytaan• Devil• Prince of Darkness• The Deceiver• Iblees• Beelzebub• Lucifer• Prince of Hell• The evil one• Old Nick• The enemy• Antichrist

Belial The Dragon Leviathan Ruler of this

world Unclean spirit

Satan is totally opposed to God and everything that God

stands for.

He is jealous of humans and wishes to destroy us using

our own weaknesses and sin.

He convinces us that our own way is better

than God’s.

Satan can take on any form.

Lucifer to Satan (Christianity)

God created angels with free will. Lucifer was his most perfect angel but was

jealous of human and ambitious.

He began a rebellion in heaven and turned many

angels against God.

Lucifer transformed himself into ‘Satan’ (the accuser) and

launched a war in heaven.

  By accusation, lies and

deception, he intended to bring

God down and destroy Him

In his anger, God cast Satan out of heaven where he fell like lightning to rule over this

world.

Christians believe that here, Satan tempts people to

sin then overwhelms them

with shame and discouragement.

“Get thee behind me, Satan!”The Bible says that Christ was temptedby the devil in His mission to savethe world – Christians believethis story shows that we can all come under the devil’sspell.

From Harith to Shaytaan (Islam)

Allah created man and jinn to worship Him. Harith was the most pious Jinn. He was so

pious he would stay with the angels. Muslims believe he was not an angel.

Allah ordered Harith to prostrate before Adam. Harith refused and was chased from

the company of the angels.

Allah created Shaytaan to test man. Those who pass the test are promised eternal

paradise.

Summing upSumming up

• Christians and Muslims believe in a powerful, evil being called the devil.

• The devil causes evil in our world and is the constant enemy of God and mankind.

• Muslims believe that the devil was never an angel and Christians believe he was.

Hansie Cronje was the captain of the South African cricket team.

In 2000 he was accused of match fixing.

During his trial, he said he had been tempted by the devil: 'In a moment of stupidity and weakness I allowed

Satan and the world to dictate terms to me. The moment I took my eyes off Jesus my whole world turned dark.'

On the 1st of June 2002 he tragically died in a plane accident.

Blaming the devil

If you were the judge in the case how would you react to the person blaming the devil for a crime he committed? Show you have considered different opinions.

2. Evil is a force

Many people believe that evil is a

spiritual force.

Humans can use their spiritual power for good or for evil.

We can choose which force to

follow.

3. Evil is a psychological phenomenonThis idea is that some people have an imbalance in their mind from birth.

These can be inherited or simply triggered through events in childhood.

When a person is so mentally unbalanced that they perform evil deeds, we must look at the root causes of their problem.

We will nearly always find that they themselves have been the victims of evil or abuse.

The Christian Idea of GodThe Christian Idea of God

OmnipotentOmniscientBenevolent

The Christian ResponseThe Christian Response

1) Practically help people

2) Freewill

3) Test

4) Reasons beyond our understanding

The Problem of Evil PostersThe Problem of Evil PostersUse a double page in your books to design a poster

You must include the following

The Nature of God

What is the problem of evil and suffering

The Christian response to evil and suffering

Since evil is 'done' by human beings, it is up to each of them to eliminate evil. Evil acts are committed by choice. We are free to choose not to do evil.

God gave human beings the 'gift' of free will. Human beings choose to use this gift for good or for evil.