How might a theist (a believer in god, understood as an omnicompetent being), reconcile the existence of god with evil (that is, how might the theist show that the argument you addressed in the last question is unsound) ? do you really think the solution is a cogent or good one? why/why not?

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Social Studies

Jeffrey Jones

14 September, 22:02

How might a theist (a believer in god, understood as an omnicompetent being), reconcile the existence of god with evil (that is, how might the theist show that the argument you addressed in the last question is unsound) ? do you really think the solution is a cogent or good one? why/why not?

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Mookie · Answer 1

The argument operates with the traditional philosophical conception of God, according to which God is supposed to be an omnipotent, omniscient and omnibenevolent being; and before we begin, we need to say a word about omnipotence.

The claim that God is omnipotent can be understood in three ways. Our casual formulation has been to say that an omnipotent God is a god who can do absolutely anything. We might take this literally:

(A) God's omnipotence consists in the power to bring about absolutely any state of affairs.

On this view, not only is it in God's power to create the physical universe ex nihilo; it is in God's power to bring it about that 2+2=5, or that some triangles have four sides, or that a single thing is simultaneously red and and colorless through and through.

Alternatively, we might take the claim as follows:

(B) God's omnipotence consists in the power to bring about absolutely any logically possible state of affairs.

On this view, it is in God's power to create unicorns and centaurs, along with horses and goats, since there is no contradiction or incoherence in the supposition that these things exist. But it need not be in his power to bring it about that 2+2=5 or that something is both red and colorless through and through.

Finally (and least plausibly) we might take the claim as a claim about physical possibility:

(C) God's omnipotence consists in the power to bring about any physically possible state of affairs, i. e., any state of affairs that is consistent with the laws of nature.

On this view, God could easily have brought it about that the solar system contains an extra planet, since (so far as we know) this would involve no violation of any natural law. But it would not be in his power to cause the sun to earth to reverse direction in its orbit around the sun, since that would involve a violation of the basic laws of motion.