picture source (not necessarily an endorsement)
This is short answer to this weeks discussion question: Explain either the logical or evidential argument from evil against theism. Evaluate one response to this argument.
Evil-- what's love got to do with it?
Evil-- what's love got to do with it?
Is the issue of evil
that God permits evil? We ask; if an all-benevolent God, who is all-powerful,
meaning able to stop evil, still lets it happen, how can such a God still be
God?
Let us back this
train up. God created humans in His Image. From there, and after many
encounters with atheists, when they bring this question about God up, I ask
back, “Then what are you doing about evil?” Usually, the atheist is dumbstruck
and cannot answer. If there is a God and He allows evil, it is because we are His
representatives here on earth. He set us here to be Him, (in a sense), to
reconcile things when they get out of balance on earth. However, humanity fell
into the lie and false reality that death reigns. We believed that death is
more powerful than God is and submitted to our own fate of death.
God has communicated
over the years that we can choose life, good, and fight evil. However, we
wanted to fight God with religion. God gave us Judaism, (one of the few
religions that believe in One True God), yet that was not the answer. The
answer is not doing right, or following rules. The answer is love. God is Love
and we are called now, through Jesus Christ to be the Image of Christ Jesus. We
are called to love others as Jesus loves us. That means things like, loving gay
people without agenda-- except to love them as God does. We can use the
fallacious arguments of slavery, meaning the bible teaches how to treat slaves,
as meaning owning slaves is OK with God, yet we cannot read the words of Jesus
and Paul without seeing we must love that slave as a brother, (or sister), who
is equal to ourselves. We must, in fact, learn to love all people as equal, and
worthy, as we are ourselves in God’s eye.
It appears, as our
textbook points out, (as well as the biblical text it refers to) that God at
times places someone (Joseph), in harm’s way via evil to prevent further evil
or to protect those God loves. [1]
Is this evil or provincial love from God to protect all from further evil?
Pointless evil? Starvation perhaps? Can we say this is not God, but humanity’s
own twisted value or devaluation of humanity? When economics, (profits), are
more important than a human being is; then man, not God, has twisted the value
of humanity. When Enron fell, just maybe, God’s hand was in that. He may have
had a hand at the 1990’s internet startup business model failing because it has
not brick and mortar foundation to back it, meaning, millions of people would
lose all their money in a virtual, (say fake), business model.
Often we cry evil
when evil is not there. Why do some Christians say a Tsunami, or strike of
lightening is evil, yet see a lion take down a zebra as “nature”? We tend to
seem like we Christians worship Zeus or Allah, rather than God. If we cannot
see a reason, per se, or unnatural cause, then, just then, it may not be evil,
but part of creation God called it to be. Remember, death was in the Garden
with Adam and Eve, otherwise humanity would have been left in a fallen state
for eternity if they ate from the tree of Life. God cast them out so that we,
fallen humanity, may have a chance to be redeemed. Oh, sorry this is so long.
Thanks for reading it all the way through. Believe me, after many debates with
atheists--I have more to say. Please do not get me started on how David Hume
actually proves empiricism cannot prove or disprove God, and how he pointed out
that science was the wrong tool-- and philosophy is-- in proving God's
existence. That topic alone could be a thesis for a doctoral paper.
Cowan, Steven B, and
James S Spiegel. The Love of Wisdom. Nashville: B&H Publishing
Group, 2009.
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