Theodicy: bad bacteria seen differently (Introduction)

by David Turell , Wednesday, July 14, 2021, 16:57 (1226 days ago) @ dhw

DAVID: In some way we seem to be in agreement here. The difference is I have God in purposeful charge.

dhw: I’m afraid it’s a major difference, because when you say “in purposeful charge”, you refuse to tell us what the purpose is…

DAVID: His purpose, as I view it, is quite clear: to produce thinking humans as Adler and I explain.

dhw: But you refuse to tell us his purpose for producing humans! Perhaps the reason why you refuse is that you know perfectly well that it will result in your adding yet more “humanizing” features to those you already attribute to your God.

I don't worry about humanizing God. I don't try to. As for why God wanted us to appear, in the past I've given you all sorts of possibilities, all guesswork. Why repeat it all?

dhw: …and you mean that he is in total control of everything that happens (e.g. he deliberately designs the viruses and bacteria which he knows will cause harm to us and our fellow creatures).

DAVID: I thought we have come to agree the viruses and bacteria attack us as bystanders and were not meant by God to deliberately attack us.

dhw: But this would only be the case if he did NOT design the murderous viruses and bacteria, as explained above and in my next comment:

dhw: My point is that it’s only if life forms have the freedom to pursue their own methods of survival (i.e. to adjust their bodies and modes of existence) in ways that can meet or exploit new conditions that we can say God did not deliberately create what we humans consider to be good/bad. There IS no good/bad other than that which WE have created with our anthropocentric view of the world, and even from our point of view, God did not deliberately create anything “bad”, because it had the freedom to find its own way of surviving.

DAVID: So as you continue you comeback to agreeing. I started the theodicy thread looking only at bad, as we seem to interpret it, and we have reached a solution. Proves our battles can be fruitful.

dhw: Thank you for at last appearing to accept the theory that your God left all life forms the freedom to find their own ways of survival, i.e. he did not design them, but left them to “adjust their bodies and modes of existence”. If he did not design them, he cannot be held responsible for what we humans consider to be bad. Alas, though, I suspect that this will not be the happy ending to our discussion!

No, I'm happy with all except you keep fighting the idea of God as the designer.