After all, there are plenty of natural evils (Tempests, drought, floods, etc). Those of you who have been unfortunate enough to read my previous threads will know I am keen on philosophy of religion, ethics and political philosophy. If someone is good and omnipotent, I do not think it unreasonable to expect them to act in a good way.
I am currently reading a book called Believing Bull**** by Stephen Law. Quite early on in the book, he wants to know the reason why we believe God to be good, when all the theodicies can be inverted to show God to be bad. For instance, one reason we can explain the evil in the world is that it is a benevolent God's way to teach us the difference between good and evil. But the same could be said of an Evil God.
So maybe God is not good. Maybe He is evil, and takes satisfaction in our misplaced belief as to His goodness. Maybe He laughs in the face of our optimistic assessment of Evil God's nature. Maybe this earth is a vale, not of soul-making, but of soul-destruction. Maybe this Evil God wants us to suffer, do evil, and despair. Why would such a God create natural beauty? Maybe simply to provide contrast: if most of the world is ugly, it seems more ugly because it contains aspects that are beautiful. Similarly with riches; if some have the opportunity to live lavish lifestyles, that tends to make the rest of us suffer from resentment, frustration and above all envy.
Law gives plenty of other examples to show how theodicies can be subverted to prove God is maybe not quite so benevolent as the theistic religions would have us believe. If you are interested I commend his accessible book to you. It will certainly provide food for thought.
Best wishes, 2RM.
I am currently reading a book called Believing Bull**** by Stephen Law. Quite early on in the book, he wants to know the reason why we believe God to be good, when all the theodicies can be inverted to show God to be bad. For instance, one reason we can explain the evil in the world is that it is a benevolent God's way to teach us the difference between good and evil. But the same could be said of an Evil God.
So maybe God is not good. Maybe He is evil, and takes satisfaction in our misplaced belief as to His goodness. Maybe He laughs in the face of our optimistic assessment of Evil God's nature. Maybe this earth is a vale, not of soul-making, but of soul-destruction. Maybe this Evil God wants us to suffer, do evil, and despair. Why would such a God create natural beauty? Maybe simply to provide contrast: if most of the world is ugly, it seems more ugly because it contains aspects that are beautiful. Similarly with riches; if some have the opportunity to live lavish lifestyles, that tends to make the rest of us suffer from resentment, frustration and above all envy.
Law gives plenty of other examples to show how theodicies can be subverted to prove God is maybe not quite so benevolent as the theistic religions would have us believe. If you are interested I commend his accessible book to you. It will certainly provide food for thought.
Best wishes, 2RM.
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