Lesson video

Hi, my name's Ms. Minton and welcome to this lesson on the Inconsistent Triad.

Now, by the end of this lesson, you'll be able to explain the problem of evil with reference to the inconsistent triad.

Now we'll be drawing upon our knowledge of the qualities and characteristics of the God of classical theism, but there'll also be lots of new learning today.

Please don't worry though because I'm here to guide you through each step of our lesson, and I'm confident that by the end, you'll achieve this outcome.

So let's get started by taking a look at our keywords.

We have evil, inconsistent triad, omnibenevolent, and omnipotent.

Now, evil refers to the opposite of good and a cause of suffering.

The inconsistent triad is a representation of evil as being inconsistent with the nature of the God of classical theism.

Omnibenevolent refers to the belief that God is all loving and infinitely good.

And omnipotent refers to the belief that God is all powerful.

Now, today's lesson, we'll have two parts.

We'll start by looking at the problem of evil in the world, and we'll then move on to look at the inconsistent triad.

So let's get started and take a look at the problem of evil in the world.

Now, I'd like you to have a look at the two images that you can see on the screen here.

One is of the aftermath of an earthquake and the other is of a break in.

Now, both are showing situations that are evil and cause suffering to humans in some way, but there is a difference between these two situations.

Now I'd like you to pause the video and either talk to a partner, talk to me, or have a think to yourself.

What's the difference between the two situations here? Off you go.

So the difference between these two situations is that an earthquake is a natural occurrence, so it occurs naturally in our world, whereas a break in or theft is carried out by a human, and a theft is a conscious choice and conscious action of a human being.

Now, evil that occurs naturally like an earthquake is known as natural evil whereas evil that occurs as a result of human action is known as moral evil.

Now, I'd like us to think about model and natural evil in a bit more detail now.

So I'd like you to pause the video and either talk to a partner, talk to me, or have a think to yourself.

Can you think of any other examples of natural evil? Off you go.

So as part of your thinking time or your discussion, you may have said naturally occurring events like tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, or hurricanes.

I'd now like you to pause the video again but this time I'd like you to see if you can think of any other examples of moral evil.

So pause the video and either talk to a partner, talk to me, or have a think to yourself.

Off you go.

So as part of your thinking time or your discussion, you may have considered actions carried out by humans such as murder, assault, or bullying.

So let's now check your understanding.

Which of the following best describes natural evil? A, evil and suffering caused by the natural world.

B, evil and suffering caused by God.

Or C, evil and suffering caused by humans? Fantastic, the correct answer is A, evil and suffering caused by the natural world is the statement that best describes natural evil.

Well done.

Now, moral evil and natural evil can cause humans to question God's qualities as being all loving, all powerful, and all knowing, and it can even cause some people to actually question God's entire existence.

And the questions that moral and natural evil raise is known as the problem of evil.

Now, I'd like you to pause the video and either talk to a partner, talk to me, or have a think to yourself.

Why do you think the existence of moral and natural evil might cause somebody to question God's qualities or God's existence? Off you go.

So this is because the God of classical theism is described as omnibenevolent which means all loving, omnipotent which means all powerful, and omniscient which means all knowing.

But the existence of moral and natural evil might cause somebody to question how can it be possible for God to have these qualities when there's so much evil and suffering in the world? Now, for some people, the existence of evil in the world is actually proof that God doesn't exist at all.

Zoe is an atheist, and this is her belief.

Zoe says, "Everyday, I see evil in the world and people suffering.

I personally believe that if God existed, the world would not be like this.

Instead, it would be a much better place with less evil and suffering." So what we can see from Zoe's belief is that the existence of moral and natural evil can not only cause some people to question God's qualities, but it can actually cause some people to doubt God's entire existence, and possibly believe that God does not exist at all.

So let's now check your understanding.

Which of the following refers to the questions raised about God by the existence of evil in the world? A, the problem of sin.

B, the problem of good.

C, the problem of evil, or D, the problem of nature? Fantastic.

The correct answer is C.

The problem of evil refers to the questions raised about God by the existence of evil in the world.

Well done.

It's now time for a task.

Now, today's task has two parts.

For the first part, I would like you to complete the table by defining natural and moral evil and including an example of each.

And for the second task, I would like you to use the sentence stems to explain what the problem of evil is.

The sentence stems are the problem of evil refers to.

This leads some people to question.

So pause the video and have a go at completing both tasks.

Welcome for your work during that task.

So let's take a look at what you may have said for task one.

So task one asked you to complete the table to describe natural and moral evil and include one example for each.

For natural evil, you may have said that this is evil caused by nature, and you may have given the example of earthquakes.

And for moral evil, you might have said that this is evil caused by humans, and you may have given the example of murder.

So well done for defining both moral and natural evil and providing an example which might be the same as mine, or it might be a different example that we've used in this lesson.

For the second task you were asked to use the sentence stems to explain what the problem of evil is and your response might look something like this.

The problem of evil refers to the problem of the existence of evil and the qualities and existence of God.

This leads some people to question whether God possesses the qualities that classical theism claims or whether He exists at all.

So well done for your work on both of those tasks.

We're now moving on to the second part of our lesson, which is to look at the inconsistent triad.

Now, the problem with evil was first put forward by the ancient Greek philosopher Epicurus.

An Epicurus specifically questioned God's omnibenevolence and omnipotence in relation to the existence of evil in the world.

Epicurus proposed that if God is willing to prevent evil but not able to, then God is not all powerful.

If God is able to prevent evil but not willing, then God is not all good.

