Why would such a loving God permit such evil?: This is the question that has been haunting philosophers and theologians for centuries. It seemingly does not make sense for an all-knowing, all-good, and all-powerful God to permit the evils that exist in this world. While many arguments are insufficient in explaining God’s permittance of evil, certain beliefs from those arguments may be combined to create a clearer explanation for this seemingly illogical notion. Cleaerly, God must have created evil for a specific purpose. This essay will explain the theory that God created evil as a test for humans to prove that they are devoted to God and will not come to doubt his greatness when faced with hardships. The basic argument surrounding the Problem …show more content…
Whether these evils be moral or natural, humans have the free will to react to them in whatever manner they choose. Therefore, God’s test lies in a human’s reaction to the suffering they receive from the evils inflicted upon them. Often times, in cases of illness or natural disaster, when one deals with extreme loss, they also may lose God in the process. Essentially, there are two reactions that can occur when humans deal with worldly evils. When one suffers from acts of evil, they may question God’s existence because of his permittance of these evils, and may even denounce God. On the other hand, after potentially questioning God’s existence and motivations for permitting evil, one may instead turn to God for help and answers. Although one may find this task a lot harder than the former, doing this allows one’s faith in God to grow deeper, and demonstrates true devotion to God. In a world without evils, it is easy to love God because there are no problems in life that may lead one to question him. But true devotion to God comes when one reaches out to him on their own, and by their own free will. Therefore, God put evils on this earth to test a human’s free will and their devotion to
Goodness Not Wanted on the Voyage Areta Boone 100125033 Imagine the word “Good”. What the average person may see is a pure, white angel in Heaven. This vision of an angel is seen by even those who do not believe in the church. I asked ten adults from the ages of eighteen to fifty what they imagine when they hear “good”. Five were non-believers and the other five were either avid church attendees or believe in some faith.
He wants to see whether we are capable of overcoming our base instincts... We have no right to despair. And if He punishes us mercilessly, it is a sign that He loves us that much more…” (Wiesel 45) Akiba Drumer’s unshakable faith in God undoubtedly shows the toughness of the human spirit.
Evil is permitted as a test of the character of humanity and the faithfulness of evil’s victims. Salvation for them is enlightenment, is only granted by god’s grace. Suffering is
Is he both able and willing? Whence then is evil?” In a similar vein: If God exists, he is all-knowing, omnipotent, and ethically flawless. If God were all-knowing, God would know about all the terrible occasions that occur in our reality. If God were omnipotent, God would have the capacity to do something.
“It is probably the same in the universe. God created things which had free will… if a thing is free to be good it is also free to be bad. And free will is what has made evil possible. Why then did God give them free will?” I agree with this concept, if something is a free to be a good it is also free to be bad.
Philosophy of Religion – Term Paper IVLE Name: Lim Jin Ling Claire Marie Matriculation No.: A0130474M Module Code: PH2211 Tutorial Class: D5 Title of Paper: Plantinga’s Free Will Defense and Natural Evil My paper discusses one criticism of Alvin Plantinga’s Free Will Defense: that it does not properly account for the existence of natural evil. ‘Natural evil’ refers to evil that has non-human causes e.g. natural disasters.
IV. The Problem of Evil So far, we have examined only arguments for the existence of God. But for each argument, we have also discussed some objections. Some theists may accept all these objections and yet maintain a belief in the existence of God.
I found that while reading and thinking that many people always hit hardships and always ask God to help them, but then they blame him when he does not show them anything. That is where evil comes I feel like there is purpose why he let evil be a part of our lives. What I mean is that if God did not want it be here he could have not put it here, but I feel that he put it here for a specific purpose. That is why I believe that the 3 types of evil talked about towards the end of the reading metaphysical, physical, and moral evil are partly why this world is so corrupt because without knowing sometimes we do some type of evil. That is why I feel the free will was put so that we as human beings believe that we have a choice for the actions that we have done, yet these could always bite in the end because if something goes wrong most people would blame
On the other hand, theists like Swinburne, believe that evil is necessary for important reasons such as that it helps us grow and improve. In this paper I will argue that the theist is right, because the good of the evil in this specific case on problems beyond one’s control, outweighs the bad that comes from it. I will begin by stating the objection the anti-theodicist gives for why it is wrong that there is a problem of evil. (<--fix) Regarding passive evil not caused by human action, the anti-theodicist claims that there is an issue with a creator, God, allowing a world to exist where evil things happen, which are not caused by human beings (180-181).
He did not create evil, only the choice for His creation. His goodness shows through His creation, and His personal being is shown through man. He created man in His image, so through man we see a sliver of
Evil and the existence of God has been at the heart of philosophical arguments for years. It seems that evil should cancel out God’s existence. Evil is defined in two ways. One definition is evil as gratuitous suffering. B.C. Johnson uses this in his argument against the existence of a monotheistic God.
For millennia, what has been a dilemma to philosophy has also relentlessly threatened Christian theology and affects the daily lives of human beings. People are regularly faced with questions of morality that may resonate with the strict guidelines of laws or religious doctrine. A majority of individuals align with their respective traditional societal norms. Others, however, may commit acts that are not in accordance with the rest of society. Contingent upon the severity of the deed, it may be considered immoral, sinful, or outright evil.
But if God is not limited in either power or benevolence, why is there evil in the world?” In this paper, I will respond to this quote to defend that God is not limited in either power or benevolence and how evil still exists so that we as humans understand what the term good is. I believe that God has the power to prevent evil but chooses not to because he wants us to know the true meaning of being good. God shows us he is all loving by having
This is especially true of relationships involving love. Evil is an unfortunate result of human free will. If God were to intervene at every point of our wrongdoing, our free will would be compromised. So evil in the world is not entirely God's fault; however, this position does not claim that God is not responsible in any way for evil. If you have the power to intervene and do not, that implies choices.
While people looked to God for guidance, the book of Psalms also says to fear him as he has no equal, he is the supreme being that rules over all. While some find the clarity that they so desired, others show deep emotions or anger or frustration with the actions of God by questioning the very essence of God’s power. They believe that God should protect them from all evil, but instead allowing for a tragedy to take place. By showing both sides of the coin, one can truly grasp the emotion that some have on God. While He can guide people through hardship, He will not completely remove hardship from one’s life.