The problem of evil is the reconciliation of the existence of evil (or suffering) with the existence of an omniscient, omnipotent and omnibenevolent god. In sum it is:
- God exists
- God is omnipotent
- God is benevolent
- Benevolent beings are opposed to all evil.
- God is opposed to all evil.
- God can eliminate evil completely.
- Whatever end result of suffering, God can bring about by ways which do not include suffering.
- God has no reason not to eliminate evil
- Whatever end result of suffering, God can bring about by ways which do not include suffering.
- God will eliminate evil completely.
- Evil exists, has existed, and probably will always exist.
- The last two statements are contradictory; therefore, one or more of thepremises is false.
- Thus God is not both omnipotent and benevolent (or)
- God does not exist.
Rebuttal: Freewill
The freewill defence states that God allows human to be(do) evil because of freewill.
Answer: Non-sense
- The does not account for non-human suffering.
- It also does not account for suffering beyond man’s control (hurricanes, tsusamis, etc).
- If God can do anything - why can’t he make free will & perfect happiness co-exist?
- Whose freedom? If one has the right to decide to kill another, the other automatically loses the right to not die. Does God favour the evil?
Blogged with Flock
One Response
"People who advocate freedom, yet deprecate agitation, are people who want crops without plowing the ground. They want rain without the awful roar of the thunder and lightning.
Without struggle, there is no progress. This struggle might be a moral one. It might be a physical one. It might be both moral and physical, but it must be a struggle.
Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will. People may not get all that they pay for in this world, but they certainly pay for all that they get." ~ Frederick Douglas
I agree with you on all this.
However, I think evil and good are purely human concepts. Therefore; God likely doesn’t endorse any concepts that humans embrace. If God really wanted to eradicate what we consider to be evil, she’d have to wipe out the entire human race.
Just my two cents. I don’t subscribe to any of today’s mythologies, but I still do believe in a higher power or God if you will. Maybe it’s just impossible for me to shake off all my upbringin’.