It seems that the problem of evil is the most powerful argument against the theist argument. — tryhard
Not as evil, I think, as the Abrahamic God must be for giving us a form of "free will" too weak for us to freely – easily – choose in every instance not to make others and ourselves suffer needlessly (i.e. "making us sick but commanding us to be well"). Thus, the argument from poor design. — 180 Proof
Yeah, of course. I do. — 180 Proof
.If God exists, he would remove evil from the world — tryhard
God can't show his omnipotence. So he's not omnipotent — EugeneW
God doesn't give damn about your belief in him, — Book273
, and proving his ability is pointless — Book273
he would have to do it all the time to convince some ass-hat that he is real. — Book273
Endless nonsense. — Book273
Rage at the Sun all day and command it to appear no more; however the Sun doesn't do requests, so it will carry on as usual — Book273
For an "omnipotent deity", only itself is "necessary", not the rules of the game it set up (e.g. "necessary evil") or the game itself (e.g. "creation") for that matter. "Theodicy" isn't for anyone's "greater good" other than "God's", after all, just like arson isn't for any burned alive sleeping victim's pleasure, only the arsonist's. Vapid sophistry, DJ: give it up and these tendentiously silly out-of-context-questions. Either knock down my "omnibenevolence" argument directly or concede the point even if it doesn't persuade you. I'm off to bed now. :yawn:Well the suffering might indeed be part of a greater good, a necessary evil. — DingoJones
God exists. Stupid, ignorant immoral people exist. A dangerous world exists. God would not create stupid, ignorant immoral people and create a dangerous world and plonk the stupid ignorant immoral people in it, would he? — Bartricks
God would — Book273
Can anyone provide an argument that provides justification for the existence of evil while taking into account the unnecessary evils, or gratuitous evils, that we seem to observe throughout our life experiences?
could that being exist without having created anything? For instance, is the following scenario coherent: God exists and billions of other minds exist that God did not create?
It is hard to experience a punch in the face unless one is punched in the face. — Book273
Suffering, in some sense, is the purest form of truth. Even happiness can be faked. — Jonah Wong
Western culture has made the mistake of glorifying comfort. — Jonah Wong
If God ended suffering, humans would not know what it means to be separated from Him.
If humans did not know what it means to be separated from God, they would not know that they need to be rescued.
If humans did not know they needed to be rescued, they would have no reason to cooperate with God.
Suffering is necessary for humans to cooperate with God. — Jonah Wong
However, the point is, despite human effort, suffering is inevitable: and our mission on an individual level ought not to be to suffer as little as possible, but instead to choose to suffer in the hope that it develops character and brings us closer to God. — Jonah Wong
God as an entity does not exist. God as encompassing energy, I believe, is a certainty. — Book273
Why is your philosophy limited to earth and that which is limited to this reality? It seems, well, limited. — Book273
The word 'God' denotes a person who is omnipotent, omniscient and omnibenevolent — Bartricks
Person, likely not. People are weaklings and lack insight. The anthropomorphic version of God should n't be a weakling, so your description of God isn't applicable. — Book273
I believe in God. I also believe that no good, all knowing, all powerful person would create some evil, ignorant idiots and then create a world it would be dangerous for evil, ignorant idiots to live in and place them in it. — Bartricks
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