Theodicy: solution lies in definition of God (Introduction)

by David Turell , Thursday, September 09, 2021, 16:12 (1169 days ago) @ dhw

DAVID: I knew you'd sneak it back in. I don't accept that thought. My God knows what He wishes to create by design.

dhw: So does a God who wishes to design a free-for-all. I “sneak it back”, because if God exists, it is only natural that we should wonder about his nature and his purposes. Theodicy is only one aspect of the great mystery.

DAVID: The mistakes are actually exceedingly rare, but the consequences are so awful they seem to result in a problem bigger than it really is. If this s the best God can do, there can be no better.

dhw: […] It might be useful if you would name some of the “awful” consequences for us, so that we can decide for ourselves how rare these diseases are. Meanwhile, I suggest that maybe he WANTED a system that would make mistakes. You are always saying that a God who experiments, gets new ideas, wants a free-for-all etc. is “weak” and “namby-pamby”, but frankly a God who designs a system with errors that he is incapable of controlling seems a little odd for a God who is all-powerful and all-knowing.

DAVID: The system comes with mistakes as we agree. I'll stick with my statement above, not your skewed take.

dhw: Your statement above tells us that mistakes are exceedingly rare. Please tell us what “exceedingly rare” awful diseases are caused by the errors in your God’s design, and please tell us what is “skewed” in my take.

DAVID: I don't have any figures of incidence, but from my thirty + years of medical practice I saw almost none. Read about them, in the medical journals to be aware.

dhw: I am clearly out of touch, then. I thought cancer was one of the diseases that was caused by disorder among cells (= errors in the system). And do please tell me what was “skewed” in the bolded sentence above.

I wasn't thinking of cancer, which I know caused your wife's death and makes you sensitive to that issue. Cancer is the result of mistakes in the fact that we are constantly reproducing ourselves, part of our system of enjoying life. Th reproduction is part of making sure our tissues are fresh. The skew is your constant negative take on God. We are here, discussing, the best system He could produce. I think it is the only way it can work. Not that God is limited, just that nothing better can be created. That there can be a better system is human judgement, not fact. Keep that in mind as you complain about God.