If God is so great, then why is the world he has created considered gruesome by some individuals?
The Lord is meant to be a being of puirty and morality, the epritome of goodness according to most, if not all religions and spirtual belivers.However, the question is that why does he allow such horrific acts of crime and misjudgment to be taken place in the world he suposeduly created? It could argued that more people have abandoned their faith because of the problem of evil than for any other reason.The problem of evil makes three underlying assumptions, that God all-powerful, all-knowing, and all-perfect.Religion can be a fickle subject for many, as the unknown is both intriging and fearsome; when the issues of evil is added in that equation, it can cause many individuals to become unsure of where they stand and might even cause them to desert or lose their faith all-together.
The first premise of the problem of evil, is that God is all knowing,which can be referenced to Jeremiah 10:12 in the holy scuprture of christianity, which states, " It is he who made the earth by his power, who established the world by his wisdom, and by his understanding stretched out the heavens." This relgious scripture shows that the all-mighty God is in control and that he has for certain knowledge of the future.It states that the Lord has created everything we know, he has created the earth by using his powers as God and has intrusted his wisdom and thoughts into his mighty creation in order to expand their limits. Second century philosopher Irenaeus formulated an argument against the problem of evil based around the idea that human morality is still developingi. He argued that evil is necessary for human moral and spiritual development and is p...
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...cent people from enduring this evil and suffering.Perhaps the greatest challenge for the believer of religion is accepting the existence God and the existence of evil and suffering. Often people seeking spiritual belief demand a reasonable solution to this dilemma. Monotheists demand a solution. It is irrational to arbitrarily change the role of God to suit different circumstances.
Works Cited
i Davis, Stephen T. (2001). Encountering evil: live options in theodicy. Westminster John Knox Press. ii Hick J.,1983, Philosophy of Religion, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall iii Plantinga, Alvin. 1974. The Nature of Necessary. Oxford: Oxford University Press. iv James Franklin, Think 5 (Autumn 2003), 97-101 v Charles Hartshorne and the Existence of God, Donald Wayne Viney, vi Hartshorne, Charles. Omnipotence and Other Theological Mistakes. Albany: State U of New York P 1984.
Kreeft, Peter. (1988).“The Problem of Evil.” Chapter 7 in Fundamentals of the Faith. San Francisco: Ignatius Press.
Rich, Gregory P. "Omnipotence And God's Existence." North Carolina Religious Studies Association, Wake Forest University. 20 November 2002 <http://www.wfu.edu/Organizations/ncrsa/papers/gregrich.pdf>
Evans, C. Stephen. Critical Dialog in Philosophy of Religion. 1985. Downers Grove, IL. InterVarsity Press. Taken from Philosophy of Religion - Selected Readings, Fourth Edition. 2010. Oxford University Press, NY.
8- McDermid, Douglas. "God's Existence." PHIL 1000H-B Lecture 9. Trent University, Peterborough. 21 Nov. 2013. Lecture.
The problem of evil is a difficult objection to contend with for theists. Indeed, major crises of faith can occur after observing or experiencing the wide variety and depths of suffering in the world. It also stands that these “evils” of suffering call into question the existence of an omnibenevolent and omnipotent God of the Judeo-Christian tradition. The “greater good defense” tries to account for some of the issues presented, but still has flaws of its own.
Throughout the world, most people believe in some type of god or gods, and the majority of them understand God as all-good, all-knowing (omniscient), and all-powerful (omnipotent). However, there is a major objection to the latter belief: the “problem of evil” (P.O.E.) argument. According to this theory, God’s existence is unlikely, if not illogical, because a good, omniscient, and omnipotent being would not allow unnecessary suffering, of which there are enormous amounts.
The problem of evil arguably the most personal and haunting question in apologetics. No heart is untouched by the sting of another’s words and the ultimate display of evil, death. For some, like Elie Wiesel in his autobiography Night, the full scope of human evil is unbearably clear as they are faced with the full measure of human evil. This reality of evil often leads to two responses: “since there is evil, there cannot be a god” or “if there is a god, he cannot be loving or powerful, or worse, he enjoys evil.” By exploring the nature of evil, developing loving, Christian responses, and historical evils like the persecution of the Jews, the problem of evil and the hope depicted in scripture comes into focus.
In a world of chaos, he who lives, lives by his own laws and values. Who is to say that the death of millions is any worse or better, for that matter, than injuring a cockroach. And in the case of an existing power in the form of God, who is presumed to be all which is good, presiding and ruling an organized universe, why then does evil exist? The prosaic response of “without evil, there is no good” no longer holds any validity in this argument as the admitted goal of good is to reach an existence without evil. So even if a God does exist, I think it is fair, at this point, to say that he is the embodiment of both good and evil. And if humoring those who would answer the previous question with the response that there can be no good without evil, then can we assume that evil is simply a subsection of a defined good? Or perhaps even a good thing? If it is essential, those who chose the side of evil are simply abiding by good values. In the case of a world ruled by Chaos, evil is a non-existent word or value, rather. The system upon which a person’s actions are judged also disappears leaving nothing but an instinct for natural survival as basic and primary as the life within the forests which we tear down to build our houses.
For how could God have enough power and knowledge to create and sustain the physical universe if He can 't even prevent evil? How could He be the providential governor of the world if He is unable to do what even we frequently do, namely prevent evil?” (5). This statement argues that God is not all powerful because he is unable to prevent evil in the world. Daniel Howard-Snyder then argues that: “Would a perfectly good being always prevent evil as far as he can?
The Power of God, Readings on Omnipotence and Evil, Edited by Linwood Urban and Douglas N. Walton, New York, Oxford University Press, 1978
In order to understand The Problem of Evil, we must first understand the concept of God. The God that this problem addresses is what we call a PKM god. This god is accepted in multiple religions, such as Christianity, Islam, and Judaism. Over half of the world population claims to be followers of any of
Paley, William. “Natural Theology,” in Introduction to Philosophy. 6th edition. Perry, Bratman, and Fischer. Oxford University Press. 2013, pp. 47-51.
The problem of reconciling an omnipotent, perfectly just, perfectly benevolent god with a world full of evil and suffering has plagued believers since the beginning of religious thought. Atheists often site this paradox in order to demonstrate that such a god cannot exist and, therefore, that theism is an invalid position. Theodicy is a branch of philosophy that seeks to defend religion by reconciling the supposed existence of an omnipotent, perfectly just God with the presence of evil and suffering in the world. In fact, the word “theodicy” consists of the Greek words “theos,” or God, and “dike,” or justice (Knox 1981, 1). Thus, theodicy seeks to find a sense of divine justice in a world filled with suffering.
God is the source of evil. He created natural evil, and gave humans the ability to do moral evil by giving them a free will. However, had he not given people free will, then their actions would not be good or evil; nor could God reward or punish man for his actions since they had no choice in what to do. Therefore, by giving humans choice and free will, God allowed humanity to decide whether to reward themselves with temporary physical goods, and suffer in the long run from unhappiness, or forsake bodily pleasures for eternal happiness.
1) Oxford Readings in Philosophy. The Concept of God. New York: Oxford University press 1987