Return to David's theory of evolution, purpose & theodicy (Evolution)

by David Turell , Wednesday, August 21, 2024, 18:08 (26 days ago) @ dhw

dhw: [...] according to your Mr Hyde, he has absolutely no human attributes (“not human in any way”), so he couldn’t care less about what happens here. He might just as well not exist.

DAVID: That is why I reject deism. God made us. He must care about the results.

dhw: I agree with your conclusion: that your views are schizophrenic, which means they are full of contradictions. And this means that the correct approach to a designer is to keep contradicting yourself.

DAVID: I don't contradict myself in present discussions. What you refuse to accept is God is not human in anyway. To attribute any human emotion to God is wishful thinking.

dhw: He must care, but he is not human in any way, which can only mean he doesn’t care. (Contrast your mentor Adler, who says it’s 50/50 whether God cares or not). The same applies to your other proposals. I asked why you thought he might have wanted specially to create us. One of your very reasonable opinions was that he might want us to recognize him and worship him, but next moment he couldn’t do so because he is selfless. That was not “wishful thinking” – why would you wish him to want us to worship him? It was your proposal, and you then contradicted your own proposal. These are “schizophrenic” contradictions.

The contradictions are the result of mashing together different bits of discussions. God is perfect, selfless, and in no way has human attributes. He did not create us to satisfy His own needs, because He has none. We humans apply wishful attributes, as you show I have done.
Viewed this way there are no contradictions. I have the right to be critical when I see direct creation in the Cambrian and then all the rest is slow evolution. As you have asked why, so do I.

Theodicy

Your first answer is “proportionality”, which means pretending that evil is so minor compared to good that we should simply ignore it.

DAVID: Not ignore. Use our human brains and ingenuity to help the problems.

dhw: This is your other answer to theodicy: God has created evil in order to challenge us. How does that prove he is all good, and do please give us your views on WHY he wants to challenge us.

DAVID: He gave us brilliant brains. Why not put them to the test?

dhw: Please tell us why you think he would want to test our intelligence by designing or allowing evil?

Evil is not designed. It is a byproduct of God's good works.