Rowe's Five Arguments For The Existence Of God

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The God of the philosophers is described as a being who is omnipotent (perfectly powerful), omniscient (perfectly wise and all-knowing), and omnibenevolent (perfectly good and perfectly knowing). Since the beginning of religion, there have been countless arguments regarding the existence of a being who lives up to these standards. Philosophers such as Thomas Aquinas who presents to us five arguments for the existence of God, and William Rowe who reconstructed the argument of “The Problem of Evil and Some Varieties of Atheism” try and make sense of the age old question: Does God exist? Thomas Aquinas presents five arguments that argue the existence of God. First, the argument from efficient cause (Aquinas 12). This argument explains that in …show more content…

He reconstructs an argument in “The Problem of Evil and Some Varieties of Atheism.” He brings it to our attention that there is suffering and evil in our world and asks the question that’s been asked by many: If there truly was an omnipotent and omniscient God then why has such evil continued to exist? The thought of Rowe’s argument is if this God to whom many believe in does exist, then surly this being can stop evil without creating more of it. If they are as perfect as described, then they should be able to put into the minds of the evil creators to just stop. This also brings up the argument of natural disasters. If the planted to which we call home was created by the omnipotent, omniscient, and omnibenevolent God then why do natural disasters exist? As an example, a hurricane can kill thousands of people, but if not completely bad, because it brings rain to surrounding land which creates crops. Is it acceptable to this God to kill yet simultaneously bring good? And if this being is truly as perfect as described then why create death and not just rain? According to Rowe, once evil exists in the world whether natural or not it proves his argument that an omnipotent, omniscient, and omnibenevolent being does not

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