Religious People: This is an old school question, but...?

Question

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 God both able and willing?
Then whence cometh evil?
Is he neither able nor willing?
Then why call him God?
--Epicurus.

Beautiful Mind: Do you believe in predestination then? How can you have free-will if you belive in predestination? They are mutually exclusive.

Again, if God will not impose himself upon man, how do you explain the idea of predestination?
I think the idea of God choosing your destiny for you is a little bit imposing.

Lady Morgana: You're welcome, haha. I have this printed out and put on my mirror in my room, and in my locker at school.
I love Epicurus.

philippians4v11: Are you blaming cancer and illnesses like that on Adam and Eve's original sin??

Answer 1

I shall sip on my espresso and wait for the illogical arguments and claims of free will to roll in.

Answer 2

Epicurus should have ready the Bible, God's Holy Word. God is able to do anything, but He will not impose Himself upon man. Man by the sin of Adam and Eve chose to disobey God and God is letting man have his wishes. You are living in a fallen state because this world is cursed. Before Adam and Eve sinned, this earth was blessed.

Proverbs 26:2 "......a curse without a cause does not come." I just gave you the cause. In God's timing He will do what Epicurus wants and God will do evidently what you want, but even though He is able and He is willing it will be in His timing. He is God and His will is done-not yours! You were created for His pleasure and not the other way around. Revelation 4:11.

Answer 3

this is a good one... God is the creator of this universe and the knower of all those unknown, and because he is the creator,he can control it.So it is obvious that if there is good,then there is evil.. the basic reason for why we humans are out in earth is not to live like a king or anything such,but to thank him for whatever God has given us.. the hands,the eyes. etc..this would be silly.. but imagine there are millions of people without hands/eyes/legs etc.. So its not he is not able or willing to prevent, but instead he tests you with evil,by which then will we turn to him for help... i guess u had tried to answer the question.. kudos

Answer 4

He is able, but not willing to prevent evil. He gave us free will, and until we are in Heaven, we are always at risk of facing and/or causing evil. But He is able to do all and willing to do some, (that one depends on the situation) -- but the fact that he is the Creator and able to do all, is why we call Him God.

Answer 5

Epicurus was really onto something with that train of thought. I've never met a religious person who answered those questions with any kind of consistent logic.

Is answerer #1 "panglosswasright" a prophet or what?

Answer 6

Epicurus should have stuck to manicuring as a profession instead of philosophy.

I'll answer that by asking: If God put you here and controlled your every thought, word and action, would that have made you capable of asking that question above? You alone have the power to choose between good and evil. Get it RIGHT! People commit evil, NOT God.

Answer 7

Man is the author of evil. We lost our chance of forever living in paradise when Adam & Eve disobeyed God. We are still disobeying. Look around you for the answer to your question.

Answer 8

1.God can prevent evil, and he is able to do so..
*Omnipotent means Almighty or authoriative.
Yes, God is almighty and worthy to be praised.

2. Yes, God is able to do anything that he wants to do. Yes, he is willing .
*Malevolent means having,showing,or arising from ill will, spite,or hatred.
NO he is not malevolent it does not describe God at all, it is the opposite of him

*Yes God is able and willing to do anything, he is King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

*Where does evil come from? It comes from .....Satan.

*Yes, he is able and he is willing to do what he wants. This is his footstool.

*Why call him God? Because he died for our sins on the cross .

Answer 9

Jeancomm: Epicurus was a Greek philosopher who died many years before the Bible was composed.

Epicurus is my favorite philosopher. On this topic, as on many others, he makes a very wise point.

Answer 10

God loves us so much, He wants us to choose to love Him. He made people. We are not robots to do His bidding.

Sarah, if you are married, I assume you want a husband who married you out of love, not duty. A marriage out of love of both of you would be better than out of obligation.

Another example is someone who does illegal drugs. Is God responsible to zap the person to prevent the dangerous health hazards? No, God lets us suffer for our self destructive behavior.

A kid with leukemia- didn't do any specific deed to deserve it. Instead, being born of imperfect parents (all are humans are descended from Adam and Eve), the effects of sin overcome us all. Our bodies with suffer, age, and die.

Imperfection make imperfection. We missed God's holy requirements.

The bad things in life are due to us disobeying Him. He allowed us to do it.

That's not all though! He sent Jesus to restore our relationship with Him, if we choose to accept Him. He lived a sinless life, took our punishment on the Cross, died, and rose bodily from the grave, conquering sin and death.

So, if you confess you sin (disobedience), repent (turn from our sinful ways) and accept Jesus in your life, you will have everlasting life. One day you will have a perfect body, no suffering or sorrow, and be in Heaven.

If you don't you will be in hell, eternally separated from God, and have eternal suffering.

I am excited about going to Heaven, and soooo hope for you (Sara and anyone who reads this) to be there to. You choose. God won't bend your arm and force you to. He loves you, and so much wants you to love Him back.

Answer 11

OH man I LOVE IT!!!!!!. Will you marry me? Oh wait, I'm already married. Can I just bow humbly at your feet instead?

this is too awesome. I love it when logic is offered and those who can't squirm around it try and try and try... alas to no avail....

thank you, I am printing this out for my fridge and my BOS, and thank you Epicurus!