Existence of God and the Problem of Evil
Existence of God and the Problem of EvilThroughout history atheists and theist alike, have argued to disprove or prove the existence of God. The atheist stands behind the argument that there is no way a supremely good God could allow evil to exist in our world because God allowing such evil to exist is converse to the character that theist have depicted God to be. Therefore, theists have found themselves defending the existence of God by responding to the question of how a wholly, good God could allow evil to exist. Atheists bring up two very important points when trying to disprove God's existence. The first is divided into two sections: the presence of moral evil and the presence of natural evil. The second point is that if God gave us free will, why couldn't He make us choose the good over the evil? All of the atheist's points can be answered by two obvious rebuttals. The first and most important is the free will defense. The second is that evil is necessary in order for free will and good to exist. Atheists have argued that if moral evil exists then God is the culprit behind it. Their basis for this argument stems from the fact that God created us therefore he should not allow us to create/commit such evil. B
The existence of God will always be in dispute, especially when there is the problem of evil. However, when examining how free will contributes to evil it is easy to see how God can exist with the presence of evil. God did not create evil, he simply granted humans free will and it is humanity as a whole as well as individual people who contributed to evil because they have free will. Being free involves living with evil, and as such, evil is necessary for free will. Moral evil is caused by human free will and natural evil can be explained as a punishment for moral evil. Evil is necessary for free will because valuable sentiments such as tolerance and compassion can only exist if evil was experienced. Therefore, God does exist in a world where evil coexists. It is made possible by free will and free will is made possible by evil. Of course, moral evil is logically caused by human free will. But how can theists explain the cause of natural evil? If God does exist, then taking the word of the bible would be acceptable. In Genesis, natural evil is a result of God punishing humanity, which began when Adam and Eve sinned. All humans have sinned (or committed a morally "evil" act) at least once in their lives. And it follows that a punishment is logically necessary for humanity who have created moral evil. Consider natural evil as a punishment for moral evil and a mirror image of what all humans do unto others and themselves. Atheists may argue that it is unfair that God punish all humanity for evil deeds committed by only a
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Approximate Word count = 1041
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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