Is it possible that God could potentially be the author of evil? These questions set the stage for our philosophers to propose potential solutions to why an all-powerful God could create or allow evil to exist in our world. Leibniz has two potential solutions to these questions that he classifies as the Holiness Problem and the Underachiever Problem (Murray). As I mentioned earlier the... ... middle of paper ... ... between the two philosophers. His solutions to the problem of evil seem more reliable and he provides more evidence to support his argument.
God and the Problem with Sin and Evil Before one understands why there is evil in the world one must ask two important questions. First, who is God and what is His personality/characteristics, and second, what is sin and how does it affect humans and their relationship with God? By understanding these two different types of questions, one will understand the implications of evil and therefore be able to establish if God truly is evil or if sin truly is the root of all the evil in the world. Sin is defined by Erickson when he refers to the work of Satan, saying, “In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is likeness of God.” 1 Consequently,
Both moral and natural evil exist in the world. If God is all loving and all powerful, why does he allow moral evils, such as humans committing evil act... ... middle of paper ... ...of evil in which we are and aren’t held accountable for. It is God who is accountable for our actions for he is the one who granted us with the power. With that being said, I argue that there is an inconsistency between the three tenets that intelligence and rational Christians affirm. Based on my belief, we cannot label God as all-powerful and loving considering that he has allowed the existence of evil not only to be welcomed into society but also to let it continue.
They have raised questions like ‘How can there be a God if there is evil?' These questions were raised due to God's nature: he is said to be all-powerful, all- knowing and all-good. If this is the case, why doesn't he stop evil? And, since people are supposed to be created in God's image, why are they capable of moral evil? If one believes that God exists, there can only be one answer: evil exists because God allows it, and moral evil exists because God has given us freedom of choice.
“I make peace and create evil. I the Lord do all these things.” (Isaiah 45:7). The Greek philosopher Epicurus put the Good God’s Evil puzzle in a very clear logical progression: “Is God willing to prevent evil, but is not able? Then he is not omnipotent Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent Is he both able & willing?
Hick offers many interesting views on evil and why exactly it exists. However, to some people, like Augustine, it sounds almost too good to be true. There are many theologians, and even non-theologians that will say evil is a necessary part of life. Augustine began to examine the idea of evil and came to the conclusion that an explanation for the existence of evil must be given, or else one must accept either that God created evil and therefore is partly evil as well. Evil is usually associated with nothingness and destruction.
Since evil exists, how can God be both omnipotent and loving? The Christian Science answer to this question is that evil is an illusion of the human mind. The Judaic/Christian faiths do not hold to this theory. The Bible is full of descriptions of good and evil in human life. Evil is pictured as dark and ugly.
In the excerpt from Philosophy of Religion, John Hicks outlines the problem of evil as such: (a) If God were truly omnibenevolent, he would then wish to eliminate all evil; (b) If God is were truly omnipotent, he would then be capable of eliminating evil; (c) Evil exists in the world. Therefore: (d) God is not omnibenevolent or He is not omnipotent. Either element of the conclusion is damaging to the traditional understanding of a Judeo-Christian God. It seems simple enough. A benevolent Creator appears incompatible with what we understand to be the existence of evil.
(Migliore 128) This view paints God as the punisher to both the wicked and the righteous, and that suffering is the result of one’s own actions. This argument sees the relationship between sin and suffering far too simply. Although, there is some Biblical support for this view in the old testament, it does not mirror the character of God revealed in Jesus Christ. The third argument proclaims suffering as something that turns us to God and helps to cultivate our hope for eternal life. (Migliore 128) This view teaches that Christians are supposed to encounter suffering as an opportunity to glorify God.
According to Moreland and Craig, “The greatest intellectual obstacle to belief in God is the so-called problem of evil (Moreland and Craig 536).” This paper will look at the logical argument for evil and the Christian’s response to the argument. The logical problem of evil was formed as a way to question certain characteristics of God. The argument puts to test God’s omnipotence and omnibenevolence. H.J. McCloskey wrote, “Evil is a problem, for the theist, in that a contradiction is involved in the fact of evil on the one hand and belief in the omnipotence and omniscience of God on the other (Beebe).”