(December 17, 2009 at 11:05 am)Eilonnwy Wrote:(December 16, 2009 at 4:42 pm)tackattack Wrote: could you please be more specific on the problem of evil?
Sure.
As David Hume, (paraphrasing Epicurus) Wrote:"Is He willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then He is impotent. Is He able, but not willing? Then He is malevolent. Is He both able and willing? Whence then is evil?"Source: http://wiki.ironchariots.org/index.php?t...em_of_evil
The wiki article delves into the discussion more deeply.
In essence, Christians make certain claims about God, that he is all powerful, all good, all knowing, etc... But then you get into issues, well why does suffering exist? Why does evil exist? There are many reasons I have been given, free will, preparation for heaven, the devil did it. None of these satisfactorily answer it for me.
The whole "problem of evil" thing is certainly not limited to Christians, though. And while a Christian might not have an answer that you would find satisfactory, I wonder how you address the issue.
Specifically, from a Christian perspective given the propositions:
1.God is omnipotent.
2.God is omnibenevolent.
3.God is omniscient.
4.Evil exists
We can draw the conclusion:
5. God has a benevolent reason for the evil that exists.
While we do not know what that reason is for any or all evil that exists, there does not appear to be any logical contradictions given the conclusion 5.
From the perspective of the unbeliever, however, proposition 4 seems to create a problem.
Saying "evil exists" presupposes an objective, universal standard for what is evil and what is good. On the other hand, as far as I can tell, most if not all of the atheists here do not think there is any such objective and universal standard for evil or good. If that is the case then, it appears then that from an unbeliever's perspective there really is no "problem of evil" to assert against a Christian. If that is not the case, then I question what this objective and universal standard for evil and good is and where it came from.
