Benevolent God and Problem of Evil - Essay Example

? Contents Introduction 2 Problem of Evil 2 Responses to Problem of Evil 3 Evil is Necessary as a Counterpart to Good 3 Evil is Necessary as a Means to Good 4 Universe is Better with Evil rather Than without Evil 5 Human Free Will Is Cause of Evil 5 Personal View on Responses to Problem of Evil 6 Conclusion 7 References 8 Introduction “Does God Exist?” This is one of the most important questions that each one of us has asked ourselves at one point or another. Theists and atheists, philosophers and theologians, scientists and logicians have all tried to answer this question. There have been many arguments over the centuries that either prove or disprove the existence of God. While disapprovers of God’s existence have used logical argument to prove their belief while approvers or believers of God have fallen upon emotional but not rational reasoning. To believers of God it’s more a question faith than scientific or logical explanation. This paper is aimed at answering the question: “Is the presence of evil in the world compatible with the existence of a benevolent God?” Problem of Evil has been one of the greatest challenges to the existence of a benevolent God. It is argued that if God is benevolent, omniscient, and omnipotent, then why does evil exists in the world. In order to do this Problem of Evil and the possible responses to it are discussed. The responses are analysed to see if they are satisfactory and allow for an existence of a benevolent God and evil. Problem of Evil The fact that evil continues to occur in our world contradicts or challenges the existence of a benevolent God. If God is benevolent, along with being omnipotent and omniscient, then God must be good and kind to everybody. This means there must be no evil in the world which causes enormous suffering and pain to not just humans but all living beings. But this is not true. There is evil everywhere in the world and all beings are subjected to suffering and pain. Therefore, the existence of a benevolent, omnipotent and omniscient God and the presence of evil contradict each other. A benevolent God who is also omnipotent and omniscient must not tolerate such widespread evil and must eradicate it. If God is omnipotent and omniscient but does not eradicate the evil in the world means that God is no benevolent. On the other hand, if God is benevolent but still not eradicates evil means that God is either not omnipotent or omniscient. But there are people who believe that God is benevolent at the same time acknowledging the fact that there is evil in the world. This belief is very inconsistent and many have addressed this issue. Responses to Problem of Evil There are numerous responses from theologians and believers of benevolent God to the question raised about the problem of evil. Many have tried to solve this problem and find a solution that would put the argument of ‘Problem of Evil’. There aren’t any solutions and reasons that are perfectly logical. In fact, many proposed solutions are proven to be fallacious. But at the end it all comes down to faith. Those who do not believe in God go with the argument that questions the existence of God while those who believe in a benevolent God accept that reasoning given by theologians irrespective of logical shortcomings (Mackie, 1955). Following are some of the responses by theologians and theists to ‘Problem of Evil’: Evil is Necessary as a Counterpart to Good This is one of the most popular responses that are used. For good to be present there needs to be evil. Evil is very essential for us to recognise the good that is around. Good is a counterpart to evil and the absence of one makes the other one irrelevant. The idea here is that if there was no evil then good would not make much sense. It is only with respect to evil that we can decide what is good and what is not. This can be best understood with the example of light and darkness. We can make the distinction between light and darkness only because we are aware of the two. If either one was absent, then there is no way to identify the other one. If there was no light then darkness would not make much sense and vice versa. It is only due to the presence of light that darkness has significance and the same holds good the other way round. If there was no darkness then light would not have much significance. Therefore light and darkness is counterpart and one is necessary for the existence of the other. Similarly good and evil are counterparts and one is essential for the existence of the other. Through this argument theologians try to give a logical explanation to the presence of evil in spite of a benevolent God (Mackie, 1955). Evil is Necessary as a Means to Good ‘Evil is a necessary means to good’ is another argument that is used to answer the Problem of Evil. Here evil is not a counterpart to good but is a means to create good. It is argued that there is no other way that God could create ‘good’ without creating ‘evil’ (Mackie, 1955). That is, evil leads greater good. Theologians use the mountain and valley analogy to explain this. There is no way that a mountain can be created without a valley being created and vice versa. It is only because a valley is created that we have a mountain. Therefore, mountain is the consequence of the process of creating a valley. Similarly, evil is the consequence of the process of creation of good. That is, if God has to create good things then he must also create bad things