...creates a sense of peace and confidence for the patient. Who is this God we should trust? The more we know of God's character, the more we are open to trusting Him during our trials. God wants us to trust Him, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your understanding.” Proverb 3:5 This lesson focuses on three pertinent characteristics of God: His Sovereignty His Wisdom His Goodness God’s Sovereignty Definitions of sovereignty: “Supreme and independent power or authority in a state.” “Sovereignty of God, his absolute right to do all things...
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...meant in the bible by the phrase ‘God is good’. (25marks) Firstly, we must understand what is meant by ‘good’ well good is that which is morally right. With God it is said in the bible “oh give thanks to the lord, for he is good; for His loving-kindness is everlasting (Psalms), another way is the 10 commandments which shows God setting the standard of what is morally right and wrong. Another way of showing of how ‘God is good’ is by creation in genesis 1 and 2 which shows God either creating the world or how he is crafting everything, also in the bible of how God has preformed miracles and in todays society. In the bible there are many passages, which say ‘God is good’ for example in James ‘every good thing bestowed and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation, or shifting shadow’ this is clearly saying that God is the source of goodness. Another example is the goodness of God is a character trait, which applies to every other attribute. God’s wrath is good. God’s holiness is good. God’s righteousness is good. God is good in His entirety. There is nothing about God that is not good (Romans), this is basically saying that the goodness of God is a life-transforming truth and that we should use the words of God in are attitudes and actions. The Ten Commandments are the clear example of God setting the standards of what is morally right and wrong. We follow these laws that God has set because we believe that they...
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...What is Good and what is Evil? Recently while I was surfing Pinterest, I ran across an e-card that quoted Einstein: “God did not create evil. Just as darkness is the absence of light, evil is the absence of God.” This brings me to the question of what is good and what is evil. Good versus Evil is a very subjective topic. I believe what is good and what is evil are based on my beliefs as a Christian and the scriptures of the Bible. In my opinion, good is having the acts and characteristics of God and in contrast, evil is the opposite of good or as Einstein stated: “evil is the absence of God.” To begin with, good is a characteristic of God. For instance, the Holy Bible describes God as love (John 4:8), great, powerful, glorified, victorious and majestic (1Chronicles 29:11 ); all of these can be synonymous with good. In the epistle to the Romans, chapter 8 explained that those who love God will have all things work together for good according to God’s purpose. When a person obtains the same characteristics and acts of God, they become endeavored with noble and righteous characteristics that are based on the unmerited favor of God’s grace. An example of this is the story of Joseph in Genesis. Joseph was greatly loved by his father and was given a coat of many colors as a gift of love. His brothers became envious of Joseph’s special treatment from their father. Joseph’s brothers sold Joseph as a slave. During his time in slavery, God blessed Joseph with ability to...
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...The main big issue which occurs in problem of evil is that how God and evil can exists together, for instance if God exists, then there should be the prevention of evil, and if evil exists in the world that shows that God does not exist. This problem is logically explained by the Augustine in this paragraph. All powerful, all knowing and perfectly nice God would not allow any evil or suffering in the world. Augustine considers God as “completely innocent of evil”, the almighty all powerful God all good wouldn’t create anything evil or do anything evil. Evil is although a corruption in the good created by the God. It is not anything that God created by itself but it is the beings who did corruption in the good, which leads that to evil. Evil and bad deeds...
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...Mackie argues that God does not exist because of his idea of the 3-0-God which states that God has to be omniscient, omnipotent and omni-benevolent to fulfill the properties of a true God. Perhaps the strongest argument that Mackie gives is that God can only be two out of the three properties in order for evil to exist thus stating that god cannot exist because he does not fulfill all three properties. In this paper, I will argue that this argument fails because Mackie is basing his points on his own thoughts about God. Mackie starts out his argument by stating that the problem of evil proves that either no god exists or at least the god of Christianity, Judaism and Islamic does not exist since the problem of evil provokes the three properties of God. Mackie supports this claim by saying, “These additional principles are that good is opposed to evil, in such a way that a good thing always eliminates evil as far as it can, and that there are no limits to what an omnipotent thing can do.” (Abel p.91) and concludes this claim with, “…propositions that a good omnipotent thing exists, and that evil exists, are incompatible.” (Abel p.91) Adequate solutions are also what backs up his major point about the problem of evil and states that God cannot be all knowing while being all-powerful and all-good because evil exists and would mean that God is unaware of evil in the world. God can be all-knowing and all-powerful but cannot be all-good since evil exists and gives God the false impression...
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...Religion has this ideology of a God who is all-powerful, all-knowing, and all-good. But, the biggest issue with this is whether or not he really exist due to the problem that there is evil in the world. A philosopher who argued this was Simon Blackburn. I argue Blackburn is right to claim that the existence of evil strongly suggests that a God who is all-good, all-knowing and all-powerful doesn't exist. Blackburn claimed that the existence of evil strongly suggests that there does not exist a God who is all-good, all-knowing and all-powerful. He wrote the book entitled “God” and in chapter five under on the section entitled “Problem of Evil”, he spoke about how in religion that God created everything meaning the good and the bad. He supported...
