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%
Prescribed texts
- A collection of readings available from the department
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