Evil

[Mudhammam]

A Moral Lawgiver is required when raising the question of evil.  If there is no moral lawgiver, then there is no good, no evil.  If we are created in the imago dei, then our very being/essence has intrinsic worth. 

If goodness or intrinsic worth exist as abstract states of being which are knowable by the intellect, then it would seem to follow that reason dictates such laws. Whether or not we're created in the image of a deity is irrelevant to the question of intrinsic worth as far as I can tell. Either it is something we have on account of our nature partaking in it, or not. Any quality to which it relates, which you would rather declaim as derivative from God, precludes the same burdens to be met.

If our intrinsic worth is not exterior or from God, and it has instead evolved without God, then the value or worth of each individual is forever changing.

Why is that? If there is something intrinsically valuable about life, or sentience, or rationality, or all of the above, perhaps existing on an ascending scale of greater or lesser quality, then it doesn't merely change on account of the fluctuating nature of matter; we are, after all, talking about being strictly in the abstract.

It is therefore not permanent but ever changing. And if it is changing, then who will give it value, what value, and when? Is it a person or persons that gives each person intrinsic value? Is it a creed? Is it a king? Is it a nation or government? If this is so, then anyone at any age may change the meaning as they please. This is then crucial. Intrinsic human value has to come from God, God who transcends us. Only then will our value be eternal and never up for the whims of change, the winds of change. Only then will it be anchored. Evolution cannot give value to human beings because it is always changing and that means no absolutes, no anchor. Essential worth means not conveyed worth or secondary worth. We are all created equal.

The world is always changing. That doesn't mean truth changes, though our understanding certainly does. Why is it different with respect to intrinsic value or goodness? Do you mean eternal with respect to time? How would that work? Once "I" die, so would any intrinsic value "I" possess, no?