God Is Good And Evil

The question of God’s existence has been pondered by humans for centuries. There are an infinite number of different opinions, arguments, and ideas favoring for or against the idea of God. Personally, I strongly believe in God not only due to my religious affiliation, but also because of my own opinions, ideas, and experience. To begin with, the complexity of Earth and the life that has formed upon it cannot be based just on luck or chance. I believe that ultimately God, as a power, rather than a mystical being is the one created and controls the universe. Although the God and his authority are not entirely comprehensible by humans, it’s our faith as worshiper that eventually lead us to a greater understanding.

In the course of this essay I will argue that evil is not compatible with the existence of god. This means that evil and God cannot coexist because if god were present, the existence of evil would contradict all that god is believed to be. Abrahamic religions insist that God both created the world and that he preserves and maintains it. Christianity claims that God is all knowing and is boundless in his abilities. Religions claim that God is benevolent, and only wants the best for humanity and the universe, as his creations. If all of the above statements be true, then it is hard to understand why god would allow evil to thrive right from the beginning of time.

In the first essay of On The Genealogy of Morals, Nietzsche states clearly his stand that "Beyond Good and Evil... does not mean "Beyond Good and Bad"" (Nietzsche, page 143). Nietzsche makes the distinction between good/bad, and good/evil, by delineating the central idea that what is good and evil generally carries a morality to its definitions, whereas the former is essentially a social construct with slanted purposes and no true objectivity to its meanings. Nietzsche frames the idea that the values of good and bad, are fundamental to how we involve morality in our thinking, namely, how we assess what is good and what is evil.

An ungodly, hateful, ruthless place to live for many people. Wars, famine, disease, greed, murder, rape, drug trafficking, child molestation, and more have led to the continual downfall of society. The most prevalent of all is greed. The love of money is the root of all evil (1 Timothy 6:10 NIV). A Christian Worldview could help tremendously with all of these problems. If humankind were to keep God in the center of their lives and follow His teachings every day, the world would be such a better place. Following Christ’s Word helps humanity to care for one another. It instills the importance to be humble, to serve, to love and take care of one another (Hiles & Smith, 2015). The image of God can be seen in those who follow Him. Christians get their strength from God. He gives peace to those who seek Him, and they are

The problem of evil features an argument questioning the existence of god in relation to evil, attributing both atheistic and theistic replies.

The consequences of accepting that the goodness of actions consists simply in the fact that God favours them are obviously disagreeable. However, the consequences of accepting the alternative also appear unfortunate. If it is maintained that God favours certain actions because they are objectively good, it seems that their goodness is independent of His will. But such a view appears to be inconsistent with the conception of God as the omnipotent creator and sustainer of all that is. It means that there is a realm of moral values which exist quite apart from God's creative will and to which His will must conform. Such a view must inevitably appear blasphemous to all those who believe in God, for it makes God out to be less than He is.

However it is absurd to think that such needless killing, raping, stealing, and torturing could be morally permissible. Moreover, to believe that God could have commanded these things is to destroy whatever grounds one might have for praising or worshiping him. And if in accord with the definition of tyrants, justice consists in that which is pleasing to the most powerful? Besides it seems that every act of willing supposes some reason for the willing and this reason, of course, must precede the act.

Why does an omnipotent and omnibenevolent God allow natural and moral evil to happen without any restrictions? John Hick, a proponent of Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz’s theodicy defense, answered: “in order that human beings, as free responsible agents, may use this world as a place of “soul making,” which involves the spiritual perfection of our character and persons” (Pojman 74). According to Hick, creation has not been finished its work, it is still undergoing a process, that is, the lives of individual human beings. Hick believed that God is omnibenevolent because he is allowing us to learn how to be perfect on our own.

