If there is a God, why is there evil?

Discuss philosophical questions regarding theism (and atheism), and discuss religion as it relates to philosophy. This includes any philosophical discussions that happen to be about god, gods, or a 'higher power' or the belief of them. This also generally includes philosophical topics about organized or ritualistic mysticism or about organized, common or ritualistic beliefs in the existence of supernatural phenomenon.
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LuckyR
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Re: If there is a God, why is there evil?

Post by LuckyR »

Belindi wrote:Spectrum wrote:
(LuckyR wrote)So the existence and quality of deities are now decided by vote?

(Spectrum wrote)Not 'decided' to be agreed by all. The said existence and quality of a monotheistic God are only claimed by monotheists.

I had stated, if we observe what had happened over the history of mankind, there is a natural implicit trend for theists to gravitate [more like compelled] toward a monotheistic God, as evident with the 5.4 billion theists [out of all 7+ billion humans] who believed in a monotheistic God.

This theistic trend will continue to move toward an inevitably absolutely perfect God as there is no other option except this so as to avoid one's god being dominated by another who claim their God is an absolutely perfect God.

An absolute perfect God must be absolutely and perfectly good, but evil exists, so such a God as claimed cannot be possible, thus impossible.
But what happened did not happen for a reason built into existence itself. What happened happened for a multiplicity of historical reasons. Moreover what happened is no guarantee that the trend will continue to happen.

True, evil in the forms of suffering, loss, and meaninglessness exists. God and gods are explanations for evil and formularies for countering evil.

The answer to Lucky's question is either under the heading of
1. What we can know i.e. it's an epistemological question.

or 2. What exists i.e. it's an ontological question.

Lucky did not say what category of question it is.
I was alluding to what (supposedly) exists (in the post I quoted). As anyone can tell by my tone, I disagree with the premise.
"As usual... it depends."
Belindi
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Re: If there is a God, why is there evil?

Post by Belindi »

Lucky I understood that you disagreed with the premise in the title of this thread.

I don't understand if you disagree because the premise is a silly belief , or because you hold that God does not exist.
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Re: If there is a God, why is there evil?

Post by Spectrum »

Namelesss wrote:
Spectrum wrote:An absolute perfect God must be absolutely and perfectly good, but evil exists, so such a God as claimed cannot be possible, thus impossible.
"The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function." - F. Scott Fitzgerald

You appear to lack this ability in your emotional squall against the 'uncomfortable', which you project onto your notion of God.
Note my signature below.
In addition I quote the complementarity principles of Yin & Yang and the Tao very often to support my arguments.

I agree with 'good' and 'evil' existing in reality but not within a system with an absolute perfect God [illusory] controlling that system.
Not-a-theist. Religion is a critical necessity for humanity now, but not the FUTURE.
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Re: If there is a God, why is there evil?

Post by Namelesss »

Spectrum wrote:but not within a system with an absolute perfect God [illusory] controlling that system.
No, there is no 'controlling' God! that separates a 'god' from 'other' (being 'controlled')
There is not anything that exists BUT God being revealed!
'Control' of any sort is a vain notion/illusion of the ego.
All that exists is God being perceived/revealed!
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Re: If there is a God, why is there evil?

Post by Spectrum »

Namelesss wrote:
Spectrum wrote:but not within a system with an absolute perfect God [illusory] controlling that system.
No, there is no 'controlling' God! that separates a 'god' from 'other' (being 'controlled')
There is not anything that exists BUT God being revealed!
'Control' of any sort is a vain notion/illusion of the ego.
All that exists is God being perceived/revealed!
This OP is based on the claim that God is omni-benevolent, i.e. the monothesistic God that is claimed by 5.4 billion out of 7+ billion people.
If you claim your minority pantheistic God is omni-good as well as omni-evil [e.g. omni-child molestor, genocidal, etc.] then this OP is not applicable to your all-inclusive God.

I have argued in the other thread, all ideas of God including an all-inclusive God is ultimately an absolutely perfection God. Since I have proved absolute perfection is an impossibility to be real empirical-rationally, your absolutely perfect God [perfectly balanced or whatever] is an impossibility.
Not-a-theist. Religion is a critical necessity for humanity now, but not the FUTURE.
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LuckyR
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Re: If there is a God, why is there evil?

Post by LuckyR »

Belindi wrote:Lucky I understood that you disagreed with the premise in the title of this thread.

I don't understand if you disagree because the premise is a silly belief , or because you hold that God does not exist.
I am (as is everyone else on this planet) uniquely unqualified to comment on whether there is or is not a god. But regardless if there is or is not one, evil will exist, since the two concepts (gods and evil) are completely unrelated. Yes, the original premise is a silly one, as stated.
"As usual... it depends."
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Re: If there is a God, why is there evil?

