What Is Lennox's Seven Days That Divide The World

Evil is a concept that humans have developed to explain suffering and disaster. It is seen as the cause of suffering, Religious perspectives would argue that it is contrary to the will of their omnipotent being or predestination. The two types of evil are natural evil, evil not caused by humans such as tsunamis, and moral evil, evil caused by human such as rape and murder. However, this presents the problem of evil, presented by Epicurus; “Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil? Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?” (Epicurus, BC 341-270) This proved the inconsistent triad. If God is benevolent,

The age old question that is still being debated. In this essay I hope to answer a few of the big questions such as: How can a good God allow suffering? Why does evil exist? Is God like many have attributed to Him, a watchmaker, who winds us up and lets it go until it runs out? How could God allow the Holocaust? The theological field of inquiry called “theodicy”, which investigates the basic question: If God is all powerful (omnipotent), all knowing (omniscient), and all-good, (omni-benevolent) how can evil and injustice exist? Since reading Elie Wiesel’s soul shattering Night, this topic seemed fitting. I will provide rational and logical arguments as to why these things occur and how God can still be who He says He is. I will be stating dispassionately the critics of a free-will defense such as J.L Mackie and B.C Johnson, and then I will proceed to offer my responses. After having read Wiesel’s account, my heart only broke more and my mind was spinning with the question itself of How could God allow this? However, we can be mad at God for the Holocaust or for other human tragedies, but this is like a teenager who begs you to let him drive a car - promising to be responsible -, gets drunk, crashes in to a telephone pole, and then blames you for giving him the keys. If we agree that humanity must have free will, we must accept the consequences of its decisions. As Elie Wiesel wrote, “After the Holocaust I did not loose faith in God. I lost faith in mankind.”

in the chapter was an indication of God’s of authority as He designed the earth and

This view is similar to pantheism, which sees god in all aspects of nature. All specific bodies, whether animal, mineral, or vegetable, are composed of a godly matter. The human mind is also a fragment of god contained in the individual. By living in harmony with nature, the mind is able to direct a person into a life guided by correct reason. Everything that happens in the world is planned by fate. Just as everyone has a duty to live by reason, so everyone should learn to accept with courage and calm whatever circumstances the world brings.

Richard Dawkins in an excerpt from the book The God Delusion describes God as a malicious creator with a huge lack of mercy. He even goes as far as to refer to God as an evil monster. Without any context, Richard Dawkins's statement seems to ring true. Dawkins writes, “The God of the OT is . . . a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential, megalo-maniacal, sadomasochistic capriciously malevolent bully”. The God of the Old Testament can seem angry, vengeful, and quite un-justice at times. How could a loving God perhaps commit a mass genocide? It truly doesn’t make sense why God would kill hundreds of people. However, David Lamb uses a variety of knowledge of cultural backgrounds and context to successfully

This argument is considered a problem because it only preserves God’s goodness regarding moral evil done by humans. This leaves no explanation for natural evil such as hurricanes destroying entire cities or natural forest fires killing off hundreds of poor defenseless animals. These natural evils cause

The problem of evil is an ancient theological problem. Evil is an immoral, malevolent behavior towards oneself, others, and nature. Unjust suffering has many causes, including natural causes like earthquakes. The key question is, “Why does God allow unjust suffering?” The reasons are due to people being sinners, a way for God to test whether one’s faith will change and the unpredictable sequence of nature.

I believe that human nature once a person is succeeding in God’s work tends to focus on how good they are doing and forgets it is not by their own power. Once a person starts to feel successful they may think they are doing it on their own and do not need help from God. When the thought creeps into our mind, a Christian may be less likely to listen and seek God’s voice and plan. I belief Elijah started to trust his own might and knew he could not stay safe from the queen and her power. Elijah forgot about the power of God in this moment of fear. When Elijah started to feel busy he thought he didn’t have time to wait for God’s direction. A Christian a person must save time to listen to the Lord’s voice and His direction. Elijah was so focused on what was happening around him and the threats on His life he ran away instead of asking God for His protection and guidance.

