Evil and the Goodness of God: Aquinas on the Problem of Evil | Prof. Gloria Frost

The Thomistic Institute

Christianity, Society & Culture, Catholic Intellectual Tradition, Catholic, Philosophy, Religion & Spirituality, Thomism, Catholicism

4.8 • 729 Ratings

🗓️ 12 March 2019

⏱️ 36 minutes

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Summary

This lecture was given at our chapter at Texas A&M University on February 25, 2019.

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Speaker Bio:

Gloria Frost is an associate professor of philosophy at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, MN. Her areas of research are medieval philosophy, metaphysics, philosophy of religion, and the history of science. She is an assistant editor for the American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly and on the executive councils for the American Catholic Philosophical Association and the Society for Medieval and Renaissance Philosophy. She is married to Jake Frost, author of "Catholic Dad" and the "Happy Jar," and they have four children.

Transcript

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0:00.0	So our world is full of pain and suffering. Nearly every day we read about horrific acts of violence and devastating natural disasters. In addition to events such as these that we read about in the news, they're also the hidden personal sufferings that don't make the headlines. Countless people among our family and friends, as well as strangers unknown to us,
0:22.7	quietly suffer afflictions such as depression, drug addiction, failed relationships, and rejections.
0:29.5	The obvious fact that our world includes much suffering is the starting point for one of the oldest
0:35.0	and most compelling arguments against the existence of God.
0:39.3	Why might you ask, do so many people think that the existence of God is incompatible with evil?
0:45.6	Well, if God is supposed to be all-knowing, as a traditional religion say, then God would be aware of all
0:51.6	the evils happening in the world. For example, God would know about the terrorist plot before the attack happened.
0:59.0	Furthermore, if God is all powerful, God would be able to stop all evil.
1:04.0	An omnipotent being like God could wipe out not only terrorists, but also ailments like childhood cancer.
1:10.0	And finally, if God is supposed to be all good,
1:12.9	as religious people say, God would want to stop all the evils in our world. We're not as good
1:20.1	as God is supposed to be, but all of us here, I suppose, would stop and wipe out all the evils
1:26.5	if we could. So why doesn't God do that?
1:30.3	If God is the sort of being who would know about all evil, be able to stop all evil, and want to
1:35.3	stop all evil, then it follows that if there were a God, it seems that all evil would have
1:41.3	been eliminated by now. But clearly there is still evil in our world,
1:45.7	so therefore it seems to many people that there cannot be in all-knowing, all-powerful, and all-good
1:51.1	God. Variations of this argument have been put forth by philosophers and theologians for
1:56.8	centuries in attempt to undermine belief in God.
2:00.8	In tonight's talk, I want to look to the great philosopher
2:04.3	and theologian, Thomas Aquinas, for wisdom
2:07.3	on the question of why there's evil in our world,
	...

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