Problem of Evil
The argument for the existence of God has been a debate for many centuries. God, in terms of philosophy, must be a supernatural being that: is all-knowing, is all-powerful, and is all-good. Theists believe God exists based on these terms; atheists on the other hand don’t believe in God. Atheists believe that if there is evil present in the universe, then there is no possible way God can exist if he is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnibenevolent. Evil is defined in three different categories: human evil (evil we humans cause), natural evil (not in our control, of the Earth), and sufferings of the heart (not necessarily human/natural evil). The argument for the problem of evil is that God doesn’t exist because evil exists. In
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But since evil exists, no such being exists. Therefore, God doesn’t exist. Atheists believe this to be a problem because they say that the first and second premises contradict each other, therefore proving the existence of God false. God, as we know it, is a perfectly good God. Since this God is perfectly good and all-powerful, then we assume he would eliminate evil whenever/wherever it is present. While this does hold a strong standpoint against theists, they can come back with an argument that basically states that evil can be allowed if it gives way to the opportunity of a greater good coming from that …show more content…
Determinism says that past events and laws of nature determine every fact of the future, meaning if evil exists, then God there’s the possibility God does not have the power to control evil. If this is true, then God can still exist as an all knowing, all powerful, all good being because he can do nothing to change the determined path of the universe, meaning evil can be viewed as a separate power that can’t control its own path, it just exists. I believe that free will and determinism can exist in the universe simultaneously (compatibilism), so the evils that humans create are of voluntary choice because that was what determinism planned for that person. The reasoning behind my belief that determinism and free will can exist in the same realm is I side with the voluntary choice option of free will. Voluntary choice states that you act freely if and only if you act voluntarily, without coercion or constraint. This allows determinism to coincide with voluntary choice; if the laws of nature fully determine every fact of the future, then the choices we make are choices we freely made. God knew that humans would be able to create evil because he gave us free will, but he can’t do anything about it because of determinism and the laws of nature, suggesting that humankind wouldn’t “exist” if evil didn’t exist,
The existence of evil does not prove that there is not a good God. The author makes a very good case against this argument. Evil points to the existence of a good God. God was in existence before there was evil so to say that evil proves there is no God is false. Some people say that evil points away from God’s existence, however, their claim has no support. The fact that we think and speak evil is proof that there is a good God because
Out of all the different choices human’s have to make not all of them are made using freewill, for example someone’s choice may me chosen by something or someone else and thus any evil that is caused from that choice was not chosen via freewill. If evil is created this way then it is not supporting the existence of god. There are many examples of this like how suffering (evil) may be created from a natural disaster, which was not an option someone had chosen via freewill, this creates a problem for the free will defence. Not all evil is due to choices human’s have made. In response to this problem for the free will defence, if god was all good, powerful and knowing then he would have been able to prevent and stop natural disasters as the evil they create is not due to freewill. However, this is evidently not true as natural disasters have
The Logical Argument from Evil follows the construct of the modus tollens, where it states that God cannot be all-powerful, all-loving and all-knowing if Evil exists in the world. The Empirical Argument is an inductive argument that explains how God is a neutral, powerful being that collects data on both the good and evil in the world. Thus, God is indifferent to mankind’s pain and suffering, and also happiness. Since evil exists, this argument’s conclusion is fully supported. The Logical Argument thus states that God cannot be this supreme, powerful being whereas The Empirical Argument supports God’s credibility as the supreme all-knowing, all-powerful and all-loving.
God and the logical problem of evil is a debate among philosophers which states that the possibility of an omnipotent and omnibenevolent God in a world where evil exists is impossible. The issue claims that if God were really all powerful and all good, then he would prevent evil from happening in the world. The logical argument relies on the Christian definition of God which states that God must be either all-knowing or all good. I think this definition is misunderstanding, because it is a human bias and expects God to be loving and always serve us. So does evil prove that God does not exist? Not necessarily. I believe that God and evil can exist together because the standard definition of a God does not have to be true. He might not be either all knowing, all powerful, and more importantly, he might not be all good.
Important point: Evil does not mean God does NOT exist, but only implies that God’s probably has a lesser chance of existing.