The flip side of God’s love for Christians is the concept of the “wrath of God”. Some Christians interpret the wrath of God as God observing and punishing those who do not obey his laws, as happens numerous times in the Bible. Other Christians interpret the wrath of God in a more philosophical manner. These Christians believe that God ordered the universe in particular manner and then gave humanity a guide on how to achieve happiness in His universe. The wrath of God is simply the natural outcome for individuals who try to act

The portraits painted by the writer(s) of Genesis vary regarding God’s relationship to the world and humanity. Consider the Genesis Chapter 1:1, “In the Beginning God created the heaven and earth” (King James Version, 1611 edition), this speaks to the fact that God was not part of creation but rather the orchestrator of creation (Wilcox, 2014). Additionally, there are no stories of God’s beginning or end, this speaks to His infinity like state of majesty (KJV, 1611, Revelations 22:13); furthermore, throughout Genesis 1:1-2:4 God defines his extreme power by speaking and the universe obeying instantaneously (Tullock, & McEntire, 2012). These passages speak to the overwhelming majesty and power that God possesses, and to the power and ingenuity given to humans as caretakers of the physical earth.

One example can be found in Exodus during the nine plagues of Egypt; where Moses is trying to convince the Pharaoh to let the Israelites leave, which Moses describes them as going off into the desert to give praise to their god. Though the Pharaoh refused him every time and it says, “[B]ut the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he would not let the Israelites go out of his country.” (Exodus. 11:10) This not only points out that God is just doing this to show off his powers but also to put the people of Egypt through unnecessary pain and misery. Not to mention it puts our free will into question with his apparent ability to influence the Pharaoh’s decision, but let’s save that for a different essay. Now the real cruelty in the plagues of Egypt is the ninth and final plague, the plague of the first born, “At midnight the Lord struck down all the firstborn in Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh, who sat on the throne, to the firstborn of the prisoner, who was in the dungeon, and the firstborn of all the livestock as well.” (Exodus. 12:29) Now this is just me but murdering a bunch of people’s first born children because you decided to make the Pharaoh not agree to Moses’s demands to let his people go up until now seems pretty cruel to me. Not only does God murder a bunch of children, he does it just to show his powers

Naturalism claims that man is ruled by forces he is unable to affect, such as nature, his social environment, or deterministic scientific laws, and to naturalists, God does not exist, or is cold and indifferent to the human race; the Bible clearly contradicts this worldview, confirming that man has free choice over his actions, and that God actively loves and cares for the people that He has created.

In Genesis 1, the Bible reveals the process in which God created the earth and its natural order. He set the world in the precise location it needed to be, constructed the gravitational pull of the planets and stars, and placed the necessary resources on Earth for mankind’s survival. God is also very clear about establishing His sovereignty over man. He has the ability to speak concepts and ideas into tangible objects, which is seen in Genesis 1 when He proclaims, “’Let there be light’” (Genesis 1:3, New American Standard Bible). This displays that He is above human power, thus He is responsible for setting mandates. Within these mandates, He clarifies that man has dominion over the earth. This means that mankind is responsible for governing and caring for the world around him. God sees that the

God is portrayed to be omniscient and benevolent, but the evil in the world compels a strong argument against god’s existence. Majority of the people believe that if God is all knowing and omnipotent, why can't he prevent devastating tragedies such as 9/11 or the most recent mass shooting in Las Vegas Nevada. God is also characterized as omnibenevolent, so if he knew a tragedy was about to occur, why didn't he save the countless of innocent lives. The existence of God will always be uncertain, and hardships in life will always steer the people who want to believe further away from God.

Though God(s) are thought of as innocent and fair, does that mean that they always behave that way? Flood stories are a common practice in writing for many cultures; they are used for the destruction of mankind and a taught lesson to those in humanity. In the Bible it is shown the wickedness of mankind heart verse the obnoxious disaster the people in the story of Gilgamesh had created, which nevertheless lead to the floods. Not knowing what the outcome would lead to, the enthusiastic men who are a major part of the stories went for this long journey. It is also shown the God of the Bible who is sorrowful for the men he has created verse the Gods who are angry with their dwellers.