Post by Belindi »

LuckyR wrote:
Belindi wrote:Lucky I understood that you disagreed with the premise in the title of this thread.

I don't understand if you disagree because the premise is a silly belief , or because you hold that God does not exist.
I am (as is everyone else on this planet) uniquely unqualified to comment on whether there is or is not a god. But regardless if there is or is not one, evil will exist, since the two concepts (gods and evil) are completely unrelated. Yes, the original premise is a silly one, as stated.
I understand now :)
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Re: If there is a God, why is there evil?

Post by Namelesss »

Spectrum wrote:Since I have proved absolute perfection is an impossibility to be real empirical-rationally, your absolutely perfect God [perfectly balanced or whatever] is an impossibility.
You have not demonstrated (much less 'proven') any such thing; nor logically, nor rationally, nor experientially can you!
You merely demonstrate your limitations to your own satisfaction and needs.
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Re: If there is a God, why is there evil?

Post by Dark Matter »

I'm bewildered that people are still on this subject. The possibility of "evil" is a space-time phenomenon that does not reflect on the infinite and eternal nature of the Actual. It is not a viable aspect of the Real.
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Re: If there is a God, why is there evil?

Post by Atreyu »

Dark Matter wrote:I'm bewildered that people are still on this subject. The possibility of "evil" is a space-time phenomenon that does not reflect on the infinite and eternal nature of the Actual. It is not a viable aspect of the Real.
By "evil" I think people mean things which generally work against the interests of Mankind. And such things are obviously real...
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Re: If there is a God, why is there evil?

Post by Spectrum »

Dark Matter wrote:I'm bewildered that people are still on this subject.
Why are you so busybody with the views of others?
The possibility of "evil" is a space-time phenomenon that does not reflect on the infinite and eternal nature of the Actual. It is not a viable aspect of the Real.
Before you insist on any credibility and truth for the 'Real' prove it exists first.

Evil [as defined] is real empirically and rationally.

The 'Real' as merely an idea and solely thought is only real for psychological reasons and it is NEVER real within empirical-rational reality.
Not-a-theist. Religion is a critical necessity for humanity now, but not the FUTURE.
Dark Matter
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Re: If there is a God, why is there evil?

Post by Dark Matter »

Atreyu wrote:
Dark Matter wrote:I'm bewildered that people are still on this subject. The possibility of "evil" is a space-time phenomenon that does not reflect on the infinite and eternal nature of the Actual. It is not a viable aspect of the Real.
By "evil" I think people mean things which generally work against the interests of Mankind. And such things are obviously real...
By "evil" I think people mean things which they think generally work against the interests of Mankind.
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nsalwa
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Re: If there is a God, why is there evil?

Post by nsalwa »

One argument people have about God’s existence is that if God is all-powerful, all-knowing, then why is there evil in this world; if God is all-powerful and good, he wouldn’t want anything bad to happen and would prevent it from happening, therefore God cannot exist.
If there exists good and evil, then God must exist; God is all knowing, the wise, which means that he has wisdom, and with wisdom comes reasoning. Although we may not know why something happened and cannot understand the reasoning behind it, that does not mean that there is no reasoning for it. For example, if there is an earthquake or a person suffers from cancer and we can’t see the reasoning behind it, that doesn’t imply that there is no reason. Evil and God can exist at the same time by assuming that God has morally good reasons for allowing evilness to occur. Along with God having a reason for evilness, we also know that humans are given free will; we can decide what is good and bad and what is moral and immoral. We are given the choice of committing evil or good and if there is no evilness in the world, only good choices, then there would not be any freedom. Thus, if good exists, evil must exist.
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Joseph47
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Re: If there is a God, why is there evil?

Post by Joseph47 »

MyshiningOne wrote: "Happiness cannot exist without sadness, just like a
light in a hallway or closet cannot exist without
the darkness to greet it."

I have heard of these sorts of arguments before, but I really don't quite see why happiness has to coexist with sadness. Cannot I conceive of being joyful, creative, active, sharing life with other beings, contributing to the well-being of others, and in full unison with Ultimate Reality without any suffering or sadness ever coming on the scene? I don't see why not.
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LuckyR
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Re: If there is a God, why is there evil?

Post by LuckyR »

Joseph47 wrote: October 11th, 2018, 11:43 am MyshiningOne wrote: "Happiness cannot exist without sadness, just like a
light in a hallway or closet cannot exist without
the darkness to greet it."

I have heard of these sorts of arguments before, but I really don't quite see why happiness has to coexist with sadness. Cannot I conceive of being joyful, creative, active, sharing life with other beings, contributing to the well-being of others, and in full unison with Ultimate Reality without any suffering or sadness ever coming on the scene? I don't see why not.
You can, except in such a universe, folks would use the word "average" to describe what you just called "joyful".
"As usual... it depends."
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