2006-08-21 10:37:05 · 17 answers · asked by mvenka01 2 in Arts & Humanities ➔ Philosophy
Defenders of a good, all powerful, and all knowing God have to explain why two kinds of evil exist, not just one. The two kinds are chosen evil (rape, torture, murder, etc.) and unchosen evil (diseases, natural disasters, etc.).
First they will say chosen evil must exist so that we can have free will. Okay, let's allow them that. Score a point for their God.
Next they will say that unchosen evil must exist so that we can appreciate the good - that good cannot exist except in contrast with evil. There are two things wrong with that answer. First, it admits that God is incapable of creating a world in which good is absolute (non-relative). Second, even if we allow them the claim that good must be relative to evil, the question remains why *so very much* evil is necessary to make us appreciate the good. To say that there needs to be as much unchosen evil in the world as there is so that we can recognize and appreciate the good is like saying that we could not tell the difference between black and white in a picture unless at least half the picture was black.
As a last resort, they will say evil does not exist - that what seems an evil is only an absence of good. This is like saying that there is no black paint on the canvas, there is only an absence of white paint - accepting it as an answer requires one to willfully insult one's own intelligence.
The problem of evil remains - it has not been solved.
2006-08-21 12:46:10 · answer #1 · answered by brucebirdfield 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
...if there was no evil then what will know as good? if one cant compare this with that it is human nature to be confused...god permits evil but he does not enforce it due to the fact that we are given free will...it is we who do the evil and not god....so, us knowing this, we find a sort of scapegoat and blame it on god...if we would make peace there would be no evil...yet, this is just a utopian thought...there will always be evil, whenever something stands in the way of light there will be shadows, usually that something is us, the people who do horrible deeds...but this is my opinion....
2006-08-21 11:03:09 · answer #2 · answered by Crow 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
God does not permit evil. We all are given free will. Meaning we can make a choice to do right or wrong. Unfortunately, there are many individuals who choose to do wrong. The only way that can change is if they decide they want to live right and choose to live the way God wants us all to live.
2006-08-21 10:49:30 · answer #3 · answered by valentinegirl 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Perhaps he/she doesn't see it as evil. When you see some ants attacking another bug, do you think of the ants as evil? Do you save the other bug and then punish the ants? There is a fair chance that God views us the same way we view the ants. At most a little curiosity but in the grand scheme of things we just might not matter that much. We're just not as significant as we sometimes like to think we are...in my opinion anyway.
2006-08-21 10:46:42 · answer #4 · answered by Sinurgy 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Why are you blaming God? I guess He is your scapegoat? Evil is in the world because man disobeyed God's only command not to eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Nevertheless, God Himself took the burden of the punishment on Himself, in Jesus Christ and died for our sins. If you want to continue to blame God, you are in the wrong. Blame yourself, because not only are you born with the sin nature, you also practice your sinful habits every day. Romans 5:12 and Romans 8 the entire chapter.
2006-08-21 12:23:05 · answer #5 · answered by tigranvp2001 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Because he created us with free choice. It's like god is steering the cruise ship and we're all passengers. We have free roam of the ship but God controls the direction. Why do parents try to let their children figure out their own problems as they grow older? So they can learn and grow, maybe that's why God does what he does.
2006-08-21 10:45:26 · answer #6 · answered by sarahbeth 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
good and evil are words that hold no part of what the essence is. if uve ever played a video game with cheat codes, you know it sucks if it's all so ez-- everything is a cycle, the circle is no less complete with the highly evolved or the voluntarily ignorant
2006-08-21 10:44:51 · answer #7 · answered by gekim784l 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
For the same reason he allows for the natural calamities that befall man in the form of tsunamis, earthquakes, super-volcanoes, planet detroying asteroids and other assorted extinction level events.
2006-08-21 10:58:06 · answer #8 · answered by Its not me Its u 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If there were no evil allowed, how else would you know, enjoy and appreciate what "good" is? God allows us free will, which produces both good and evil...
2006-08-21 10:46:03 · answer #9 · answered by ANSWERMAN 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Because any particle on the Creation must realize and be conscious of its nature. Therefore, each particle has to come by and taste this dual world, and decide for itself!
2006-08-22 16:54:01 · answer #10 · answered by NEO 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