God’s being is eidos, the essence which forms the basis of humans. With God defined, the core problem being investigated by Augustine and Evodius becomes clear. Augustine states the key issue that must be reconciled in his inquiry; “we believe that everything that exists comes from the one God, and yet we believe that God is not the cause of sins. What is troubling is that if you admit that sins come from… God, pretty soon you’ll be tracing those sins back to God” (Augustine, 3). It therefore appears evident that God must be the root of all evil, as He created all things.
One of the essential gifts within knowledge of God is “a perfect knowledge of the nature of the animals, the herbs, the fruits, the trees, and the remaining creatures. Unlike pantheism, Theocentrism believes there is one God who created and works within the world, yet dwells within all of his creation. In this, God is more than the trinity, which implies that the importance and worth of people and the environment, are ascribed to God’s one time creation, while ignoring the trinities work in the world—much like the Deistic
However, n this world evil is constantly seen all around us. Because God is the author of all things in this world, and he is good, theists must then ask themselves what evil is and where it came from. Augustine sets up an argument I his Confessions that attempts to define evil, and in doing so he explains its existence. To follow this argument, it is important to realize that Augustine accepts some basic precepts regarding God and His creation. To begin with, God is the author of everything.
The true and accurate record of special revelation is found in the Bible. The greatest special revelation is found in Jesus Christ as God who took on flesh and came to earth and ultimately suffered and died for us. Although general revelation is important in the identifying and understanding God’s power, it alone is not sufficient for salvation. Salvation can only be found through acceptance of the son, Jesus Christ, which is the special revelation. General revelation can bring someone to God, although it is special revelation which brings someone the saving grace found through Jesus.
Aristotle’s argument was that, because everything physical was subject to change, there must be an immaterial, immutable mover, causing movement without being changed itself during the process. This is the Prime Mover. In a similar was, Judaeo Christians believe that God is invariable and eternal. These traditional theists think God is the creator of the world, and creates ex-nihilo, but is unaffected by these creations. He is purely a sustainer of the world and all things.
People see the world differently. The religious believe that God created the world and therefore God is aware of all situations, suggest God is the reason for everything that occurs in the world (Sire, 2004). This leads to the question of whether a spirit created the world or not. Chaotic situations that occur are part of reality and individuals are rewarded when dealing appropriately with bad times and learning from them. The reward is that there is a sense of appreciation and gratefulness for the good times and to ensure those times are not taken for granted.
Berry believes that humans posse intrinsic values and everything we do is through and for God. He states “We will discover that the Creation is not in any sense independent of the creator, the result of a primal creative act long over and done with, but is the continuous, constant participation of all creatures in the being of God.”(97) Heschel on the other hand talks about how to be human is to have problems. He recognizes the imperfections of man and talks about how anyone who says they do not have problems is an “idiot”. Heschel appeals to the human sense in his argument and unlike Berry it does not directly reference a higher power. I side with Heschel because he stresses the imperfections of man and through this morality man shows his true being.
Human nature is that which makes us distinct from the nature of the animals and the rest of creation in that we can think and feel. One of the primary distinctions between human beings and the rest of creation is the ability to reason. No other creature has this ability thus, this is a unique gift bestowed by God. Our reason enables us to reflect on our own nature and the nature of God and to derive knowledge of God's will for His creation. No other part of God’s creation has a nature capable of reason and that is to distinguish right from wrong.
If God is omnipotent and omnibenevolent, then why does he allow real suffering to exist within the world of humanity? Based on my personal reflection, I believe that God shouldn’t be categorized as both an all-powerful and an all-loving God, since he allows moral and natural evil to occur within the world. Wouldn’t an all-loving and all-powerful God want to see humans happy and allow empathy in the world? In the book of Genesis, God is considered as the sole creator of everything involved in the universe. Considering that he is the sole creator, we would intent that all things he brought would be based on soulful and good intentions.
God was the creator of the universe. As God is so perfect he had to share what he already had. When God created humans he wanted friends not puppets so he gave us freewill in order for us to make up our own decisions. When Jesus was addressed as good master he replied, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but God himself.