2007-08-30 08:42:04 · 32 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
This is an obvious flaw in theistic argument that evil must exist.
When a Christian attempts to explain the Problem of Evil in this way (evil must exist for good to exist), they are basically admiting their God is impossible.
2007-08-30 08:48:33 · answer #1 · answered by Eleventy 6 · 4⤊ 2⤋
Good can exist without evil. But without evil, we don't have a counterreference. "Good," then, would become a relative term. (Would give a whole new meaning to the saying, "It's all good.)
Evil is the absence of good. God is all good. Evil is what happens in His absence. When God was all that there was, there was no such thing as evil. God created creatures with a will. Not in itself a bad thing. The gift of free will was abused, alienating creation from God. Creating "evil," if you will.
Consider whether something is right or wrong. There can only be a wrong way of doing something, if there's a right way. Right? There must've been a right way first.
In God's case, it might be better understood as a question of "benign" or "malignant." Without doing ANYTHING, God is still at least benign. But then He created, and called it "good." His first recorded work was devoid of evil. Perfect. Good.
God's heaven is a place devoid of evil. There will be no frame of reference there for what is "good" and "evil," because there will be no evil. I suppose the relative goodness of things will be measured in terms of "good, better, and even better..."
P.S. Meat Maori: Boy, I'm really squirming now!! Lol! Who said we "needed" evil? Are you not aware that Christianity didn't invent that concept? Do you somehow live in a universe where everyone gets along and there are no murderers, thieves, rapists, liars, etc? Evil is THERE. We don't NEED it, but it's there. And God didn't put it there. Creation did.
P.P.S. Diminati: The word "evil" in the passage you've quoted above can more accurately be translated as "calamity." As in, the opposite of "peace." As in, NOT moral evil. Rather, physical calamity. It's supposed to show that God's not just a big Santa in the sky. He can bless and punish.
2007-08-30 08:58:10 · answer #2 · answered by hoff_mom 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Just to provide an argument, I think the logic falls apart at "god is good", when in "reality" the statement would be "god does good". Once god start doing "good", evil would have instantly been created as well. While you can say that god is good, I think most interpretations of god make him out to be more than just good.
Another alternative would be to say that god just "Is". Good and evil did not come along until mankind created them.
Edit to add:
For the person above and others, good cannot exist without evil because that would be like having a one sided coin. It doesn't work.
2007-08-30 08:53:50 · answer #3 · answered by x2000 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Who says evil had to come first? Could they have come into existence simultaneously?
Genesis says God created the heavens and the earth, and at the end of his creation said "it is good".
He then planted the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the Garden. That would presume that both good and evil existed prior to man, who was created by God, and only when the Fall occurred did we all become aware of the existence of evil.
2007-08-30 08:48:06 · answer #4 · answered by samans442 4 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Who said good cannot exist without evil? How can you conclude that? Were you there when Satan created evil by his rebellion against God? That is when evil started. God, who is good, existed before He created Satan. Good has always existed in the person of God before Satan created evil.
"1Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations.
2Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God." Psalms 90:1-2 in The Holy Bible
2007-08-30 09:05:38 · answer #5 · answered by LARRY S 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
First off...meat maori...just to let you know..I'm not squirming...I'm ROFL at the ever so obvious flaw in the logic.
It's not that good can't exist without evil. it can.
It's that evil can not be deemed to be evil unless there is good to compare it to. (and no, one can't just substitute evil/good).
God can exist before evil...the only thing you can not do is declare Him good or evil without the basis of something to compare Him to. Not having a contrast does not negate the possibility of existance.
Come on... the question was meant to razzle and dazzle but in the end...it was a big ballon just waiting for a sharp pin.
2007-08-30 08:58:20 · answer #6 · answered by Last Stand 2010 4 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Never heard that before. It may seem like that on Earth right now. In Heaven, there is no evil so this has to be something made up. There was no Good and Evil.
That happened way after God became!
Rev. TomCat
2007-08-30 08:50:38 · answer #7 · answered by Rev. TomCat 6 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Good can exist without evil. People tend to see clearer what is good when they compare it with evil - they're able to separate and make a more precise distinction and to discern between good and evil - but that does not mean that good "needs" evil to be good.
2007-08-30 09:33:22 · answer #8 · answered by bbmm 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
The theory that good cannot exist without evil or vice versa is misunderstood usually; It is merely that without one, you would have no means by which to distinguish the other as good or evil. They would still exist, but you would not know how to interpret them without the contradiction.
2007-08-30 09:16:00 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
What makes you think Good cannot exist without evil? Indeed, just as darkness is merely the absence of light, evil is merely the absence of Good.
2007-08-30 08:49:39 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