Theodicy Survey

1. I am a member or adherent of the following denomination or fellowship
Adventist
American Baptist Assoc
American Baptist Churches in USA
Assemblies of God
Baptist Bible Fellowship, International
Baptist General Conference
Baptist Missionary Assoc of America
Catholic
Christian and Missionary Alliance
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
Church of God (Anderson, Indiana)
Church of God (Cleveland, Tennessee)
Church of God of Prophecy
Church of the Brethren
Church of the Nazarene
Churches of Christ
Conservative Baptist Assoc of America
Episcopal
Foursquare Gospel
Free Will Baptists
General Baptist
Judaism
Lutheran
Mennonite
Methodist
Missionary Church
Mormon
Orthodox (Eastern)
Pentecostal
Presbyterian
Reformed
Roman Catholic Church
Southern Baptist Convention
Unitarian Universalist Assoc
United Churches of Christ
Weslayen Church
Other

2. I consider myself to be theologically
Liberal
Moderate
Conservative

3. I consider my self to be a Pentecostal/Charismatic believer.
Yes
No

4. I have had an experience with moral evil or natural evil that has caused me to give considerable thought to this issue.
Yes
No

5. My views on this subject are derived from Sermons
Yes
No

6. My views on this subject are derived from Reading the Bible
Yes
No

7. My views on this subject are derived from Reading philosophy
Yes
No

8. My views on this subject are derived from Sunday School classes
Yes
No

9. My views on this subject are derived from Conversations with friends
Yes
No

10. My views on this subject are derived from Educational institutions
Yes
No

11. My views on this subject are derived from Personal reflection
Yes
No

12. What is your gender?
Female
Male

13. How old are you?


14. What is your highest level of education?
High School
2 year college
4 year college
2 year Bible School
4 year Bible School
Seminary
Graduate Studies

15. Current country of residence:


16. If you would like to receive the results of the survey, please provide your e-mail address.


Instructions for the Survey on Natural Evil

The purpose of this survey is to determine how Christians from the full spectrum of denominational affiliations respond to various issues related to the problem of reconciling the natural evil experienced in our world with God's omnipotence and goodness.

Please respond with your initial reaction to the statement. Please do not try to reconcile your answers with previous answers. A "do not know" is as valuable and helpful answer as the other answers. Please do not change an answer once you have marked it, unless you simply filled in the wrong box. Please mark all 50 answers.

Survey on Natural Evil

Basic definitions:
Moral evil: evil resulting from the wrong moral choices of morally responsible beings (angelic or human) with free will.

Natural evil or natural suffering: Evil or suffering resulting from natural processes, such as storms, earthquakes, predators, etc.

Apparent evil: Evil or suffering which is necessary to prevent some equally bad or worse evil or to bring about some equally or more valuable good.

Gratuitous or real evil: Evil that could have been prevented without any loss of a corresponding good or prevention of an equally bad or worse evil.

Inscrutable evil: Evil for which no justifiable reason or purpose is imaginable.

Questionnaire: Please mark the box which best represents your understanding of the statement.

101. Being omnipotent means God can do anything, at all.
Strongly Agree
Somewhat Agree
Do not know
Somewhat Disagree
Strongly Disagree

102. God can not be tempted by evil and he tempts no one.
Strongly Agree
Somewhat Agree
Do not know
Somewhat Disagree
Strongly Disagree

103. Being omnipotent means God has all power and total control of all things.
Strongly Agree
Somewhat Agree
Do not know
Somewhat Disagree
Strongly Disagree

104. God can make a world in which a given individual is both eternally damned and eternally saved.
Strongly Agree
Somewhat Agree
Do not know
Somewhat Disagree
Strongly Disagree

105. God's omniscience means he knows all things that can be known.
Strongly Agree
Somewhat Agree
Do not know
Somewhat Disagree
Strongly Disagree

106. There is gratuitous, that is, real evil in the world.
Strongly Agree
Somewhat Agree
Do not know
Somewhat Disagree
Strongly Disagree

107. This is the best of all possible worlds.
Strongly Agree
Somewhat Agree
Do not know
Somewhat Disagree
Strongly Disagree

108. Everything that happens is designed by God to glorify God.
Strongly Agree
Somewhat Agree
Do not know
Somewhat Disagree
Strongly Disagree

109. The world could be a better place than it is if people made better choices.
Strongly Agree
Somewhat Agree
Do not know
Somewhat Disagree
Strongly Disagree

110. God made human beings to be morally responsible.
Strongly Agree
Somewhat Agree
Do not know
Somewhat Disagree
Strongly Disagree

111. Everything that happens is God's will.
Strongly Agree
Somewhat Agree
Do not know
Somewhat Disagree
Strongly Disagree

112. God wills none to perish, but all (everyone who has ever been born) to come to repentance.
Strongly Agree
Somewhat Agree
Do not know
Somewhat Disagree
Strongly Disagree

113. God gave human beings free will.
Strongly Agree
Somewhat Agree
Do not know
Somewhat Disagree
Strongly Disagree

114. There are things that happen that God does not will.
Strongly Agree
Somewhat Agree
Do not know
Somewhat Disagree
Strongly Disagree

115. All natural processes that result in natural disasters are God's will.
Strongly Agree
Somewhat Agree
Do not know
Somewhat Disagree
Strongly Disagree

116. God knows all things as absolutely, unchangeably true.
Strongly Agree
Somewhat Agree
Do not know
Somewhat Disagree
Strongly Disagree

117. Sin is always against God's will.
Strongly Agree
Somewhat Agree
Do not know
Somewhat Disagree
Strongly Disagree

118. Natural disasters are one of God's ways to warn people of their sins.
Strongly Agree
Somewhat Agree
Do not know
Somewhat Disagree
Strongly Disagree

