In the early 3rd century BCE, the Greek philosopher Epicurus wrote:
Either God wants to abolish evil and cannot,
or he can but does not want to,
or he cannot and does not want to,
or lastly he can and wants to.
If he wants to remove evil, and cannot,
he is not omnipotent;
If he can, but does not want to,
he is not benevolent;
If he neither can nor wants to,
he is neither omnipotent nor benevolent;
But if God can abolish evil and wants to,
how does evil exist?
Anyone out there that will bother to answer me? :)
skip to main |
skip to sidebar
Me
Weiling
I like people who have a sense of individuality. I love expression and anything awkward and imperfect, because that's natural and that's real.
I like people who have a sense of individuality. I love expression and anything awkward and imperfect, because that's natural and that's real.
Friends
Albert
Alicia
Aloysius
Ashley
Amirah
Anthea
Anthony
Axel
Dean
Duncan
Emily
Guoxiong
Hakim
Huishan
Irene
Jasmine
Jasnyn
Jennifer
Jess
Jessie
Jiaying
Jingheng
Joanne
Jolene
Joyce
Jueyi
Juexin
Junhao
Junkiat
Justin
Kokky
Maggie
Mark
Maxy
Namy
Nicholas
Pavi
Peirong
Prissy
Rebecca
Rongchang
Shiril
Yonglong
Yongkin
Yuanying
Weihan
Wenkai
Xiangyew
Zhizheng
20 comments:
Good question. I myself am a Christian, and I shall try my best to answer.
Evil is not created by God. It is something that Man created ourselves; Man upon Man. In making the world, God had a choice: he could create humans or robots. God chose to make humans, and He made the right choice, for a world containing humans is obviously more valuable than a world of robots.
The pay-off for this is the abuse of freedom that we see around us. Man choose to abuse their freedom to do wrong. However, the wrong that we do, the suffering that we cause, is a price worth paying for something that is profoundly valuable: genuine freedom. Though God could have prevented evil by creating a world of robots, it is a good thing he did not.
Also, the existence of evil is a necessary condition for the existence of certain kinds of good. There are a number of character traits that are valuable only if evil exist. Compassion, for instance, is of great value, but can only exist if there is suffering. Bravery, too, is a virtue, but only if we sometimes face danger. Self-sacrifice is another great good, but can only exist if there is inter-dependence, if some people find themselves in situations where they need help from others. God created us in such a way that we would depend upon one another, that we would be drawn together to form a community.
If each of us were self-sufficient, safe from suffering, then the great goods that come from this would not have been possible.
-.- what a STUPID qns. i can't believe i thought you to be intelligent and you ask such a stupid qns. i hate atheists, they're all non-believers cus they are cynical and bitter. you know why evil exist? cus there are people like YOU. _|_ fuck off.
haha zomg anti-atheist.
Cuz we bring it upon ourselves, like, you know, global warming won't even exist if we didn't exist. No human=no evil!
> Anonymous
I believe it is correct to say that it is better that the world contains human with significant freedom than that it contains only robots, and I believe that much of the evil that we see around us is a consequence of the abuse of this freedom. Not all evil, however, can be explained this way. There is much evil that is not inflicted by man. Natural disasters, for example, cause great destruction, but there is nothing that we have done that causes them and there is often nothing that we could have done to prevent them. How can you explain them, this unnecessary evil?
Though it is clear, I think, that much suffering is justified, then the place would be a worse place without it, it is still simple to point to specific examples of suffering that appear to serve no greater purpose. Each of us has tragedies in our lives, and it seems to us though the world would have been a better place without those instances of suffering.
Also, I quote from John 3:16-17, "For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him." So can I safely conclude that God would do anything, even sacrifice his Son, to alleviate our suffering?
(Note: From ‘everyone who believes in him will not perish,’ does it mean that the rest who do not believe in him will die? How is that being kind?)
If that is so, then if I had the means and the power, and could not be harmed for my efforts, I would immediately alleviate all NEEDLESS suffering in the universe. That's what any loving person who had the power would do. Yet I cannot be more loving, more benevolent than God. Therefore, the fact that God has done nothing of any sort whatsoever... what does that say?
Think about it – if there was a human being who has the power to stop evil but does not want to, would you say that he is a good person? Would you say that he is merely testing our faith and continue waiting for years for him to budge and continue praying to him and hope that he will be moved enough to do something about the evil in this world?
No evil no fun!!! Let me sum it up for you.
No evil = No war = No news
No evil = No crime = No job for potential policemen
No evil = No Hatred = No Fights = No excitement.
Gah okay whatever.
Therefore Evil = Fun!
> ANTI-ATHEIST
What a STUPID comment. Just because I am not religious, I am not intelligent? I believe that one does not have to be a devout 'son of God' to be kind or to be a good person.
You are a perfectly good example of people who are so obsessed with God that they immediately ostracize those who do not believe in God. You start with the assumption that your belief in God must be true, therefore everything I say is always going to be a lie or the product of some delusion, and that I am stupid/blind. Tsk tsk, continue being trapped in your box of blind faith. -_-
> Huishan
God indirectly created evil anyway, since he created us, who created evil. :p So he does have some involvement, right?
