STARTER:

What is the problem of evil and suffering for Christians…?

Using your mini whiteboards finish the following sentences.

If God is OMNISCIENT then…he would

KNOW how to remove or prevent evil and suffering.

If God is OMNIPOTENT then…he would

BE ABLE to remove or prevent evil and suffering.

If God is OMNI-BENEVOLENT then…

he wouldnot want us to feel pain and WANT to remove evil

and suffering.

OBJECTIVE:

To use the teaching of Original Sin to

understand how Christians respond to the problem of evil

and suffering.

OUTCOMES…Grade C – Will be able to list the different explanations Christians give for the existence of evil and suffering.

Grade B – Will be able to give examples from the story of Adam and Eve fitting the Christian responses to evil and suffering.

Grade A - Will be able to evaluate whether these Christian responses solve the problem that evil and suffering poses.

Your GOALS for the end of

this lesson are…

Christian responses to the PROBLEM

of evil and suffering…

Fill in the FIRST TWO COLUMNS of the table

provided using the PICTURE CLUES you are

given.

God is sometimes called Father. At times parents will either act or stand

back to let you feel pain.

Christians believe it is important to learn from our

mistakes and the existence of evil and suffering is God’s way of

allowing this to happen.

Everybody does things that are wrong. The pain we feel happens because we have done bad things. Evil and suffering exists because God is punishing us.

Pain is punishment for the bad things we do against God (SIN).

=

Pain teaches us the difference between right and wrong. It teaches us responsibility. Learning to take care of what God has given us. Bad things happen when we don’t take responsibility.

EXAMPLE: If we don’t look after the environment bad things such as natural disasters happen.

We need to experience bad things so we can appreciate the good things.

If we did not have bad things then how would we recognise good things. There has to be a balance between the two.

EXAMPLE: You love holidays because they are a break from school and work. It is different to your normal day.

Evil and suffering is a result of bad choices.

God gave mankind free will. We can choose whether to do good things or bad things. As a result evil and suffering is down to us. What about natural suffering?

When bad events affect others they might create a force. This negative force might cause natural suffering to happen somewhere. If we change our behaviour we can make a difference.

Evil and suffering is all part of God’s plan of which we will

never understand.

Don’t question God. Accept his will.

We are only human and some say that we do not

have the ability to understand God.

If we can not understand

God then how can we really understand

what goes on in his world.

The devil causes all of the evil and suffering.

The devil wants people to suffer and so he is controlling people who do bad things.

He tempts people to abuse their free-will and to do bad things. This causes evil and suffering in the world.

Evil and suffering is a test of faith

God allows evil and suffering to exist in the world to test human beings faith in him.

Those who believe in spite of evil and suffering are truly

faithful.

Exam practice• Use the notes you have made to

answer Q2 on p9.

• It is a (c) question so you need to give four points and four examples or explanations to go with each one.

• Remember an example can be a quote, a teaching, something Jesus did or an explanation of your point.

Complete page 6 of your

REVISION WORKBOOK

using your notes from this lesson.

Swap with a partner and mark each others work in GREEN PEN

The type of question is (c) and the marks for the question are (8).

Write your P’s and E’s in the margin.

Please comment – giving a POSITIVE and a TARGET

OUTCOMES…

Grade C – Will be able to list the different explanations Christians give for the existence of evil and suffering.

Did you achieve the GOAL?…

HOW TO REMEMBER…?

• Christians believe that the story of Adam and Eve help them to understand why evil and suffering occurs on the Earth.

ORIGINAL SIN

The FIRST ever SIN.

A sin inherited by all descendants of Adam.

Adam and Eve committed the original sin when they ate the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden.

ORIGINAL SIN

Sub Heading: Original Sin

Watch the following clip.

How many of the 8 Christian explanations for evil and suffering can you spot?

On your table sheet TICK all the explanations that you find.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=channel&v=NRGnPIlclps&ytsession=87m0JJvdgpfzsJtfBt_aw7U6fG77GZvq_kJgjLFKM-xZ4Dc6lNUsit_p7r_BEX5WVgDBlcd3SGV32hI_yewYUcgIDPenPjYTWehzGxz7sKwKug8i_ENwMYPNT0TuhsXg99TSNRgo0JXzl1Bnkf1cEjsSwkJF7BC97BQ-VQIkpNcAmgEGvp7ilh78SqFBbGFG27VNbEQ72t4p81nVP8s3Ei5uA8AYQAOv_6n2KtwGp12sGFqdxuVA_QdT3PZqxW1FE9ZIjujdxe4

ORIGINAL SIN

Sub Heading: Original Sin

Write the following headings and leave 5 lines between each.

TEST of FAITHPUNISHMENTFREE-WILLTHE DEVIL

Now give an example of each from the story.

God tests Adam and Eve’s FAITH by asking them to follow His rules without questioning Him.

By putting the tree in the garden God is testing their FAITH.

TEST OF FAITH

Adam and Eve are PUNISHED for going against God (committing SIN).

The serpent is PUNISHED for tempting Adam and Eve.

PUNISHMENT

Adam and Eve

are given the FREEDOM from God to CHOOSE whether to obey Him or to break His commands.

FREE-WILL

THE DEVIL

The DEVIL appears

as the SERPENT and tempts Eve to break God’s commandment.

OUTCOMES…

Grade B – Will be able to give examples from the story of Adam and Eve fitting the Christians responses to evil and suffering.

Did you achieve the GOAL?…

What do you think?Do the responses you have looked at today solve the problem of evil and suffering for theists?

Look at each Christian response individually…

Fill in the last column of your sheet – remember to explain your ideas (give reasons for your answer).

OUTCOMES…

Grade A - Will be able to evaluate whether these Christian responses solve the problem that evil and suffering poses.

Did you achieve the GOAL?…

Using your mini whiteboards…

Guess the Christian response to evil and suffering from the picture shown

PLENARY…

Punishment

Test

Responsibility

The Devil

Free Will (making choices)

A lesson

Experience