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... 1 Response to Fallacious Solutions According to Robbins (2012), the problem of evil states that if God exists and he is omnibenevolent and omnipotent, he would eliminate all evil from the world. However, since evil obviously exists, as we see people suffering and bad things happening everyday, if God existed, and he was all-knowing and all-powerful there would be no evil in the world (Robbins, 2012). Mackie presents several solutions to the problem of evil that he deems fallacious. I will argue that "Good cannot exist without evil" and "Evil is due to human free will" are in fact adequate solutions to the problem of evil. Mackie (1955), defines God as an omnipotent and omnibenevolent being, meaning God is all-knowing and all-good, and should be able to eliminate all evil from the world, and yet evil exists all around us. Mackie (1955), defines evil as needless suffering. There is human evil, something done by people, to people and natural evil, like natural disasters. The first fallacious solution Mackie (1955), presents is "Good cannot exist without evil." 1. If God is omnipotent, he would be powerful enough to stop all evil. 2. Evil exists. Therefore, God is not omnipotent, or there are limits on God's omnipotence. The first premise states that if God were in fact omnipotent or all-powerful, then he should RESPONSE TO FALLACIOUS SOLUTIONS 2 be able to eliminate...
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... 1 Response to Fallacious Solutions According to Robbins (2012), the problem of evil states that if God exists and he is omnibenevolent and omnipotent, he would eliminate all evil from the world. However, since evil obviously exists, as we see people suffering and bad things happening everyday, if God existed, and he was all-knowing and all-powerful there would be no evil in the world (Robbins, 2012). Mackie presents several solutions to the problem of evil that he deems fallacious. I will argue that "Good cannot exist without evil" and "Evil is due to human free will" are in fact adequate solutions to the problem of evil. Mackie (1955), defines God as an omnipotent and omnibenevolent being, meaning God is all-knowing and all-good, and should be able to eliminate all evil from the world, and yet evil exists all around us. Mackie (1955), defines evil as needless suffering. There is human evil, something done by people, to people and natural evil, like natural disasters. The first fallacious solution Mackie (1955), presents is "Good cannot exist without evil." 1. If God is omnipotent, he would be powerful enough to stop all evil. 2. Evil exists. Therefore, God is not omnipotent, or there are limits on God's omnipotence. The first premise states that if God were in fact omnipotent or all-powerful, then he should RESPONSE TO FALLACIOUS SOLUTIONS 2 be able to eliminate...
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...Is God Evil? Alan Gleisinger Walden University Is God Evil? “God either cannot or will not prevent evil. If God cannot prevent evil, then God is limited in power. If God will not prevent evil, then God is limited in benevolence. But if God is not limited in power or benevolence, why is there evil in the world?” Epicurus (Chaffee, 2013) Have you ever heard someone say, “I don’t understand why people believe in God when there is so much pain and suffering in the world?” This question, and others similar in it’s message are becoming more and more reasonable things to be asked. If God is all-powerful, all-knowing, and if God is good as he is believed to be in the traditional Western conception of God, then why would he allow evil to be such a prominent force in the lives of all of mankind (Soloman & Higgins, 2014)? In this paper I will show how the various arguments regarding the existence of God relates to the problem of evil in our world today. I will also show how these arguments relate to the different theories that try to answer questions about the problem of evil. With any attempt to answer the question of how can God exist with so much evil in the world, one must first have a clear understanding of what the problem of evil is. Simply stated, the problem of evil is: God is omnipotent (all-poweful), God is good, and evil still exists. Evil has two general categories, natural evil and moral evil. (Chaffee, 2013). Natural evil consists human suffering...
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...existence of an omnipotent God, however like Augustine, we struggle to understand how evil comes into being. Evil corrupts our free will and enables us to sin, but if God is all-powerful and all good, how can he allow this to happen? “Whence comes evil? Was there a certain evil matter out of which he made these things? Did he form and fashion it, but yet leave within it something that he would not convert into good? Why would he do it? Was he powerless to turn and change all this matter so that no evil would remain in it, even though he is all powerful?” As these questions found their way into Augustine’s mind, they also manage to exist and remain unanswered for most people today. However Augustine addresses these questions by justifying evil in this world with God’s creation of free will. By granting us free will God makes us responsible for our wrongdoings, as a result of this we can knowingly choose either right or wrong. In the infamous biblical passage on the creation of original sin, God accommodates men by giving Adam and Eve all the necessities of life: partnership, water, food and land. However, despite God’s warning Eve chose to eat the fruit from the tree of life. The serpent persuades Eve who later convinces Adam to eat from the tree. From this persuasion and act from men, original sin is born. Men are now born with a predisposition to sin; in other words, they can knowingly choose what places them further away from God. Choosing the lesser good, in Adam and Eve’s case...