> Jingheng
You siao ah, wars = mass slaughter. You want the whole world to die?! Policeman is not the ONLY job in the world + most policemen are incompetent anyway. And I don't think the people involved in the fights/arguments find it very "exciting" or "fun"!
You SADISTIC!!!!!!!!!!!
MASS SLAUGHTER = FUN FOR SADISTS LIKE MEEEE.
There are a few thousand cops in Singapore. No crime = No jobs for a few thousand men~
> Jingheng
U CAN GO BECOME THE NEXT HITLER.
Yeah but there are other jobs whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat. :p
There is 4 main difference between a ''JingHeng'' and a ''Hitler''
1. JingHeng can't lead.
2. JingHeng don't hate the Jews.
3. JingHeng have no mustache
4. Hitler is wayyyyy cuter
Can I tell you the story of how Hitler specially STYLED his mustache in this particular weird manner to attract attention(on publicity posters) so that people will have a very deep impression of him and thus vote for him to become the next CHANCELLOR HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HISTORY STUDENT FTW!!!
I'd like to join in the fight, but I think I'd desecrate this forum... -_-
But mostly, I love the quote, but like this one better:
I contend to you that every man on Earth on Earth is an Atheist of a Sorts, but that True Atheists simply disbelieve one God more than every other. If you can understand why you disbelieve the 30,000 gods available on Earth, you will come to understand why we disbelieve yours.
-
But, anyway. Evil is a creation. Evil is not the absence of Good. To call Evil the absence of Good is like saying Black Hair is the absence of White Hair. The fact that there is still hair is enough to state that they are related and not absent of each other.
Besides, in discussing this. We come to a problem in which WHAT is Good and Evil. What do we consider Evil is not necessarily Evil to others. To a big portion of the world: War is Evil. To another Big Portion of the World: War is simply it. To another big portion: War is revered and the only way for a man to prove his valor and bravery.
Which to you listen to?
This, therefore, means that Good and Evil are simply grey areas that we cheery-pick to our liking.
Since Good and Evil are related and not absent of each other, then if it is created, it must have been created by a single entity, a single source. Call it Zeus, Cronos, Odin, God, Allah, Jade Emperor, or whomever you like, the truth is that if you wish to credit Good as the product of your deity, then you must credit Him/Her for the creation of Evil too.
I'd say more, but then, I'd be here all night. :P
No evil = No human = No wars = No History.
Therefore,
Evil = Human = Wars = History
Evil = History
SOOOO TRUE =O
I know I make no sense, just carry on with the debates. Atheist FTW!
because for people to 'go to heaven', it can only be done upon their own means. if god abolishes all evil from man, how is that different from the common man being god?
say, you inject yourself with drugs to perform well in sports.
you will perform well, but you won't be able to know how you got there, or how to appreciate something that can be obtained almost instantly.
at its simplest, god is no more than a man who quelled all evil from his being. himself.
*sorry if my tag seems cheem lol
we'll never know apple is sweeter than orange if we never tasted apple. LOL
Evil, should exist, like how our body can't lose poisonous substance or whatever you call it, if we get too healthy, we'll our immunity system will get weaker and we'll be prone to diseases easily.
just an analogy, good luck ;)
by the way, god didn't created evil, the big bang did. LOL
> Junhao
LOL @ THE HITLER COMMENT. And you make no sense lor. You atheist meh? You told me you believe in God. :O BETRAYER & LIAR!!!
> Huishan
HUH HAHAHAHAHAHA RLY OK U CAN TELL ME ABT IT WHEN I COME ONLINE LOL R U SURE?
History still sucks btw! LITERATURE STUDENT FTW \m/ \m/
> Z
I couldn't agree more with you! :)
> Nicholas
If there is a God, and if there is a Heaven, for people to go to Heaven, they have to die. People don't die by their own means - they either die of old age or accidents. Let's ignore suicide for now :p They don't kill themselves and they can't inflict it upon themselves, like, "I want to die now!" and drop dead.
A common man still can't be God. God is said to be able to perform miracles such as raise one from the dead, change the weather, whatever shit lah. Even if God abolishes evil, we are still Man and nothing else, because we can't do stuff like that.
> Dean
I don't get your analogy lol :x
But if evil don't exist, we might be weaker but there's nothing to attack us because there's no evil!
And what does Big Bang got to do with evil? :x
so.. dying is evil? ._.
''God is said to be able to ''
is said to be able to.
but nothing like that has happened before, right?
i rephrase a little bit,
'if God can abolish evil and wants to, how does evil exist?'
say, i can kill a hamster, and i want to.
but basic morals stop me from doing so, because it would be wrong. the hamster's life will be changed.
if i were god, i don't think changing a person's nature would appeal greatly, no?
we deserve to live our own lives the same way a hamster lives its own
but i still believe in god anyw (:
> Nicholas
Never said dying was evil, just retaliating to your comment 'because for people to 'go to heaven', it can only be done upon their own means.':p
The thing is, before God created us, he could choose not to include evil in it. He wouldn't change our nature because he haven't created us yet. If there isn't evil in this world, yes, our lives will be greatly altered. But I'm not asking why is there evil and why does God choose to do nothing about it, I'm asking why did God, when creating us, decide to throw in evil along with it?
The opposite of Live is Evil. Woo
Post a Comment