Year 7 · Religious education · Religion, ethics and philosophy · Lesson 4

The problem of evil and suffering

The problem of evil and suffering: God's love and power, moral and natural evil, the free will defence (Augustine) and soul-making (Irenaeus), and Christian, Buddhist and humanist responses.

17-minute video lesson

Teaching, worked examples and 20 practice questions solved step by step.

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What your child will learn

Explain the problem of evil
Tell moral and natural evil apart
Describe the free will and soul-making responses
Compare religious and non-religious responses

The method

Explain.
Religious response.
Criticism.
Judge sensitively.

Key words: problem of evil, suffering, moral evil, natural evil, free will, theodicy, omnipotent.

Worked examples

The first three practice questions from the lesson, with every step.

Question 1

What is the problem of evil?

Step 1: Why suffering?

Answer: if God is all-loving and all-powerful, why is there suffering?

Question 2

What does ‘omnipotent’ mean?

Step 1: Power

Answer: all-powerful

Question 3

What does ‘omnibenevolent’ mean?

Step 1: Love

Answer: all-loving / all-good