DAVID: Return to David's theory of theodicy (Evolution)

by David Turell , Monday, October 09, 2023, 19:06 (200 days ago) @ David Turell
edited by David Turell, Monday, October 09, 2023, 19:14

A Christian reply to theodicy:

https://salvomag.com/article/salvo17/suffering-defeated

Jill: there is evil in the world, so it seems clear that God doesn't exist. In fact, I think this shows that the Christian view is a contradiction: God and evil cannot both exist.

Dr. Shepherd: ...I, too, have struggled with the problem, but I've come to a different conclusion. I believe they can coexist and there are also good reasons to think that they do.

First, consider this scenario: God exists, and evil is the result of human freedom. The Christian philosopher Alvin Plantinga says that God might not have been able to create a universe that contained human free will and, at the same time, contained no evil. Maybe in creating creatures capable of making evil choices, he cannot prevent them from doing so.

Jill: But that assumes that human beings have free will...I tend to think that we don't have free will; it is just an illusion to think that we do.

Dr. Shepherd: Well, it's possible that we don't have free will, but I don't think we need to prove that we have it in order to avoid the logical problem of evil, which is what we call the problem that you raised, that God and evil cannot (logically) coexist. To answer this specific problem, we only need to determine whether it is merely possible that they coexist, which will prove that there is no logical contradiction.

***

Jill: ...if the free will defense is successful, you've only solved the problem of moral evil. You haven't addressed the problem of natural evil—things like earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanoes. If an all-powerful, all-good God exists, he would be able and willing to prevent those things from occurring and from causing so much needless suffering.

***

Dr. Shepherd: I see your point, but it is possible that God has a morally sufficient reason for allowing evil in the world—for example, to form our characters. This might be something that could not take place in a world without evil, and I think God will ultimately use this world and the evil in it to destroy evil itself, a strategy that requires tolerating evil for some time in order to defeat it...I think it is at least possible that no better balance of good and evil is feasible for God among all the possible worlds that contain free creatures. If this response to your concern is even remotely possible, then the logical problem of evil can be answered. Remember, the reasons I've mentioned do not have to be true, or even plausible. As long as they are possible responses, the logical problem of evil has been solved, meaning that Christian belief does not entail a contradiction. Does that make sense?

Jill: Well, I guess I see how it is possible that God and evil coexist, but I don't think it is very likely. I guess I would say that the existence of evil makes the existence of God less believable to me.

***

Jill: But as I pointed out in class, the being that is the best explanation for the facts above is not necessarily the omnipotent, omni-benevolent God that the problem of evil is directed at.

Dr. Shepherd: Well, if we just take omnipotence for a moment, the being that is offered as an explanation for these problems is obviously very powerful, and it seems plausible that a being that powerful is omnipotent in the relevant sense, don't you think?

***
Dr. Shepherd: But back to your point about God not having a morally sufficient reason for allowing suffering, as in the case of the five-year-old girl. Do you think that our finite and limited perspective is a good one from which to assess the probability that God—an all-knowing being—lacks morally sufficient reasons for allowing evils like these?

Jill: Well, if the bad things in the world do not count as evidence against God's existence, then you can't appeal to the good things in the world as evidence for his existence, which is what the arguments for the existence of God seem to be doing.4

Dr. Shepherd: Good point. It does seem right that a Christian must admit that the problem of evil counts as evidence against God's existence even if he doesn't find the evidence persuasive.

...under Christian theology, we see God actively implementing an overarching plan to destroy evil and completely remove it in the long term. Solving the "problem of evil" is in fact exactly what the Christian God is all about.

Comment: all of this parallels the points I've presented.