Evil exists in the world because of man’s poor choices not because God created it that way. God made man in His image and gave man the ability to choose between good and evil. He did not want to force us to love Him however man chose to disobey God and as a result evil entered the world. Genesis 1:27 KJV “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.”
“The phrase “The problem of evil” is a label of such problems involving both God and evil.”(Thick book page 413) Evil exists because of a choice man made to knowingly disobey God in the Garden of Eden. God is not the creator of evil as evil was never in His original design for the world. All that God created was very good. Genesis
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Disasters such as earthquakes, tsunamis, tornadoes,wildfires,sicknesses, and diseases are all examples of natural evil in the world. Romans 8:22 KJV “For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now”
There are several theodicies presented in the textbook all of which attempt to explain why bad things happen if there is a loving God. Gottfried Leibniz argues that God is obligated to create the best possible world. He states “The metaphysically richest world must contain the greatest number and variety of beings” (page 1185 thick book) Leibniz believed for the world to be the best it had to have both good and evil existing in it. According to Leibniz a world without diversity would not be the best possible world. The fact that there is good and evil proves that God made the best possible world, that He is just, omnipotent, and omnibenevolent. Leibniz is correct in his belief that god is just, omnipotent, and omnibenevolent however God as part of His nature,because He is holy, cannot be the author of evil. Also God was nor is not obligated to create or do anything against His will. Augustinian tradition first states that God did not have to create any world and that His existence alone is the ultimate in excellence. Second
In the course of this essay I will argue that evil is not compatible with the existence of god. This means that evil and God cannot coexist because if god were present, the existence of evil would contradict all that god is believed to be. Abrahamic religions insist that God both created the world and that he preserves and maintains it. Christianity claims that God is all knowing and is boundless in his abilities. Religions claim that God is benevolent, and only wants the best for humanity and the universe, as his creations. If all of the above statements be true, then it is hard to understand why god would allow evil to thrive right from the beginning of time.
If there is a God, horrendous things wouldn’t happen. According to Inwagen, there is sufficient reason behind why God allows evil or even created it in the first place. This argument provides an anchor to the argument of God’s existence. God has outweighed reasons to allow evil and has a very real logical motivation why it might be. God being the omnipresent prefect being he is wouldn’t want evil. The key word is ‘want’ in this context, because want is a strong desire for something, doesn’t mean obtaining it or getting it are two very different things.
If god was all good, all powerful and all knowing, he would not allow the existence of evil.
In the beginning all was good; there was no evil. The start of evil was marked when a jealous angel, Satan, desired equality to God. He thrust an ever-lasting battle into play when he battled God for supremacy. One-third of all the angels in heaven, including Satan, were thrown from heaven onto Earth. God’s perfect creation became faulted when the fallen angel, Satan, tempted Adam and Eve into eating a forbidden fruit. By partaking of the forbidden fruit, sin was born on Earth. The birthing of such catastrophe--evil--has affected even the modern millennial generation. That occurrence marked the beginning of the perennial conflict of good versus evil--light versus darkness. The conflicts are traced all the way back to the very beginning
Now that’s all well and good, except for the fact that the logical problem of evil spends so much time focused on the omnipotent and the omnibenevolent aspects of God that is all together neglects the fact that God is also omniscient. He knows everything, past, present, and future. Therefore, it is only logical to assume that God also knows the best way to achieve the greatest good, which as established is the singular goal of an omnibenevolent being. If such knowledge is true, as it must be according to the laws of Omni-three, then it is possible that God has determined that the greatest good can only come by human-choice, also known as freewill, not by His force. In a bit, I will attempt to explain just
When we are discussing the problem of evil, we are specifically discussing a God that is omniscient, omnipotent, and perfectly good. A God that is perfectly good would not allow suffering to exist, and any minute amount of suffering that exists disproves God’s existence. Unless, the suffering is justified with an adequate reason. However, even then there seems to be large amounts of evil in the world that seems unnecessary for any good reason. By evil and suffering I mean death, pain, and disease. I will be using these terms interchangeably. In the problem of evil, many arguments are placed in order to find a justification for the evil that exists. However,
That being said, God’s gift of free will to humanity is often used as the prime example as to why evil exist. Free will, theologian's would argue, is among the greatest goods, but for humans to truly have free will they must also have the choice to do evil. This argument is flawed however. The theologian would argue that free will and not being able to do evil is incompatible and therefore not possible, but God himself is a testament to the opposite. God being wholly good, would not freely choose to do evil, and assuming no theologian would argue that God has no free will, it must follow that it is possible to have free will and not do any evil.
