RE: The Free Will Defense - Isn't it Unusable?
August 24, 2013 at 9:50 am
(This post was last modified: August 24, 2013 at 9:53 am by discipulus.)
(August 24, 2013 at 9:32 am)Esquilax Wrote:(August 24, 2013 at 7:51 am)discipulus Wrote: I however, see no logical contradiction in the propositions: "God exists" and "evil exists".
That's because there's a third proposition you've skipped over. You need to add "god is always good" in there.
Ok...
I grant your point.
The propositions:
P1. An Omnibenevolent God exists
and..
P2. Evil Exists
are not logically contradictory.
In defending this view, we would be delving into theodicies and theology, which means I would have to do a lot of teaching on Anselmian Perfect Being Theology and the attributes of God under such a view as the scholastics held.
In defending the view, a definition of "evil" would have to be given as well.
(August 24, 2013 at 9:03 am)Chas Wrote:(August 24, 2013 at 7:51 am)discipulus Wrote: I do not personally hold that our will is free in the libertarian sense.
I however, see no logical contradiction in the propositions: "God exists" and "evil exists".
But that god cannot be omnipotent and loving. One or the other, but not both.
I believe He can be both. My view is defended by the scholastics and theologians such as Aquinas, Anselm, and others.
Speaking strictly logically, and taking into account Anselms's conceptualization of The Greatest Conceivable Being, a being who can be both would be greater than a being who could only be one or the other. Therefore, God must be both omnipotent and loving.
