TagliatelliMonster
Veteran Member
Yes, but he's also saying that because God doesn't do that then either God isn't omnipotent or that God doesn't exist.
Well, he's not wrong....
Except another option is that this god exists, is omnipotent but not omnibenevolent.
That's a false conclusion as any Deist knows.
I disagree. An omnipotent and omnibenevolent entity WOULD stop evil.
So if evil is allowed to continue then any of 3 options is possible:
- this god doesn't exist
- not omnipotent: this god can't / is unable to stop evil
- not omnibenevolent: this god can stop evil, but doesn't care to.
Pain ≠ Evil
I didn't say it was.
In fact, I explicitly detached it from one another:
...a universe where suffering, pain and evil exists?
But you know what I would consider evil?
Having the ability to stop pain and suffering and then not doing it.
A tsunami that kills 300.000 is not "evil" - it's a phenomena of nature with people unfortunate enough to be in the way of it.
But having the ability to stop the tsunami, and thereby saving those 300k people, and not doing it -THAT would be evil.
Also, pain and suffering = result of evil.
Not that it can't be cause by other things.
But the result of evil is always some form of pain and/or suffering.
That's in fact what makes things evil.....................
Having said all that... as some other guy here wrote already, the "problem of evil" is also refered to sometimes as the "problem of suffering", since it essentially deals with the same thing.
No matter what caused the pain and suffering, IF you have the ability to remove pain/suffering, then you have a moral duty to do so.
So in a universe where an omnipotent, omnibenevolent entity exists, suffering and pain should not. Since the omnipotent part makes it possible remove any and all forms of pain/suffering and the omnibenevolent part provides the motivation and duty to actually do so.
So, in a universe where a god exists AND where suffering and pain also exists, it would necessarily have to mean that:
- this god isn't omnipotent (he can't remove suffering/pain)
- this god is not omnibenevolent (he can but doesn't care to).
- this is neither omnibenevolent or omnipotent (he can't and even if he could, wouldn't care to)