The Horrors of Evolution (Evolution)

by David Turell , Wednesday, September 03, 2008, 18:00 (5723 days ago) @ dhw

Carl points out that when God created Satan and the rest of the world, in his omniscience he must have known what would happen, and so it's strange that he should be angry at a situation that he himself had set up. This conundrum leads us further back: if God is the prime cause that created everything else, and there was nothing before him, evil has to be his creation. It could not have come into existence independently of his will or knowledge. Is it in any way conceivable that a being who has created evil out of nothing is himself all good? 
 
> There is a possible answer to this question in your posting. You quote Genesis 1:26: Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness." If man is in God's image, and we know that man is a mixture of good and evil, doesn't it follow that God is the same? - I'd like to add my Texas two cents, as we say here: The conundrum comes from accepting what the Bible tells us about God. Accepting those definitions immediately sets up the questions dhw asks. The answer is, as we can never know for sure about God's characteristics, don't accept those definitions in your thinking. That leaves us with the possible explanation: there is an intelligent force that created this universe which allows for life as we know it. Good and evil are both present, because evolution requires "tooth and claw" and humans, as evolved, have free choice of action and free will. No one knows if the intelligent force is good, evil or can see the future; perhaps this force can only work in the present and set this all up to see what would happen. Perhaps theistic evolution is truly an ongoing process with an unforeseen ending. Logically, philosphic reasoning cannot get beyond this point of view. Note I didn't use the term theologic reasoning. Theologians accept a priori conditions and positions. I was once told by a Jesuit student that once a person accepts the starting postions in Catholic philosophy, everything else follows logically, and I am sure that is true. The key then is 'starting postions', and we don't have absolute proof of what they are. Not comforting if you desire a coddling God. Ask yourself, what right do you have to ask for that? You may want it, but that doesn't make it true. As Karen Armstrong points out, we appear to be born as beings seeking religion. Inbred by evolution or programmed into us in a created DNA? Good question, no real answer. So you end up flipping a coin and taking the most comforting choice, one that fits your personal needs.