The goal of this book is to inquire into and possibly shed light upon, some of the most. If god exists, then god eliminates as much evil as god can. The problem of evil involves the apparent inconsistency of the existence of a morally perfect and omnipotent god and the existence of evil. The omnipotent good god of the judeochristianislamic tradition would not. God lacks the ability to lie because lying is contrary to his moral perfection. I am the lord, the maker of all things, who stretches out the heavens, who spreads out the earth by myself. The problem of evil is the question of how to reconcile the existence of evil and suffering with an omnipotent, omnibenevolent, and omniscient god.
In other words, when god wants something to be done, it is done. Evil and suffering is thought to pose a problem for christians or, more generally. Being omnipotent, god can do everything that is in harmony with his holy character. Philosophers are passionately ready to debate about the topic of the existence of god, as this is one of the philosophical topics of discussion that has remained timeless, in that it has not become obsolete. The problem of evil, pain, and suffering by david l. If god is omnipotent and omniscient, can he do something that he didnt think of before. King benjamin continues his addressthe lord omnipotent will minister among men in a tabernacle of clayblood will come from every pore as he atones for the sins of the worldhis is the only name whereby salvation comesmen can put off the natural man and become saints through the atonementthe torment of the wicked will be as a lake of fire and brimstone. God and evil if god is such a nice guy, why is there so much misery and suffering in the world. Mackie presents one of the most common arguments against omnipotence. Therefore, it is not rational to believe in god s existence a posteriori on the basis of experience alone, which, for hume, is all we have to go on anyway.
However, since we experience evil, we cannot infer than an omniscient, omnipotent and omnibenevolent god exists. God is able to do as he pleases because he has the power to do so. Mackies evil and omnipotence the arguments for and against god has prevailed throughout the history of humankind. The god of the bible is omnipresent, omnipotent, and. However, evil and human suffering persists, seemingly unrequited, and radically so. God, freedom, and evil kindle edition by plantinga. I have previously written about the attribute of god s perfect love for all people see the omnibenevolence of god. Omnipotent is not a word used in the bible, but almighty appears in virtually every book of the old testament, often dozens of times. God and the challenge of evil a critical examination of some. Another way to solve the problem of god and evil is to see omnipotence as so. In classical terms, god is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnibenevolent, as well as immutable. God and the challenge of evil a critical examination of. To answer this, we can begin by thinking about the claims that god is omnipotent and. The traditional arguments for the existence of god have been fairly thoroughly criticised by philosophers.
Why petition an omnipotent, omniscient, wholly good god. The plan of this book is constructed around the objections to the good and all. This is sometimes misunderstood as meaning that god can do absolutely anything, such as making a square circle or doing something that is morally wrong. Exploring god s omnipotence, omniscience, and omnibenevolence through the book of genesis mako a. In the same way, god reigns high above every force and views the past, present, and future as if each were unfolding today.
Many have heard about god, but wonder about his existence, omnipotence, omnipresence, and omniscience. One of the principal challenges to the belief in god is the problem of evil. Phil 3303 philosophy of religion dallas baptist university. Mackie and lewis the problem of evil mackie the socalled problem of evil is a puzzle arising from many theists conception of the divine. To learn more about this, lets start with the bible. He can admit that no rational proof of god s existence is possible. God and evil the problem solved gordon clark started. The anselmian god is conceived as omnipotent, omniscient, omnibenevolent, and a necessarily existing being. One of my primary goals is to help others comprehend god accurately. Kushner, when bad things happen to good people new york. This means, he knows every attack well encounter and challenge well face.
God, happiness and evil, religious studies, ii 10 1966, 114. There is the further question of how an interference would negate and subjugate the concept of free will, or in other words. In a widely discussed piece entitled evil and omnipotence john mackie repeats this claim. Mackie wrote a very convincing piece on the problem of evil called evil and omnipotence, in which he attempts to show that one of the following premises must be false in order for them to be consistent with each other. Throughout scripture, god is described as being able to do anything that he desires. The philosophical problem of evil is the challenge of reconciling belief in god with evil in the world. Scripture tells us every day of our lives were recorded in his book.