There is a possibility that God gave humans free will so that in return, they may give him genuine love, rather than forced love. The problem of evil stems from free will, because humans can freely choose not to love God. But even if humans choose to love God, everyone commits small-scale acts of evil. It can be argued that since the world is evolving, the judgement of God has also evolved in order to fit with the times. Therefore, his judgement may not be quite as harsh as the bible states it to be. The criticism against this theory, is that since God is said to be an all-powerful and morally perfect being, there would be no point in changing himself for humankind. If he were to change himself in order to fit accordingly to today’s humans, it would mean that they do in fact have free will, which disproves the existence of an omniscient God. As humans, we do not know where God’s morality lies. Could he be evil, or could he be moral without enough knowledge or power over evil? God is so incomprehensible that we as humans cannot begin to understand how a PKM God and evil can coexist. What we do know is that there are tremendous evils present in this world, and from the logical perspective, if such evils are present, a PKM God cannot co-exist with them. There may still be a God, and it is arrogant to say that there is absolutely no God at all. However, if evil is present in this world, the God in which we refer to the most, cannot be all-powerful, all-knowing, and morally perfect at the same

In the Western Christian world, God has often been seen as a punishing deity that is easily angered and swiftly hands out discipline. Not remedial discipline to change the behavior of people, but vindictive, punitive judgment that only serves the desire for revenge. This vision of God usually twists people into being self-deprecating, guilt-laden zombies with a mindset not that different from the Flagellants. Many religious people today seem to constantly hold themselves in contempt, perpetually highlight their shortcomings, and denigrate themselves to no end. It is a blatant dishonesty to call such a god “good.” Instead, this is how a slave responds to a cruel master or a child to an abusive parent.

In John Hick’s piece “There is a Reason Why God Allows Evil”, he explains his view on the roots of evil. Hick brings up the problem of an all-loving God that allows evil to occur in the world. The conclusion that arises God must not be all loving then. However, Hick explains that humans free will is the problem that leads to evil. A few strengths that Hick has in his argument is the laws of nature, he mentions that they “…would have to be extremely flexible; sometimes gravity would operate, sometimes not; sometimes an object would be hard and solid, sometimes soft. There could be no sciences, for there would be no enduring world structure to investigate” (129). Nothing could hurt anyone or anything, and the world would be some perfect fairytale; “…life would become like a dream in which, delightfully but aimlessly, we would float and drift at ease” (130). Hick goes on to explain that evil allows people to learn what is good, grace and faith. If evil doesn’t exist, then how could one tell the difference from right or wrong? There would be no moral lessons to be taught or learned from since there is no wrong, and wrong an only be done when there is evil. Hick also mentions that bravery, courage and strength would have no point and meaning. Everything that builds character would not exist. The weakness in Hicks argument is that he is blaming free will for the ultimate cause of evil. There are obviously nature disasters that could be considered evil as well. Hick believes that

The law tells Christians that God is good. His creation at the beginning of humanity is good, but they destroyed it with free will (Lewis, 1996). It is the factor that contributes to the corruption of the world and is also the unique thing that can make unlimited love and miracle, even after many times of humanity’s disloyalty. For this reason, the corruption of the world is not God’s mistake, he did not create the evil and bad things, but human did it by their own decisions (Dante, 2012). Nonetheless, God still tried to pursue us with his only son, Jesus Christ, because he always believed that humanity could change if they had a role model and the guide that show them the way to live properly.

The existence of God has been in question for as long as mankind has existed and thought logically. Many questions have plagued the human mind in regards to God, and there have been many arguments drawn with the hopes of proving the existence of a supreme being whom we know as God. The “God” question has been presented to every individual at some point in their lives. It is a topic that will bring forth never-ending questions and an equal amount of attempted answers. Many philosophers have formulated different rationales when examining the topic of God, some of which include how the word itself should be defined, what his role is in human existence, whether or not he loves us, and ultimately, if he even exists at all. Mankind cannot

The mystery of God's existence has been a crucial element of many religious studies and traditions. Who is God? What is God? Where is God? To effectively discuss the existence of God, it is necessary to illustrate the notion of faith. People of faith believe that God does exist, and that relationship with God gives meaning to their lives. Others who are skeptical point to God as an obsolete hope of an ignorant human race. People today live in a world distinguished by sophisticated technology in which modern science has been a strong agent in questioning the existence of God.

The teleology of evil is ultimately embodied in a person, the person of the enemy of God.