Now that I have discussed where evil originated, I want to provide a brief definition of evil. Most people will agree that evil is any cruel act, serious harm to another person mentally or physically. It can also be identified in a level of evil meaning people tend to feel that the more harm done to a person the greater the level of evil. Some examples of evil are acts of murder or abuse that harms another human being or animals. While I do agree with this definition of evil, I also think there is another crucial part of the definition. It is that evil itself is an act against the law of God. The Bible uses the word evil to define anything that is in violation of God’ law. In the connection between good and bad, evil is also seen as the absence of goodness. A simple way to understand the connection is that evil is a “fundamental and troubling departure from goodness” (Alcorn, 2009, p. 25). Alcorn’s view of evil is a complete absence and rejection of God’s goodness. I completely agree with this definition of evil, but I also understand that not all people believe in my God or any God for that matter. Atheists also identify evil in the world and they would agree with me on some acts that I think are evil. However, their definition does not include God. For example, Humanists believe there is good without God. They see the evil in the world and believe they must
In his essay, "The Magnitude, Duration, and Distribution of Evil: a Theodicy," Peter van Inwagen alleges a set of reasons that God may have for allowing evil to exist on earth. Inwagen proposes the following story – throughout which there is an implicit assumption that God is all-good (perfectly benevolent, omnipotent, and omniscient) and deserving of all our love. God created humans in his own likeness and fit for His love. In order to enable humans to return this love, He had to give them the ability to freely choose. That is, Inwagen holds that the ability to love implies free will. By giving humans free will, God was taking a risk.
What about natural evil? Natural evil would be things like earthquakes, tsunamis and other natural disasters. Why doesn't God stop those? You can look at Noah's flood and know that God doesn't stop disasters, but sometimes might even cause them. This ties into the Christian explanation of the human predicament. Paradise has been lost due to human moral shortcomings. As Romans 8:22 says, “We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time”. To understand evil, you have to first understand the nature of
The problem of evil questions the nature of God and threatens his status as a figure worthy of worship. Surely human beings would not wish to worship a God that is neither all good nor all-powerful? The figure we call God is seen to be entirely perfect and flawless in every way. The problem of evil also questions God’s omniscience, in respects that he is all knowing. If God is omniscient then he must know the harm that evil does and the suffering it will cause. The attributes in question are the essence of the nature of God and without them he becomes more like a human than a God. If any of God’s characteristics are omitted, he
How we view the presence of God and evil depends on why we believe the world was created. If man is a fully created creature then the world was created for him to live in, a comfortable, pleasant place. Our world is obviously filled with suffering, danger, hardship of all kinds, so an all-powerful God could not have created it. To Christians the world is not a paradise where one can experience the maximum of pleasure and a minimum of pain. The world is a place of “soul making” or person making. As we try and understand the challenges of our lives, and our environment we may become “Children Of God”.
There is much evil in the world, which can be split into either natural or moral evil. Natural evil refers to suffering caused by natural disasters whereas moral evil refers to suffering which has been caused by human actions. Examples of natural evil would be cancer, birth defects, tornadoes, earthquakes, tsunamis, and hurricanes. Also, examples of moral evil would be fatal car accidents caused by alcohol consumption, child molestation, ISIS beheadings, and the Holocaust. Many people question how God can exist while this evil occurs. If God exists, he would be omnipotent, omniscient, and omnibenevolent. He would have the ability, knowledge, and desire to prevent evil. With the obvious existence of evil, God must not then exist. The problem of evil arise only with a conception of the 3O God because if one of those properties were not there, evil could exist. God existing without omnipotent, he would have the knowledge to stop evil and have the good will to want to stop evil but would not be able to stop the evil acts. If he was without omniscient, he would be able to stop evil and would want to stop evil but would not have the knowledge to do so. And finally, if he did not possess omnibenevolence, he would have the knowledge and power to stop evil but not the morals to want to do
In the Christian theological perspective “good and evil “are contentious terms. The story of creation in Genesis as well as the fall of Adam and Eve offer some insight into the nature of these terms. In the beginning, God created the world and all things to be
Its impossible to reflect on the origins of evil without bringing up the concept of free will. God created man with this idea of choice; the choice to believe and obey, or the choice to disobey. It was this free will that allowed Adam and Eve to fall from their initial glory and introduce evil and suffering into the world. We can justify a large amount of sustained suffering by acknowledging that it actually benefits us and is not incompatible with God's loving nature. We learn lessons both physically and spiritually that allows us to grow and mature according to God. Some suffering is used to spark revival or for a great advancement in his kingdom, cause after all we're