A Dialogue between a Rabbi and an Atheist about the Problem of Evil
(On a sunny Monday morning in Ukraine, Rabbi Samuel Goldfarb is taking a leisurely walk through the town marketplace. The Rabbi is well loved and respected in the community, always exchanging greeting with the townspeople. He comes upon a newcomer to the town, Radical
Enchain, whom he does not recognize and starts a polite conversation with him.)
Rabbi: Top of the morning to you sir. My name is Rabbi Samuel Goldfarb. I would like to welcome you to town. What is your name? What brings you to this lovely town in Ukraine?
Radislav: Nice to meet you Rabbi and good morning to you as well. My name is Radislav
Venchkin. I just emigrated here from Poland. I was looking for a fresh start so I’m here trying the town out and trying to get a feel for the town and its culture.
Rabbi: Radislav, you made an excellent choice. This town is a diverse town with a tight knit community. There is a close relationship between everyone in town even though it looks as if everyone is all over the place. I’m sure you will find it quite nice here.
Radislav: Well Rabbi, I would love to hear more in detail about the community and what it has to offer. May I speak with you in a more formal setting?
Rabbi: It would be my pleasure Radislav. I happen to be on my way to Temple in the center of town. I have scheduled an emergency prayer service for my congregation. With all the bad things happening in the world; hurricanes, tsunamis, terrorist attacks, wars, disease outbreaks and so on, many people are in the “dumps” so to speak. I feel that my congregation needs a time to come together and pray for the ones affected, and to pray for their own self-worth. I myself am directlyaffected. My son has died of cancer and my daughter is a paraplegic. I myself too have it very hard on myself. Would you like to join me and my congregation in prayer? It would be my pleasure to have you.
Radislav: Rabbi, your offer has touched me. I appreciate your offer immensely. Unfortunately
Rabbi, I must politely decline. I happen to be an atheist and my personal preference would be not to pray at all. I don’t believe in God, and I certainly don’t believe that if there was a God, that
God would do anything detrimental to his creations. Would you explain to me rabbi, how is that you can bring yourself to pray? How can one believe in a God that would stand by and let something horrible like that happen? Yet you are here, about to pray to that God.
Rabbi: Radislav, don’t worry about it! No hard feelings whatsoever. I love everyone and everything, no exceptions! I still believe though that God is all good and is worthy of being worshipped. I would love to hear more about how you stand on this subject and what has brought you to be an atheist. Care to join me for a cup of coffee later?
Radislav: I appreciate your kindness and understanding. I would love to get together for a friendly discussion. How about tomorrow morning 11am at Sunrise Coffee Shop? Does that work with your schedule Rabbi?
Rabbi: Not a problem my schedule happens to be open. I will see you at Sunrise Coffee Shop at
11 tomorrow morning. Looking Forward! Good evening, and welcome to the community.
(Rabbi Goldfarb and Radislav both arrive at Sunrise Coffee Shop, avidly waiting to converse with each other.)Rabbi: Good Morning Radislav. What a beautiful day today. Come sit down, coffee is on me my treat.
Radislav: Thank you Rabbi. I just wanted to tell you, that I apologize for taking up your time from the community, but this is my only time available to “schmooze” with you. Also, I hope you were not offended by anything I spoke about with you yesterday concerning my beliefs. All I intended to do was point out my position on the matter. I just don’t believe that anything evil would befall upon us if there was a God, or heavenly being, watching over us.
Rabbi: I fully understand you Radislav. No offense taken at all. I just would like to get a better understanding on why you feel this way.
Radislav: No problem at all Rabbi.
Rabbi: Ok then. I understand how you must feel. Your problem most probably presents to you in the form of a contradiction. On one side of the coin is a heavenly being who is omniscient, omnipotent, and benevolent. On the other side of the coin we have a concept of evil which has happened upon us. With all the disasters and tragedies happening around us, it is hard to comprehend how there can be a hand of God in something so terrible. Radislav, fully understandable. Radislav: Rabbi, you are absolutely right. It seems to me that the existence of evil in the world disproves the existence of God. If God were omnipotent, he would be able to prevent the suffering of many people. If God was omniscient, he would have a feasible way to prevent suffering. And if God was omnibenevolent, he would have the desire to prevent that suffering.
And since evil exists, it seems to follow that God does not.
Rabbi: So in other words, you are asking why, when we encounter evil on an almost daily basis, can we consciously believe that God actually created it? What reason could a perfect God have for making a creation in which people suffer needlessly?
Radislav: Yes Rabbi. How can one possibly reconcile the fact that there is evil in the world and that a God being perfect and all, created it!? I find this problem too difficult to understand.
Rabbi: Radislav, here is a reasoning that I have and hear me out. A world without evil cannot possibly be without good. God certainly did not create something to which can be regarded to as an experiment of some sort. Also consider the possibility that, imperfections, or better yet, wrongdoings, possibly came from us ourselves!
Radislav: I have one problem with what you just said Rabbi. How can this be so?! Wouldn’t it be God’s responsibility in a sense to watch over his own creations? Why would a “good god” give us the ability to hurt others?
Rabbi: Radislav, there is a concept called free will. Basically, free will is known to be the outright privilege given to mankind to live and act as they please, to make decisions for themselves. If God did not give us free will, then there would be a clear-as-day issue: if God chose to create a world free of evil, we would have no say in any decision we would make! Our decisions would have been pre-determined from the beginning of our lives. Think of it from a different angle Radislav. Maybe you will understand where I am coming from better. Theconcept of good makes no sense without being accompanied by the concept of evil. It seems to me that you are of the opinion that if there was a God, and God was omniscient, omnipotent, and benevolent, then God would rid the earth of all evil. If God in a sense rid the world of all evil, this would render the concept of “good” meaningless and void. Another thing that I want to point out is, god created us all according to a master plan. God knows what life is about. Things that might be carried out on us may seem cruel and unjust, but God has a purpose for everything that happens. Radislav: Assuming that you have a valid point Rabbi, I still have an issue. Why would God then strike us with such an enormous amount of evil? Why not just a little? Let there be some type of balance between good and evil. There is just way too much going on right now!
Rabbi: Radislav, with all due respect, that is pointless question. Harboring on such a detail is pointless in our discussion.
Radislav: Well played rabbi. I do feel somewhat enlightened by the some of the points you are making. I do not want you to think that I am undermining you or disrespecting you in any way.
Rabbi: I appreciate the fact that I can have a purely intellectual conversation with someone as yourself. I would actually like to ponder about some of the things we spoke about today and at some point in the future, reconvene and maybe shed some new light on our discussion. How about next week, same time same place?
Radislav: Absolutely Rabbi, not a problem. I will make sure that my schedule is clear. Thank you much for warmly welcoming me into your community