MONASH UNIVERSITY FACULTY HANDBOOKS

Arts Undergraduate Handbook 1996

Published by Monash University

Clayton, Victoria 3168, Australia

Authorised by Academic Registrar, April 1996

(ii) God, freedom and evil

Edward Khamara

Synopsis The existence of evil raises a problem for anyone who believes that God is all-powerful and wholly good. For if God is all-powerful, why does he not prevent evil? And if he is wholly good, why does he not wish to prevent it? One traditional solution to this problem is to say that God is not responsible for the moral evil in this world. God gave us freedom, the capacity to choose between good and evil; and moral evils are due entirely to the bad choices made by human beings. But could God not have done better? Could he not have seen to it that, when we make free choices, we never commit evil? A natural reply would be to say that we would not then be genuinely free. Which raises the central questions to be addressed in this course: what exactly does free action involve? And are we ever genuinely free, or is our sense of freedom no more than an illusion?

Assessment Essay (1200 words): 25% + Examination: 25%

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