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...My essay will summarize the problem of evil and analytically assess how it is that evil weakens the traditional characteristics of God. I will attempt to explain how the existence of evil challenges the traditional characteristics of God such as omniscience, omnipresence and omnipotence and Omni benevolence using Hume’s famous quote, “Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then is he impotent. Is he able but not willing? Then is he malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Whence then is evil?” (Hume) The theological and metaphysical problem of evil was formulated in 1779 by David Hume in his work “Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion” where he asked the question, if God is omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent and omnibenevolent then why does evil exist (Sherry)? The problem of evil causes us to look at the traditional characteristics of God and to analytically assess our suppositions about evil itself. If our God is a good, all powerful and just God as many people believe, then why would such a God allow evil to exist? This problem also brings to light questions about what is considered to be evil, whether it is moral evil committed by man or natural evil such as earthquakes, hurricanes and famine (Sherry). There are several arguments that have developed in reaction to the problem of evil that was suggested by David Hume. One such argument which is known as the free will defense claims that evil is solely caused by human beings, who must have the opportunity...
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...The problem of evil; if God is all good how could he allow his people to suffer? This has been a controversial topic many people have questioned over the centuries. The first record of this question is dated back to the Greek philosopher Epicurus. If God is a benevolent, omniscient and omnipotent God, how could he allow such horrible things to happen to good people? "Western religion has always held that there is a deep problem about why there is pain and other suffering—which there would not be if God were not supposed to be morally good" Richard Swinburne, Providence and the Problem of Evil pg.7 1998. It is only natural for people to question why God would seemingly do nothing to prevent the bad things that happen everyday. Some of the...
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...of human-like life. How can God create an entire planet and then destroy it just as quickly? What are the characteristics of this God? Is this God worthy of our worship? How does God allow for such evil? John Hicks: Father Tom, it seems like you have come across the problem of evil. Sarah: What do you mean of the problem of evil? Is evil not a consequence of the devil? A fallen angel who wants all of God’s followers to turn to him instead? The Devil: Yes, Sarah you are correct. I am the source of all evil; the one who causes the pain and suffering in the world today. JH: Sarah, do not listen to him. He is not as powerful as God. His power is not enough to cause all of the evil on the world. S: Then what is the “problem of evil”? JH: God is known as all powerful, all knowing, all good. If God exists, and if he is all powerful then he is able to change and eliminate evil. If God is all knowing then he has full knowledge of all evil that occurs in the world. If he is all good then he wants to create a freedom from evil. But, evil exists. So, if evil exists then God isn’t all powerful, all knowing and/or all good, or God does not exist. FT: Without God, there would be no problem of evil. God created all things, so God created evil; natural and moral. S: What do you mean by natural and moral evil? Are their different types of evil? JH: Moral evil is a wickedness that is one person inflicting evil onto another person or onto one self. FT: God created people so that means...
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...……………………………………………………….....10 Bibliography………………………………………………………………………………...12 The human race is afflicted by kidnappings, poverty, murder and oppression. The question men have struggled with is how can a good God allow such evil to continue? On a moral level, an even better question would be is the evil man experiences at the hands of other men, a result of God’s divine plan or the effect of man’s free will? Answering these questions is important because uncovering the reason for ongoing evil has challenged some to the point, they have denied their faith and joined a corps of atheists who promote the idea that the presence of suffering, pain and evil are the best testament to a non-existent God. When arguing against the existence of God, one might be presented with attempts to use His divine attributes of omnipotence (all powerful), omniscience (all knowing) and omnibenevolence (all good) against Him. The dilemma of the presence of evil in the midst of a creation that God deemed good (Genesis 1:31) would appear to make God seem as if he is unable to stop the world’s evil, unaware of the impact of the world’s evil or a participant in the world’s evil. Each of these positions would appear to negate the supreme authority of the living God. On the other hand, does man’s God-given free will...
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...FAGBURE L6CG RELIGIOUS STUDIES (Philosophy of Religion) A. Explain what is meant in the Bible by the phrase “God is good” The goodness of God is first revealed in his actions as a Creator. Genesis chapters 1-3 contain the Creation story. God created the world out of nothing – “creation ex nihilo”. Each act of creation is seen to be good. "And he saw that it was good" (Genesis 1: 10). The end result of God's creation is the Earth and mankind. Everything created was made for man to take control of. God is the image of goodness and as mankind was created in the image of God. (Genesis 1:27, "God created man in his own image.") This tells humans that they are required to be good, as good as God. Exodus 20 describes the Ten Commandments given to the Hebrews by God. Moses received the commandments by revelation from God on the peak of Mount Sinai. They were guidelines given for God’s people to live by. The underlying principle is that humans are to be good and being good means following the Ten Commandments. God's goodness demands that mankind worship only one God and nothing or nobody else "You shall have no other gods before me and you shall not make for yourself an idol." (Exodus 20: 3-4). These commandments show that God is the primary source governing how people should lead their lives because God is entirely good. The Ten Commandments show man how to be good by giving strict guidelines. (Thou shalt not murder; thou shalt not commit adultery; thou shalt not steal). God’s...
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