Have you ever stopped to think of why animals, especially harmless ones such as rabbits or deer sometimes die a painful death even when humans are not involved and is deemed unnecessary? If there was a God as most commonly referred to in the Abrahamic religions (Christianity,Islam,Judaism), an all powerful, all knowing, and all good God, wouldn't this divine being be able to prevent such events? The Problem of Evil is an argument that shows that God cannot be either all powerful, all knowing or all good because there is evil in the world and these two things contrast each other making them unable to coexist, therefore disclaiming the notion of the existence of God. Furthermore, this argument can be broken into two different types of reasoning to support the clause,one of induction and the other of deduction. In this essay, I will examine the argument for the Problem of Evil, a possible theodicy against the argument, and reply to the theodicy.
God exists. That is the truth and once that fact is clearly established, our understanding of evil is clear. Proof of God’s existence can be reached through reason alone, outside of the church. Arguments against God’s existence may be based heavily on the belief that if God were real there would be no evil in the world. However, as God’s existence is proven through logical steps of reason, so also is the existence of evil explained. Aquinas’ Five Proofs are an excellent point to start understanding God’s existence. We can show that God exists through the complexity of our planet and by the uniformity of the laws the universe operates by.
The question "Does God Exist?" is a well-known asked question in the world. Most people believe they know the answer to it. The religious people would say, well of course he does, while the non-religious people or atheist would say no He does not exist. Because evil exist and chaos exists, God cannot be all-powerful. In the modern world, there are many different opinions as to whether a God exists or not. This has been an issue of great dispute because many people reverence different gods or no god at all. For years, many philosophers have come up with theories, proofs, and hypotheses to prove the existence of God, and a canon of arguments has been developed. The Arguments for the Existence of God sets out to explain the everyday philosophical arguments for theism, and so to explore the case for the existence of God. The arguments themselves are arranged under the following headings: The Ontological Argument, The Cosmological Argument, The Teleological Argument, and The Moral Argument will determine if there really is a God.
Arguments against God and His existence have been a constant occurrence throughout history. From the beginning of time there have always been people that rebel against God and argue against the fiber of his existence. There are many naturalists who argue against God and whether or not he exists or is present in the world. These ideas and arguments are based on the reality of evil and clearly deviate from God’s word of scripture. There are theists who have opposing arguments against these naturalists. These theists believe in the existence of God and believe that he is present in the world and in the lives of people. The naturalist argument against God and the arguments of theist have always been constantly debated with and against
Evil is a problem in the philosophy of religion because there is no real answer. According to eastern religions, “God is good, God is all-powerful and evil exists in the world” (Davies-Stofka,
Another argument can made regarding the existence of god is morals. What is right? What is wrong? Are morals objective, or subjective? If morals are objective, something must have put it there, that thing being god. You can argue and say that morals are objective and are there by a god, and if we all were to suddenly die, the morals we went by would still exist. In that case, the only thing that makes an act morally wrong is what god prohibits you from doing it. Is killing wrong because god prohibits it, or does god prohibit killing because it is already wrong? Now you can also argue that morals are subjective and that whatever you do is right according to you. But if morals are subjective, then god does not exist. We create morals
Like mentioned before, there are two versions of the intellectual problem of evil. First lets explore the logical version. This is that it is logically impossible for evil and God to both exist. This can be compared to an irresistible force and an immovable object both existing. So since we all can clearly see and agree that evil definitely does exist, God must not. Although Nt Wright, a British New Testament scholar and many others, suggests we
Atheists then give an example that assumes that “lighting attacks a lifeless tree causing a forest fire. In the fire a fawn is stuck and horrifying scared and lies in awful pain for numerous days beforehand death releases its grief”. Atheists see this sorrow of the fawn as pointless. For there does not seem to be any better good such that the deterrence of the better good such that the avoidance of the fawns suffering would require either the loss of that good or occurrence of an evil equally bad or worse. Atheist argue the problem to evil is that an almighty being could have easily stopped the fawn from being extremely burned or, given the burning, could have spared around the fawn or it could have quickly ended its life, rather than permitting
The existence of evil is unquestionable. In our lives we have all experienced at some kind of pain. We have all had some kind of emotional or physical pain in our life. To believe in the existence of God we have to understand that what is evil? Well the simplest way to describe this would be that evil is something that causes suffering to human beings. First we can all agree on that evil exists in this world from the fact that the history of humankind is full of wars, murders,
“Poor God, how often he is blamed for all the suffering in the world. It’s like praising Satan for allowing all the good that happens”. There are various ways to explain why there’s evil in the world, even though we have an all good god. Those explanations are referred to as theodicies, and plenty of philosophers, and highly devoted Christians have their different theories. Some atheist would use the fact that evils in the world to revoke the possibility of a god being above us.