Return to David's theory of evolution and theodicy (Evolution)

by David Turell , Friday, October 27, 2023, 20:03 (391 days ago) @ dhw

DAVID: In my view God creates with set purposes in mind...

dhw: If your God exists, I have no doubt that he would have created life with a purpose/purposes in mind. You have limited his purpose to creating us and our food, and I need hardly remind you of the illogical mess this has landed you in.

Our problem is I do not see your illogicalities. I find them as inventions of your mind. So I am really happy with my theory of God and His goals. I think He has achieved them.

DAVID: ...and any form of enjoyments or interests are secondary events, not primary purposes.

dhw: What is that supposed to mean? Enjoyment and interest are not “events”, and if you do something because you enjoy doing it and you want to create something interesting to watch, then enjoyment and interest are a purpose. You believe he designed and then culled 99.9 out of 100 species in order to design us and our food. Please tell us his “primary purpose” in designing the unnecessary 99.9 species, and his “primary purpose” for designing us and our food. And while you’re at it, following up one of your theories, please tell us his primary purpose for deliberately creating evil as a challenge for us humans.

Humans were His primary purpose. Our free will allows us to create evil, not God's fault. God created a complex system of biochemistry at such high speeds error occur. Not God's fault. God created bacteria and viruses to help our living system. With freedom of action, they sometimes cause disease. Not God's fault. God knew it would happen and we have immune systems.

Theodicy

DAVID: I accept God's works warts and all.

dhw: The fact that you kindly accept God’s “warts”, which in this case entail the deliberate creation of evil (as in your challenge theory) or his inability to prevent the evil he has created (despite his being all-powerful) does not answer the question bolded above. How can a first-cause God, who knowingly creates out of himself a world that contains evil, be all-good?

DAVID: The evils are byproducts of His good works, which means He is responsible for His good works, which affect us, but we and God have to accept evil that secondarily results and work to mitigate the evil. I agree with you God knew this would happen. Yes, warts and all.

dhw: I don’t understand why an all-powerful God, who according to you “directly creates whatever he wishes directly”, has to accept the evil which he hates, and which as first cause he and he alone has produced, whether directly (as a challenge to us humans) or indirectly (because he was powerless to prevent it). Warts are blemishes or imperfections. How can a designer deliberately or accidentally produce evil imperfections but still be regarded as all-powerful, all-good and perfect?

As above evil is the result of mistakes or from human free will, which I am delighted to have.