Theodicy

Log 5

Introduction

And so, the long awaited theodicy is now here! Okay, now that we have a trilogy, I am going to take a break from God for a while, by that a long time, well, it depends on how long it will take for me to write the rest of the logs. Because after this one, I will write more about economics and other stuff. And these stuff is actually copy pasted from another place, but I am the writer, I just copy paste and change some words. Like factbooks to logs, and telegrams to comments. So, what are we going to discuss today? Theodicy. What the hell is it? Well, let's dive straight in shall we?

Theodicy?

This is part of the debate between theists and atheists. The most common argument against God is the argument of evil. Now theodicy is basically a study to counter the argument of evil. And, there have been various forms of theodicy, which I disagree with, most of the time. And here, I am going to give out my personal theodicy. But I have my own opinion on theodicy as a whole. But it's mainly directed towards the atheists. I think the atheists' argument of evil is just plain absurd.

Absurdity?

Why did I claim that their argument is absurd? Because, what is their purpose of complaining about evil so many times? It's absurd, God is eternal and unchanging, if that being wasn't eternal and unchanging, we wouldn't call Them God. This means it doesn't matter if atheists keep complaining about evil, God can't care at all, well God do care, but God wouldn't be less God because of the atheists disapproval, don't you think? And what, if God doesn't exist, well let's just stop it at there, don't you think? Just prove that God doesn't exist, you don't have to show how evil an imaginary tyrant is to prove your point. It's stupid really.

Their Arguments

So in this case, I am going to refute an argument, and not presenting my own argument. I have not done this properly before, but I'll try. When refuting an argument, there is one crucial thing that we have to do first, that is analyze the argument that we are trying to refute. And that is exactly what I am going to do. Well the argument serves to disprove an all loving God, but is modified to take the concept down entirely. As the logic is, why would anyone bow to a malicious and malevolent God? Or why would any sane person create the concept of something that would not benefit them? Like a God that is malevolent. But of course, I did say that we are not supposed to bow in the first place.

Now their arguments. First of all, it is said that God is all-loving or omnibenevolent, and God is also omnipotent. So, why is there still evil? Why does God allow evil? God is supposed to be all loving and all powerful. Which means God can prevent all evils and also know that evil will happen. So, if God is willing but unable, why call Them God? If God is able but unwilling, God is evil, and if God is both, why is there evil? And if God has none of it, why call Them God? This line of questioning is famously known as Euthyphro Dilemma. Now that we know what their argument is, we're going to dissect it part by part.

Good and Evil

The argument makes one clear assumption. That morality is purely black and white. There is good and evil, good is good, evil is evil. There can be no evil in good, and there can be no good in evil. But first of all, what kind of evil does the atheists refer to? I would not say evils, because evil is what someone does. But I would say as suffering. It is another story if only people like Hitler, Mao, and Stalin is punished, but here, God tortures everyone indiscriminately. And thus the question of, "Why do good people suffer?" exists. But of course, in my view, no one deserves to be tortured or to suffer, so in my view, God is even more malevolent than what those who believe in Free Will thinks, isn't it?

Suffer or No Suffer?

So, atheists are complaining why people suffer, and God just let them suffer, without doing anything to save them. But what do they prefer then? For God to prevent suffering and come in like superman and save them before they can even suffer? Hey, you know what's better? For there to be no suffering in the first place, right? Well some people say, "Allow suffering to exist, but just minor evils, so we can appreciate the good." That is when people want to compromise, and that is the response to a theodicy of, "God creates evil so we can appreciate the good." But that is not enough. I will attack the other theodicies as well later, but for now, I have to refute the atheist's arguments. Now, is a world without suffering really that good? Is it? Let's find out.

The Theory of Evolution

"Evolution, you say? Isn't it considered by some as evidence against God?" I hear you speaking there. Richard Dawkins was arguing against the Christian fixed stereotype of God. But I tell you, evolution doesn't really do anything to disprove God's existence, it's still a branch of biology, which is science, and if you read my previous factbook, you should understand. And in fact, evolution can answer the problem of evil. How? Let me tell you.

How does evolution works? It's simple really, well if you want to simplify it. I am going to take the example of the birds in Galapagos. There is at first a single species of birds, but then they migrated to the other islands, and as time progresses, they began to look different. The main difference is their beaks. Their beaks are now specialized for each bird to eat very specific foods. They are still the same species, but they are now variants of the same species.

So what is actually happening there? Well, when the birds flew to different places, they found new food right? Their current beak is not that effective for eating various kinds of food. So naturally, their beaks begin to adapt so they can eat that new food more efficiently, and so they can catch it much easier. That is the basic principle of evolution. Eventually the birds will evolve into entirely different species to further adapt towards their surroundings. Basically, living things have to adapt to their surroundings to survive.

Then there also is the theory of Natural Selection where those with better genes, or those who successfully adapted to their environments will survive, while those who didn't will die off. But we won't talk about it today, that will be for later. Now that we have discussed the theory of evolution, we have to find out, how that's going to help this theodicy.

The Theodicy

The theory of evolution applies to all living things. Including human beings, so what is the relationship? Let me tell you, unlike other animals, humans can also be affected mentally. They can adapt mentally and mature mentally, not just physically. Of course it improves the brain, but not much for the physical body. Yes the physique of humans adapt as well, but evolution in humans is clearer in the brain, the mind. Let's take the context from my Free Will factbook.

As humans face hardships, they get new experience, and then they learn from that hardship. They learn how to adapt to it, and how to prevent it from happening ever again. And when people suffer, the same thing happens, chances are, these people will adapt and learn from their suffering, and how to prevent suffering themselves. Like how when people learn from their mistakes and they don't repeat again.

As a result, that is the reason why God created evil and suffering. So we humans can evolve and develop. If there are no evil and suffering, or if God keeps saving the day using various magic and stuff, we will never evolve and develop. We will never mature, and we will become overly dependent on God. And God, as our parent, doesn't want that. And that is how God can still be benevolent in the presence of evil.

Closing

My God, that was longer than I expected, though not as tiring as last post. Anyway, the point is, God created evil and suffering so we can adapt, evolve, develop, and mature as human beings. If there is no suffering, we won't develop at all. I was planning to attack other theodicies, but no, it's enough, I'll add it later, not today. I need to write about something else. Anyway, thanks for reading, if you have any suggestions, critiques, or compliments, do send me a telegram. I hope you enjoyed reading this, have a nice day!