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Philosophy of Free Will and Theology

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The Problem of Evil
McCayley Hendricks
MWF-2pm
#3564
November 17, 2014

One of the most prominent arguments against the existence of God today would be the problem of evil. Not only is it a problem for Christians, who want to provide a defense for their faith, but it is also a problem for Christians, who being faced with suffering and pain on account of evil, and without knowing the thoughts or intentions of God, wish to reconcile the two ideas together. In spite of Mackie’s Logical Argument of Evil proving, some would say, that it is not possible for both God and evil to exist, I believe that it is in fact possible that they exist simultaneously. My reason for believing so stems from the Free-Will Defense, coupled with a deeper understanding and more clearly defined description of the attributes of God and how they work together. I will also highlight scripture that incorporates both the existence of evil as well as the existence of God, who remedies the evil into a greater good, reiterating a point made in premise 4 of Plantinga’s Free Will Defense. In order to walk you through my thought process, I will start with a basic outline of Mackie’s Logical Argument, as well as include why this is a problem for theists. I will then define some ambiguous terms in his argument, and shed some light on the culture-saturated definitions of Christian lingo used in the argument. And finally, I will present the Free-Will Defense and show how this paired with the previous information, along with accounts of evil in scripture, work hand in hand to point us to a more clear understanding of the coexistence of God and evil.
J.L. Mackie’s Logical Argument for the problem of evil is built on the foundation of its logical consistency, meaning that all the ideas appear at surface level to be consistent with each other. This deductive argument is an attempt to show that the existence of God and evil is logically incompatible, making it hard to refute. Mackie’s Logical Problem of Evil says:
1. God exists.
2. If God exists, then God is omnipotent.
3. If something is omnipotent, it can do anything.
4. If God exists, then God can do anything.
5. If God exists, then God is wholly good.
6. If something is wholly good, it always eliminates as much evil as it can.
7. If God exists, then God eliminates as much evil as God can.
8. If God exists, then God eliminates all evil.
9. If God exists, then there is no evil.
10. BUT, evil exists.
11. Therefore God does not exist.
Now as theists this doesn’t sit well with us because if we were to refute it and say that God does exist then it would be to the exclusion of evil, which would make us look ignoramus, because we know, based on the experiences we have had, that in fact evil does exist. So our only other possibility would be to say God doesn’t exist or to diminish the deity of God, either God can’t stop evil or he doesn’t desire to stop evil, thus proving His inexistence. Though the argument above may prove intimidating because of its logical consistency and the ensnaring nature of its wording, there are some ambiguous or incorrectly defined words that I would like to shed some light on. The first would be omnipotence, which is described as “can do anything” in the Logical Argument. I do not oppose the definition completely, although I think “power to do all things” is better, rather I would like to add some helpful information to the idea of omnipotence. In the Logical Argument if I, as a theist, were to say that God and evil do exist the result would be that then God would not be able to stop evil, meaning it would be an impossibility for God to stop evil from happening. With the idea of impossibility C.S. Lewis in his book “The Problem of Pain”, sets forth the idea that with impossibility comes a “suppressed clause” which utilizes the word, unless. So for example, “I can’t tie my shoe, unless it were first untied.” The task is impossible because the “unless” hasn’t occurred. Now there are also such things called “absolute impossibilities” which Lewis describes as something that, “is intrinsically impossible for it carries within itself impossibility, so for all conditions, in all worlds, and for all agents (including God).” This implies a statement such as “Evil can’t be done away with unless nature was different than it is.” To this the response would be “I don’t think nature could be different than it is” proving that this is an absolute impossibility, because it carries impossibility within itself. “It is no more possible for God than for the weakest of His creatures to carry out both of two mutually exclusive alternatives; not because His power meets an obstacle, but because nonsense remains nonsense even when we talk it about God.” Therefore, omnipotence is not just “can do anything”; it is an idea that incorporates restraint, and those restraints we will revisit with the introduction of the Free-Will Defense.
The second term I wish to define is wholly good, which is put forth in the Logical Argument as “always eliminating as much evil as it can”. This definition may suit the argument and thus render its logical consistency but this definition is shallow at best. God possesses a divine goodness that is different from the way culture would define goodness. Cultures definition of goodness would probably fit best into the word kindness, always wanting people to be happy. Culture begs for this ideal grandfather up in heaven, whose only desire is that we have a good time, and so this is the image we as a culture project on God when we say that God is wholly good. In order to reverse this thinking it is proper to introduce the idea that God’s divine goodness is also His love. To which Lewis says, “the problem of reconciling human suffering with the existence of a God who loves, is only, unsolvable so long as we attach a trivial meaning to the word love, and look on things as if man were at the center.” So when we attach this meaningless definition of God’s lovingness or goodness as “always eliminating as much evil as it can”, we have now made man the center and thus made human suffering irreconcilable to the existence of God.
Now, how do these newly defined attributes of God tie into the Free-Will Defense recently put forth by Alvin Plantinga? First let me present the Free-Will Defense. It says: 1. Much evil is the result of what people freely choose to do. 2. It is good that there should be a world with agents able to act freely, and a world containing such agents would be better than a world of puppets controlled by God. 3. Even an omnipotent God cannot ensure that free people act well. 4. Therefore, much evil is explicable in terms of God allowing for the possible consequences of him willing a greater good.
Alvin is making a case for the argument against the Logical Problem of Evil by saying that there is nothing wrong with the idea that a perfectly all-powerful and wholly good God AND evil exist. He tackles this argument by using the defense of our own free will, “Much evil is the result of what people freely choose to do.” God in His omnipotence created a people with free will. In our free will we have the choice to make between what is good and what is evil. This directs our attention back to what C.S. Lewis introduces as an “absolute impossibility”. God created man with free will, so he cannot then make just any of our state of affairs. If God both extended free will and then controlled it, in a sense that he prevented all evil from happening, it would end in the inability to exercise free will, “Even an omnipotent God cannot ensure that free people act well”. These are two mutually exclusive realities and can’t continually be carried out simultaneously.
Let’s look at some scripture. We see in Plantinga’s last premise, “Therefore, much evil is explicable in terms of God allowing for the possible consequences of him willing a greater good”, the idea put forth of a greater good. I would like to use the example of the books Judges and Ruth found in the Bible. The period of the judges was a period in which Israel was waiting for their promised leader, and would best be described as “Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord” (2:11, 3:7, 3:12, 4:1, 6:1, 10:6, 13:1). In fact the book ends with “and everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” This is a picture of the abuse of free will, in that everyone was their own god and they were committing evils against each other and God, and the book ends without any redemption. Ruth begins in the same time period, “In the days the judges ruled…”, and is the story of redemption on a personal level, national level and a foreshadowed international level. With the genealogies at the end of Ruth, we see the very last name says “David”, and with that comes the revelation that Jesus is in the line of David, and so we see how God is still preserving the promised leader to Israel through David, but on an even larger scale the promised Messiah to the world. Even though the scriptures are inerrant and they are what we believe as Christians, it serves to provide an example that really drives home the point I’m trying to make. What does this example mean? It means that even though God in His omnipotence allowed for Israel’s free will to choose and in this case abuse evil, and do what was right in their own eyes, He was still there, in existence, orchestrating a greater good out of His goodness, and His faithfulness to both a nation and His covenant to them. I believe that it is possible for both God and evil to coexist. In this paper I have redefined omnipotence and wholly good, in order to add a deeper understanding of these specific attributes of God, which were inadequately defined. I then introduced the Free-Will Defense and discussed how these attributes reflect and support this defense as well as deepen the meaning of it. Then lastly, I applied scripture as an example of both free will and the existence and orchestration of a God who is not just omnipotent and wholly good, but so much more. Thus explaining what I have come to believe, that God and evil coexist.