simultaneously. Therefore, evil is a means by which good can be created and there is no other way that could have created ‘good’. Universe is Better with Evil rather Than without Evil This solution states that the world is a better place because of existence of evil in it. The world without evil would not fare as well as a world with evil. The reasoning behind this is that the opportunity to grow spiritually and morally comes with evil (Mackie, 1955). All good would leave us with no room for development and growth. It is only when we confront evil with faith that we truly grow and develop both spiritually and morally. For example, a person can give charity only if there is another person with need. If there isn’t another person who is suffering then there would be no room for charity at all. Therefore human suffering is essential for moral and spiritual growth. Evil is present in the world because God wants us to grow and attain our complete spiritual potential. Without suffering there would be no means by which a person can grow. It is through suffering that we attain our higher self and be happy. It is only when we have suffered that we are the happiest. Therefore, evil makes the world a better place when compared to one with the absence of evil. Human Free Will Is Cause of Evil In this solution, it is argued that evil is not related to what can or cannot do but is ascribed to actions of humans. Humans are endowed with free will by God. Once God has endowed free will upon humans, he will bring out only the different possibilities/choices and will assert no control in process of selection of those choices. If God gave free will and also ensured that only good choices which would lead to good and well being were made would be contradictory. Once free will is given, God does not choose to interfere and ensure that always the right way is chosen. It is up to the humans to use free will in the right way to make a responsible choice (Swinburne, 1996). It is only when we are allowed to choose between equally good and evil choices that free will makes sense. Therefore, it is our choices that lead to good and evil in the world. The choices made by one individual can lead to good or evil to not just him but others too. With free will we have the opportunities to give others and ourselves pleasure or cause suffering. According to this solution, the existence of evil in the world has nothing to do with the existence of a benevolent God. Personal View on Responses to Problem of Evil As already mentioned earlier all these responses are fallacious and lack logical reasoning. The acceptance of these reasons will contradict the claim that God is not just benevolent but also omnipotent and omniscient. It is only when one of the above denied that the reasons can be accepted as logical but that again would contradict the original belief in God. ‘Evil is a necessary counterpart to good’ limits the abilities of a omnipotent God. If God is omnipotent then there is nothing that cannot be done by God. But if God can make us realise what good is without evil then God is not really omnipotent. If the only way for God to create good/well is through creating evil, then the abilities of God as an omnipotent creature can be questioned. Also another factor is the magnitude of evil. If evil is necessary to create good why not create less evil and cause less pain and suffering. This argument is not convincing enough to accept the existence of both evil and an omnipotent God. The above argument holds good to the response that ‘evil is a means to create good/well’. This again question God being omnipotent. This again identifies something that cannot do. Therefore, either God is omnipotent or benevolent and not both. The third argument that world is a better place with evil rather than without evil questions the claim that God is benevolent. If God is benevolent and omnipotent why not find a way where we can grow spiritually and morally without having to endure pain and suffering. Why it is that only way we can grow is throw suffering and pain. As God is benevolent why not be kind and good to everyone by ensuring equal suffering and good to all. Why different levels of suffering/pain and good/well to different people. The fourth argument that evil due to choices made by humans as a result of free will endowed upon him by God to some extent makes sense on the outset. If it is completely the choice of humans then to some extent the existence of a benevolent God and evil simultaneously could be justified. Conclusion Problem of evil is one of major challenges to the existence of benevolent God. There are many questions raised on why there is evil present in the world if God was not benevolent but also omnipotent and omniscient. Theologians have put forward many solutions such as ‘evil is a necessary counterpart to good’, ‘evil is a means to good’, ‘world is better with evil than no evil at all’ and ‘cause of evil is not God but human free will’. But none of these reasons are completely logical and are fallacious. Personally, I believe that a benevolent God and existence of evil is not possible but it is up to faith of the individual to believe in a benevolent God or question the existence of such God citing the existence of evil. References Mackie, J.L. (1955). ‘Evil and Omnipotence’, in Warburton, N. (ed), Philosophy: basic readings. Routledge, Oxon. Swinburne, R. (1996). ‘Why God allows Evil’, in Warburton, N. (ed), Philosophy: basic readings. Routledge, Oxon. Read More