Theodicy: solution lies in definition of God (Introduction)

by David Turell , Wednesday, October 06, 2021, 16:34 (1142 days ago) @ dhw

Irreducibly complex controls

DAVID: He designed evolution with direct intentionality to reach the production of sapiens.

dhw: His direct intentionality led to his designing life forms that had no connection with his intention, and that apparently is logical. The various alternative approaches I have proposed are all logical, according to you, and that makes them all totally illogical.[…]

DAVID: Food supply is essential. Your theories fit your style of a humanized form of God who does not have defined purposeful goals.

dhw: See above for a possible purpose (enjoyment of creation and interesting things to watch). Food supply is essential to all forms of life, not just sapiens. The only purposeful goal you offer is that of designing homo sapiens and his food, and you have no idea why he would - according to you - also have individually designed countless extinct life forms that had no connection with humans.

Evolution connects everything. You can't split it up into unrelated parts

dhw: …. Are you saying that your God individually designed every life form, econiche, strategy, natural wonder etc. just so that the animals etc. could eat one another before he designed humans?

DAVID: Yes. And then we eat them.

dhw: How can we eat animals that no longer exist?

Same silly approach , we obviously eat what is present.

DAVID: […] It is simple to accept that God chose to evolve us in necessary stages. All evolution is connected in branching stages.

dhw: It is indeed simple for any evolutionist to accept that ALL life forms branched out in stages from earlier life forms. That does not mean that all extinct life forms plus food, most of which had no connection with humans plus food, existed only “as part of the goal of evolving [= designing] humans” plus food.

It does if one believe God evolved us from bacteria.