The problem of evil is very simple: Why would evil exist if there were an omnipotent, omniscient, omnibenevolent and all perfect god? Evil has been a major obstacle for those who hold tough faith in a higher being. With suffering being a normal aspect of life on earth (not limited to the rest of the universe), it becomes a challenge to maintain faithfulness in a good, fair and just god who can watch as the world swarms with pain and injustice. The problem of evil challenges a greater deity and suggests
Since the time that we as humans believed in God/an omnipotent power that rules over the universe, we have raised many questions about this God. One of the most recurring questions was, is it reasonable to believe in an all-powerful and all-loving God? There are many reasons to believe either side. On one side people do believe in a benevolent omnipotent God because of the way the world is, how beautiful our earth is, and how it was created among various other things. On the other side people are
A Supremely Perfect Being is one who is Omnipotent, Transcendent, Omniscient, Omnipresent and Omni benevolent. However, these attributes in cohere with each other for many reasons, such as Omniscience and Omnipotence. The meaning of Incoherency is when there is a lack of logical organisation in the way something is thought out or expressed that makes it difficult to understand, for example it is difficult to understand a bachelor to be a married man. To say a Supremely Perfect Being is Omnipotent
opening up some possibilities. Unlike the other characteristics of God, omniscience isn't necessarily required for the argument. Any situation God doesn't see can still be created as intended through the power of semi-potence or omnibenevolence. I gloss over omnibenevolence because it is implied by his interaction with the world. An omnipotent being can be the unmoved mover and then remain entirely devoid of any feeling towards the creation, but a being that participates because of its lack of omnipotence
Throughout the span of human existence, we have continually possed certain vices. The vice labeled as Evil, is the most nebulous of these. Not only do humans have problems with evil, so do supernatural deities such as God. Religion has faced several strides since its infancy, yet none is more strenuous to solve then the Problem of Evil. The problem of Evil occurs when there is a deity that is omnipotent, omnibenevolent, and omniscient. Although the deity has these formidable traits, there is still
omnipotence and omnibenevolence. H.J. McCloskey wrote, “Evil is a problem, for the theist, in that a contradiction is involved in the fact of evil on the one hand and belief in the omnipotence and omniscience of God on the other (Beebe).”
The Inadequacy of the Argument from Design William Paley’s teleological argument (also known as the argument from design) is an attempt to prove the existence of god. This argument succeeds in proving that while existence was created by an aggregation of forces, to define these forces, as a conscious, rational, and ultimately godlike is dubious. Although the conclusions are valid, the argument makes several logical errors. The teleological argument relies on inductive reasoning, rendering the argument
This essay provides a conclusive look at the problems and contradictions underlying a belief in God and the observable traits of the world, specifically the Problem of Evil. The analysis will address the nature of God and the existence of evil in the world, as well as objections such as the "sorting" into heaven and hell objection, God's "mysterious ways" objection, the inscrutability of God objection, values presupposing pain objection, inherent contradictions in "God's freewill," and non-human
As it is alluded to in the Euthyphro, the concept of piety is one in which all followers of faith and beyond strive to understand and adhere to the manifestation of. For hundreds of years after this dialogue the question of piety and divine command still alludes the wisest thinkers and holiest of men. Is the pious being loved by the gods because it is pious, or is it pious because it is being loved by the gods? With only two paths to venture down, both having unpleasant results, this question is
powerful, and interacting with the world. Then a question follows as to why evil exists in the world. Theodicy attempts to resolve the problem of evil in the social and historical contexts by reconciling the traditional divine characteristics of omnibenevolence. Jon Sobrino, a Jesuit Catholic priest, declares traditional theodicy has failed. As a liberation theologian, he stresses the importance of our obedience to Christ’s mandate to “love one another as I have loved you.” (John15-12) In the so-called
is omnibenevolent, this is contrary to the truth. Through our ability to extend knowledge to arrive at new truths and our ability to compare experiences, our minds can use the existence of evil to further understand and appreciate God and his omnibenevolence. First, it is important to illustrate how extension and comparison work in day-to-day situations before moving on to how these functions assist us in understanding God. Suppose you have a friend you have known all of your life. We will call
whole universe is a vast, interlocking chain of things that ... ... middle of paper ... ... cosmological argument above. The Cosmological Argument doesn'tnecessarily have the qualities normally ascribed to God (omniscience, omnipotence, omnibenevolence) by the people who offer the argument in the first place (Christians, Jews, Muslims). The first cause/ cosmological argument states, "Everything has a cause and every cause is the result of a previous cause. There must have been something
The debate of the existence of a Greatest Conceivable Being, in religious terms a god, has raged for centuries, costing many people their lives and many more their time attempting to configure a flawless proof of its existence; yet today we are no closer to a definite conclusion than we were five-thousand years ago at the beginning of recorded history. That being said, many great minds have put forth compelling arguments both theistic and atheistic in an attempt to answer what may be the greatest
and Eve first sinned in the Garden of Eden. The first problem that arises from evil is that we believe that the God of classical theism has certain attributes. These are that: · God is all powerful (Omnipotence) · God is all loving (Omnibenevolence) · God is all knowing (Omniscience) · God creates ex-nilho (out of nothing) · God is infinite The last point is not as important in this discussion; the others are the main points in the arguments for and against evil in the world
however, is its religious significance (Pojman 70). Anselm’s argument distinguishes itself from other traditional arguments in that it clearly delineates the properties which distinguish God, i.e. properties such as omnipotence, omniscience, and omnibenevolence (Pojman 70). To Anselm, just as Psalms 14:1 warns, ignoring the proof of God’s existence is an error which only a fool would make (Pojman
religion in a philosophical way. In J. L. Mackie’s Evil and Omnipotence, the problem of evil arises, “only for someone who believes that there is a God who is both omnipotent and wholly good” (Peterson 289). We cannot believe in omnipotence, omnibenevolence, and evil at the same time according to Mackie. It yields to contradictions. Alvin Plantinga rejected Mackie’s claim by saying, “Does the theist contradict himself?” (Peterson 297). Plantinga showed that Mackie’s three statements contained
omnipotent. Is he able, but not willing? The he is not omnibenevolent?” Hume later cited this in ‘Dialogues concerning Natural Religion’ to illustrate his ‘inconsistent triad’. The inconsistent triad is the way that the attributes we believe God has: omnibenevolence an omnipotence are inconsistent with the
Religion itself has been around for many centuries, dictating and giving meaning to the life of mortals. With religion comes religious experiences, which has been around just as long with the experiences themselves being vast in terms of differences. There are two texts that explore religious experiences: Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu and The Rumi Collection edited by Kabir Helminski. Being abstract and impersonal in nature, the Tao Te Ching offers the ultimate goal of finding simple oneness with the Tao
evil deceiver leads Descartes into determining where God exists, who Descartes believes will discredit the notion of an evil deceiver. Descartes does not only have to prove the existence of God, but must attribute one essential quality to God: omnibenevolence. For God to trump this evil deceiver, God must possess the highest quality of goodness. Thus, the existence of God as an omnibenevolent entity voids the existence of an evil deceiver, for an all-good God would not deceive humans. In turn, by proving
In George Orwell’s Animal Farm, animals on Manor Farm are inspired by Old Major, a pig who passes away early in the book, to rise up against their abusive, alcoholic farmer Mr. Jones. After the revolt, the pigs come to power and Napoleon the pig, in particular, rises above the others. Throughout the book Napoleon propogates his fairness and honor, but his every action has a selfish ulterior motive. He constantly lies to the animals about his intentions, and even convinces the farm that another pig