"Either God wants to abolish evil, and cannot; or he can, but does not want to... If he wants to, but cannot, he is impotent. If he can, but does not want to, he is wicked... If, as they say, God can abolish evil, and God really wants to do it, why is there evil in the world?" -- Epicurus
2006-12-02 17:13:47 · 25 answers · asked by Cornelius 2 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
No, not in the least bit. Also, I believe the exact quote is:
Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able?
Then he is not omnipotent.
Is he able, but not willing?
Then he is malevolent.
Is he both able and willing?
Then whence cometh evil?
Is he neither able nor willing?
Then why call him God?
Epicurus
2006-12-02 17:15:33 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 5⤊ 0⤋
Why are people answering with "nope?" This is the age old question. A person can argue that God is limited, whether that is by nature or self-limiting and chooses not to abolish evil. As to why God would choose not to abolish evil there are a few different ideas. One is that in doing so God would impinge on our free will or autonomy as human beings. If there is no choice we are merely like slaves or robots. This question was written about and discussed especially in the time after WWII regarding the Holocaust and other atrocities of modern humans. Liberation theology asserts that God has a "preferential option" for the weakest and most vulnerable people, that God is most known to and amongst the powerless. Other theologians began to explore the idea of a suffering God, who suffers with the innocent, and hurts as we hurt.
What isn't logical is to just say, "since the created world isn't perfect, there is no God."
2006-12-02 17:25:48 · answer #2 · answered by keri gee 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
You bring up some very interesting points and you leave out a lot of others. God logical? If there is a god and he created us, then that is completely beyonds my comprehension. If there is no god and we are all a product of evolution then I can understand it a little more but it is still pretty far from my understanding. Life in general isn't logical and I would think there are only a few people in this world who might be able to make some sense of it. You can not disprove god with science no matter how hard you try, and you can not disprove science with faith. If you really what an answer to this question then I think you should go study physics & religion for the rest of your lives and then you might be able to make a somewhat accurate guess.
2006-12-02 17:59:51 · answer #3 · answered by Beckaboo 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
GOD has the power to do everything. The world is just a testing ground and as he gave human free will so he dont abolish evil, he want us to do this.. If he had done this then there was no reason to creat us.
And the the concept of GOD is very logical think it logically.
2006-12-02 17:21:14 · answer #4 · answered by ryobd 1 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Too bad that there are false assumptions there.
God could conceivable not wish to abolish evil because to do so would take away the freedom of choice that we all enjoy. To make a race of people always choose the right thing means that you have programmed their very existence, leaving them unable to choose something that might be wrong, or evil.
Secondly, the concept of evil wasn't defined in the above quote. Evil could mean what we truly call evil, such as murder and rape, but what about lesser evils, such as simple greed... I want this, so I take it? In either case, freedom to chose would be eliminated if only good was allowed.
2006-12-02 17:22:27 · answer #5 · answered by Deirdre H 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
In order for God to be real, he must fit into a human understanding of what a god should be?
Gods ways are so far above ours as the heavens are above the earth. We can NOT put God in a box. God is all knowing and all powerful. Just because he chooses to NOT do something doesn't mean that He is incapable of doing it.
Remember, if you can understand it wholly, it isn't God.
2006-12-02 17:20:04 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
God can abolish evil. The entity called "God" abolishes evil through beings of high consciousness. These beings choose to live a life of no evil. The key concept here is choice. Those who choose to live a life of evil die or will die, because evil is self-destructive since it is essentially destructive on the whole. Evil is erradicated by choice. That is how evil is eradicated, or as you say abolished. And humans are the vehicle for that "godly" choice. We humans are responsible to make that choice. We make our lives good or evil. We make our world good or evil. Nobody else does it for us. We have "god" given free will to make our individual and collective existence good or evil.
Those who choose to be evil basically kill themselves. Therefore only those who choose non evil ways remain. Since the remaining beings do evil, there is no evil in their daily lives. We make evil happen and be present. We humans, as beings of consciousness have free will and choice. We create evil conditions through our evil actions. When we all decide to stop doing evil actions, all evil disappears from everyone's life and there will be "heaven" on this beautiful Earth. Heaven meaning an existence of constant uninterrupted bliss and happiness. Where nobody lacks anything, nobody worries and nobody is out of place, to name but a few of the aspects that define "heaven" or a heavenly life.
But in order to be able to make a choice between good and evil, it's necessary to truly understand what evil is. To understand what truly evil is, one must analyze quite objectively every aspect of existence. One must analyze using mind and heart, thought and feeling. One must look deeply and closely at the thoughts and feelings that everything in existence causes one to have. Good brings about a healthier, happier life. Evil brings about a life full of disease and suffering. But what makes one really happy or really unhappy? One must really understand life and know oneself to discern true and untrue happiness.
Then, once one understands with a fairly good amount of precision what evil and good are, one will also understand what the word "god" really refers to. When we truly understand evil and good in essence, we understand what "god" means. Then we can choose good or evil. Most beings who see the difference clearly choose good because good feels good. Good brings more good. Which means more good feeling!
2006-12-02 18:02:53 · answer #7 · answered by vipanesq 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
God created the world, and created man, but, God gave man free-will and MAN BROUGHT EVIL INTO THE WORLD, not God, so He isn't going to abolish it. Man brought it on himself.
2006-12-02 17:24:05 · answer #8 · answered by creeklops 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I had a friend of mine who had an M.Phil in Comparative Religion who told me about Vedic Hinduism.
It's probably the most "Scientific" Concept of God going. Because it takes a lot of intricate calculations that have to be accurate upto 16 decimal points for you to do there and a very well laid out logical sequence of the process of elimination to lead you to the right conclusion.
And, guess what their conclusion was?
"Deivehah nirguna, nirakara!" [The State of] God is beyond physical and intellectual perception!?!?
Merry Christmas.
2006-12-02 17:23:20 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
The origin of God as described by man is logical considering mans evolution. From ignorance and fear came fire, sun and moon Gods. These Gods evolved into our current day Gods and religion is still evolving.
In 1,000 years religion will be viewed differently and humans will live differntly if we don't kill ourselves first.
Is the whole concept, considering our mental evolution, logical...no way.
2006-12-02 17:23:51 · answer #10 · answered by chuck 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