[lit-ideas] Re: The Problem of Evil

  • From: Robert Paul <robert.paul@xxxxxxxx>
  • To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • Date: Wed, 08 Mar 2006 23:08:43 -0800

Naive me, not knowing the texts, but isn't the issue here the apparent
paradox between God's never willing evil and God's creating human
beings with free will and, thus, introducing the possibility of evil
into Creation?

That wouldn't be a paradox unless God were both omniscient and omnipotent (which God is said to be, in Christian doctrine, at least).
It isn't clear to me (to go back to an earlier point) why the visitation of pain and suffering on the innocent is necessary in order for human beings to have free will.

The argument seems to be that if people are able to choose good, their choice of good must be contrasted with the possible choice of something opposed to it (which has in this exchange mostly been called 'evil'); thus, 'evil' is necessary for the free choice of the good. This is a strange argument. The existence of 'evil' isn't necessary for the existence of free will unless choosing good somehow entails the rejection of something else, and this needs to be argued for. People might always choose to comfort the afflicted, to be brave, kind, compassionate, etc., without its ever occurring to them to do otherwise.
Of course bravery is contrasted with cowardice or indifference, kindness with meanness, and the like. But this only shows that at the level of concepts there are these contrasts: it doesn't go anywhere near showing that there must be (e.g.) meanness in the world in order for people to choose (and always choose) kindness. 'You could choose a different flavor, you know; Baskin-Robbins has thousands.' 'Thanks, but I prefer vanilla, and I'd prefer it even if there were the only choice open.'

Spell checker says bon nuit.

Robert Paul
------------------------------------------------------------------
To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off,
digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html

Other related posts:

  1. Home
  2. lit-ideas
  3. Archive
  4. 03-2006