Outline the reasons why some beliefs about God mean that suffering poses particular problems for religious
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a) Outline the reasons why some beliefs about God mean that suffering poses particular problems for religious believers. (7)
There are a number of reasons why some beliefs about God mean that suffering poses particular problems for religious believers, but the first belief I will outline is the belief of an all- powerful and all-loving God.
Many religious believers believe in the all-powerful and all-loving God of classical theism;the monotheistic God of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. These beliefs can lead to a powerful dilemma.
If God created the universe out of nothing and is totally responsible for it. If he is all-powerful, then he can do anything that is logically possible. This means he could create a world that is free from evil and suffering. Here religious believers create a problem for themselves as in believing in an all-powerful God who created the world 'ex nihilo' they are saying he thus must have created evil as well and due to his creating from nothing God has total responsibility for everything in it. Therefore he should be able to end all evil and suffering, so why does he chose not to?
Another religious belief is that God is omniscient and knows everything in the universe...