And if God is both able and willing to prevent evil, then why does evil still exist? So let's check your understanding.

Which ancient Greek philosopher first put forward the problem of evil? A, Aristotle.

B, Plato.

C, Socrates.

Or D, Epicurus? Fantastic.

The correct answer is D.

Epicurus was the ancient Greek philosopher that first put forward the problem of evil.

Well done.

Now later, Epicurus ideas were formulated into what's known as the inconsistent triad.

Now, the inconsistent triad represents the existence of evil against God's omnibenevolence and omnipotence.

So against the belief that God is all loving and all powerful.

Now it's important to note that the word inconsistent refers to when two or more things are not compatible or in keeping with each other.

So with that in mind, I would like you to pause the video and either talk to a partner, talk to me, or have a think to yourself.

Why do you think this is known as the inconsistent triad? Off you go.

So this is known as the inconsistent triad because God being omnibenevolent and omnipotent is inconsistent with the existence of evil.

So the three things don't make sense together.

It doesn't make sense to say that God is all loving and God is all powerful whilst evil exists in the world.

Now, this argument can be used to argue that God might not exist or that God might not possess the qualities of omnipotence and omnibenevolent.

Now, this is because if God is omnibenevolent, He would want to stop evil, and that's because God cares about humans and loves humans.

So why would He want them to suffer? If God is omnipotent, then that means God would have the ability to stop evil because God can do anything and everything including preventing evil and suffering or ending it completely.

However, we know that evil still exists because we see it and we experience it in the world every day.

Therefore, either God does not possess the qualities of being omnibenevolent and omnipotent or God doesn't exist at all.

Now, as well as this, although the inconsistent triad doesn't directly mention God's omniscience, so the belief that God is all knowing, some people do use the logic of the inconsistent triad to also question whether God is omniscient.

This is because if God has fore foreknowledge of the evil that humans will experience, why does God not stop evil? Perhaps this is because God does not possess the quality of omniscience.

So let's now check your understanding.

True or false? The inconsistent triad demonstrates that God's characteristics and the existence of evil are compatible.

Fantastic.

That statement is false.

But why is that statement false? Well, it's because the inconsistent triad actually demonstrates that God's characteristics of omnibenevolence and omnipotence are not compatible with the existence of evil, so they don't make sense alongside the existence of evil.

Now, for some people, the inconsistent triad represents the problem of evil as a major challenge to God's nature as omnibenevolent and omnipotent.

And for some people, it also represents a major challenge to God's existence entirely.

Now, Joe is an example of somebody who doubts God's characteristics because of the problem of evil.

Joe says, "I'm unsure about my belief in God.

I believe that it's likely that a higher power exists, but because of evil and suffering, I don't think that this higher power can be the God of classical theism who is said to be omnipotent and omnibenevolent." So what we can see here is that Joe is somebody who does believe there is an existence of a higher being or a higher power but the problem of evil has caused Joe to doubt whether this can be the God of classical theism.

Now, Zoe is an example of someone who doubts God's existence completely based on the inconsistent triad and the problem of evil.

Zoe says, "The inconsistent triad is a good representation of why I believe that God does not exist.

Personally, I believe that God does not exist at all rather than believing that God exists, but without the characteristics of omnipotence and omnibenevolence." So what we can see from Joe and Zoe is that the inconsistent triad and the problem of evil caused some people to doubt God's characteristics and others to doubt God's existence completely.

So let's now check your understanding.

Is this statement true or false? The inconsistent triad only presents a challenge to the characteristics of the God of classical theism.

Fantastic.

That statement is false.

But why is that statement false? Well, it's because although it's true that the inconsistent triad can cast out on God's characteristics, it can also cast out on God's entire existence.

So well done for identifying that the statement is false and for identifying the reason why.

It's now time for your final task of the lesson.

I would like you to write a paragraph explaining what the inconsistent triad is and how it challenges God's characteristics and existence.

Here are some sentence stems that you might like to use to help you.

You might start by saying that the problem of evil and suffering is.

And that the inconsistent triad shows the problem by looking at three ideas.

You might then go on to say that this raises the question that.

And the inconsistent triad suggests.

So pause the video and have a go.

Well done for your work during that task.

So you asked to write a paragraph explaining what the inconsistent triad is and how it challenges God's characteristics and existence, and your response might be similar to this.

The problem of evil and suffering is the questions raised by the existence of evil in the world.

The inconsistent triad shows the problem by looking at three ideas, that God is all powerful, all loving, and that evil exists.

This raises the question that if God loves everyone, and has the power to stop evil, why does evil still happen? The inconsistent triad suggests that either God is not all loving, not all powerful, or maybe that God doesn't exist at all.

So well done again for writing a paragraph explaining what the inconsistent triad is and how it challenges God's characteristics and existence.

We've now reached the end of our lesson but before we finish, let's take a look at some of the key things that we've learned today.

So we've learned that in the world, there are two types of evil that exist, moral evil and natural evil.

Natural evil is evil and suffering caused by nature, whereas moral evil is evil and suffering caused by humans.

We've also seen that the existence of this evil raises questions about God's characteristics and existence, and that the inconsistent triad containing ideas first put forward by Epicurus represents God as omnibenevolent and omnipotent as being inconsistent with the existence of evil.

We've also seen that some people might also question other characteristics of God, such as God's omniscience, and finally, how the inconsistent triad presents a major challenge to the characteristics of God and God's existence.

So a huge well done for all of your work this lesson.

It's been wonderful learning with you today.