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?
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- Spring '07
- RichardCameron
- Philosophy, Theodicy, Problem of evil, Connor Blair
-
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