Bibliography

Davies, Brian. "Philosophy of Religion: A Guide to Anthology." Accessed October 30, 2014. http://sarahhoneychurchteaching.wikispaces.com/file/view/Davies problem of evil.pdf.

"Judges-Ruth." In The Holy Bible, 232-261. Wheaton, IL: Good News Publishers, 2011.

Lewis, C.S. "Problem of Pain." Fellowship of Faith. Accessed October 30, 2014. http://www.fellowshipoffaith.org/images/files/upload/Problem_of_Pain.pdf

“The Free Will Defense." February 11, 2010. Accessed October 30, 2014. http://www3.nd.edu/~jspeaks/courses/2009-10/10100/LECTURES/Vince - Free Will Defense.pdf.

--------------------------------------------
[ 1 ]. “The Free Will Defense,” Notre Dame, last modified February 11, 2010, accessed October 30, 2014, http://www3.nd.edu/~jspeaks/courses/2009-10/10100/LECTURES/Vince%20-%20Free%20Will%20Defense.pdf
[ 2 ]. Lewis, C.S. “The Problem of Pain”. Accessed October 30, 2014. http://www.fellowshipoffaith.org/images/files/upload/Problem_of_Pain.pdf.
[ 3 ]. Ibid.
[ 4 ]. Lewis, C.S. “The Problem of Pain”. Accessed October 30, 2014. http://www.fellowshipoffaith.org/images/files/upload/Problem_of_Pain.pdf.
[ 5 ]. Davies, Brian. “Philosophy of Religion: A Guide to Anthology”. Accessed October 30, 2014. http://sarahhoneychurchteaching.wikispaces.com/file/view/Davies+problem+of+evil.pdf.
[ 6 ]. "Judges-Ruth." In The Holy Bible, 232-261. Wheaton, IL: Good News Publishers, 2011.
[ 7 ]. Ibid.

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