There are, then, quite a num ber of adequate solutions of th e problem of evil, an d som e of these have been adopted, or almost adopted, by various thinkers. The problem of evil stanford encyclopedia of philosophy. Clearly, as mackie writes, his failure to avail himself of this possibility is inconsistent with his being both omnipotent and wholly good. If god is omnipotent, then god has the power to eliminate all evil. In the oxford english dictionary, omnipotence is defined as allpowerfulness, or almightiness.
Each of these arguments arises from a question about. It has long been a desire of mine to write this book on god and suffering. Probably no charge has been made with greater frequency or with more intensity against the christian faith than that the existence of evil cannot be harmonized with the existence of the infinite god of the bible. The paradox arises, for example, if one assumes that an omnipotent being has no limits and is capable of realizing any outcome, even logically contradictory ideas such as creating square circles. As the creator, god has authority over his creatures and. Connected with god being omnipresent is the idea that god is omnivisual that is that he is all seeing. Mackie and numerous others who have argued that the existence of evil is logically incompatible with the creation of the world by an omniscient, omnipotent, and omnibenevolent god, plantinga forcefully argues for the logical possibility that such a god could not have created a world in which beings with significant. But the theologian can, if he wishes, accept this criticism. A decent text on omnipotence and the problem of evil. A wholly good being is opposed to evil in such a way that it eliminates evil as far as it can. How is god omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient.
The idea of an omnipotent god who can do anything he wants is not new the word can. Thus one who is omnipotent is allpowerful or having unlimited power. Omnipotence and the ability to do evil the good book. Mackie thinks that this implies a restriction on god s omnipotence. The omnipotence paradoxes, where evil persists in the presence of an all powerful god, raise questions as to the nature of god s omnipotence. If something is wholly good, it always eliminates as much evil as it can. Or, if he exists, he is limited as to his knowledge, power, love, or justice, and cannot do anything about evil. Omnipotent is made up of the root word potent meaning power and omnimeaning all. God has all power in heaven and on earth matthew 28.
The paradox of omnipotence can be avoided by putting god outside time, but the freewill solution of the problem of evil cannot be saved in this way, and equally it remains impossible to hold that an omnipotent god binds himself by causal or logical laws. Are the evils in the world strong evidence against the existence of an allpowerful and allgood god. And if they are, should we conclude that such a god does not, in all likelihood, exist. If god is just, then he will not permit evil and human suffering to go unrequited. The omnipotence of god is the application of his sovereignty. There are no limits to what an omnipotent being can do. God has many attributes qualities and can describe these. The omniscient god knew that, however much evil might result from. Because god is spirit, this helps explain why god is omnipotent, omnipresent, and. Thus peter van inwagen, throughout his book the problem of evil, frequently.
Even the book of proverbs, despite its occasional flashes of cynicism. The omnipotence paradox is a family of paradoxes that arise with some understandings of the term omnipotent. The plural in the title of james kellers book refers to the fact that, in his. However, by omnipotence, most christians mean that god can do. As we think about our human condition, it is easy to see that we are not omnipotent we cannot do anything we desire.
According to those theists, god has the following three properties. The bible reveals that he cannot do things which are contrary to his holy character. Plantinga on the free will defense hugh lafollette. If god exists, then he is perfectly good, omnipotent and omniscient. Most theists think god created the laws of causality in the first place and miracles are supposed to show god. So an omnipotent being who lacks perfect goodness, such as you ask about, while able to do evil acts himself, cannot be expected to be able to bring about a logically impossible state of affairs such as god s. Many atheists believe that the correct answer to both of these questions is. If it is a law of causeandeffect that evil has to cause goodness, then omnipotence ought to be able to break this law.
An archetypal question arising from this situation is how god, who is both omnipotent and maximally good, can permit the existence of such evil, and furthermore, how evil can even exist since the beneficent creator is the source of all. I spend much time on this specific attribute because so many people christians and nonchristians have a faulty and low view of god. This is typically referred to as the attribute of omnipotence to possess all power. We would then have a strong reason for seeing god as an all powerful, but evil supreme being. Yardan the council for research in values and philosophy. Mackie the problem of evil, according to mackie, is that the following set of propositions is inconsistent. If god were morally perfect, it seems that god would.