119. If God knows from all eternity that a given individual is lost, that person cannot be saved.
Strongly Agree
Somewhat Agree
Do not know
Somewhat Disagree
Strongly Disagree

120. Prayer changes things.
Strongly Agree
Somewhat Agree
Do not know
Somewhat Disagree
Strongly Disagree

121. Accidents happen to everybody, Christian or non-Christian.
Strongly Agree
Somewhat Agree
Do not know
Somewhat Disagree
Strongly Disagree

122. In the new heavens and earth there will be no death or pain. Therefore there will not be any mortal animals or sea creatures with food chains involving living animals or plants.
Strongly Agree
Somewhat Agree
Do not know
Somewhat Disagree
Strongly Disagree

123. Lack of prayer changes things.
Strongly Agree
Somewhat Agree
Do not know
Somewhat Disagree
Strongly Disagree

124. The future is contingent.
Strongly Agree
Somewhat Agree
Do not know
Somewhat Disagree
Strongly Disagree

125. It is God's duty to minimize or prevent suffering from natural or moral evil.
Strongly Agree
Somewhat Agree
Do not know
Somewhat Disagree
Strongly Disagree

126. Prayer changes things, not just the person praying.
Strongly Agree
Somewhat Agree
Do not know
Somewhat Disagree
Strongly Disagree

127. Natural evil is the result of solely natural processes.
Strongly Agree
Somewhat Agree
Do not know
Somewhat Disagree
Strongly Disagree

128. The world would be a better place if there were less natural evil.
Strongly Agree
Somewhat Agree
Do not know
Somewhat Disagree
Strongly Disagree

129. Biblical passages that portray God as having passions are not literal. They simply portray God in human terms.
Strongly Agree
Somewhat Agree
Do not know
Somewhat Disagree
Strongly Disagree

130. Some natural suffering caused solely by natural processes appears to be gratuitous or inscrutable.
Strongly Agree
Somewhat Agree
Do not know
Somewhat Disagree
Strongly Disagree

131. Satan and his fallen angels are the source of much, if not all, of the natural evil (storms, earth quakes, volcanoes, etc) in the world.
Strongly Agree
Somewhat Agree
Do not know
Somewhat Disagree
Strongly Disagree

132. There is no such thing as a best possible world.
Strongly Agree
Somewhat Agree
Do not know
Somewhat Disagree
Strongly Disagree

133. God prevents some natural evil that would have been the result of solely natural processes.
Strongly Agree
Somewhat Agree
Do not know
Somewhat Disagree
Strongly Disagree

134. God does not allow gratuitous natural evil.
Strongly Agree
Somewhat Agree
Do not know
Somewhat Disagree
Strongly Disagree

135. All evil is gratuitous.
Strongly Agree
Somewhat Agree
Do not know
Somewhat Disagree
Strongly Disagree

136. There is no gratuitous evil. All evil is apparent evil.
Strongly Agree
Somewhat Agree
Do not know
Somewhat Disagree
Strongly Disagree

137. Natural suffering is not really "evil." It is simply the result of life on a living active planet.
Strongly Agree
Somewhat Agree
Do not know
Somewhat Disagree
Strongly Disagree

138. God can bring good out of gratuitous evil.
Strongly Agree
Somewhat Agree
Do not know
Somewhat Disagree
Strongly Disagree

139. God allows the natural processes of the world to take place without overt divine action for the most part.
Strongly Agree
Somewhat Agree
Do not know
Somewhat Disagree
Strongly Disagree

140. Even without evil intent, finite free will creatures can create chaos through lack of knowledge.
Strongly Agree
Somewhat Agree
Do not know
Somewhat Disagree
Strongly Disagree

141. God prevents some of the natural evil that would have resulted from satanic activity.
Strongly Agree
Somewhat Agree
Do not know
Somewhat Disagree
Strongly Disagree

142. God is aware of and sustains creation down to the small subatomic particles.
Strongly Agree
Somewhat Agree
Do not know
Somewhat Disagree
Strongly Disagree

143. The gods of the nations mentioned in the Bible are fallen angels, the "sons of God" mentioned in Genesis 6:1-4.
Strongly Agree
Somewhat Agree
Do not know
Somewhat Disagree
Strongly Disagree

144. The collision of the Comet Shoemaker-Levy in 1994 with Jupiter was solely the result of natural processes.
Strongly Agree
Somewhat Agree
Do not know
Somewhat Disagree
Strongly Disagree

145. The asteroid strikes such as Meteor Crater in Arizona, the Gulf of Mexico, etc. were solely the result of natural processes.
Strongly Agree
Somewhat Agree
Do not know
Somewhat Disagree
Strongly Disagree

146. There is nothing in Genesis 1 through 3 that indicates the animals, from one-cell organisms, to plankton and to whales, were created to be immortal.
Strongly Agree
Somewhat Agree
Do not know
Somewhat Disagree
Strongly Disagree

147. Genesis 3 indicates that Adam and Eve did not possess bodies that were inherently immortal.
Strongly Agree
Somewhat Agree
Do not know
Somewhat Disagree
Strongly Disagree

148. God would not allow a massive asteroid to hit the earth now that it is inhabited by human beings.
Strongly Agree
Somewhat Agree
Do not know
Somewhat Disagree
Strongly Disagree

149. Hercules was one of the "men of old, the men of renown," resulting from the mating of the "sons of God" with the "daughters of men" spoken of in Genesis 6:1-4.
Strongly Agree
Somewhat Agree
Do not know
Somewhat Disagree
Strongly Disagree

150. There is no observable divine activity in the universe. All phenomena must be studied in terms of natural cause and effect and human relationships.
Strongly Agree
Somewhat Agree
Do not know
Somewhat Disagree
Strongly Disagree