philosophy paper #5 (gratuitous suffering) - Connor Blair Dr Richard Cameron Word count 650 Does Our God Exist There is little doubt evil exists in our

Connor Blair Dr. Richard Cameron 4-26-2007 Word count 650 Does Our God Exist? There is little doubt evil exists in our world. If any evils are gratuitous then God, in western society’s sense, does not exist. 1 Gratuitous evil is defined as suffering which cannot be justified; there is no resulting good, it is unnecessary. 2 For example, an innocent, orphan child is secretly raped, beaten, and killed, what good comes of this? 3 Many philosophers argue against God, believing no good we know of justifies the world’s evil. Although many philosophers, offering theodicies, argue for the existence of God there are several strong reasons for believing gratuitous evil exists. Because most evidence points to gratuitous evil I believe it exists. It can be proven that gratuitous evil exists in the world because no theodicy escapes Nicholas Tattersall’s chalenges. Many attempts have been made to refute gratuitous evil, but none conquer these six questions: Is it possible there be a purposeful world with less intense suffering and death? Do people need to know God exists for the theodicy to work? Is non-human animals’ suffering explained? Is every possible scenario explained? Does it explain disproportional suffering? And would we be interfering with God’s plan if the theodicy were true?