Monday, February 15, 2010

The Evil God Challenge



This is a link to a PDF version of an excellent article by English philosopher Stephen Law entitled The Evil God Challenge: http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayFulltext?type=1&fid=7247672&jid=RES&volumeId=-1&issueId=-1&aid=7247664&fromPage=cupadmin&pdftype=6316268
I would love to hear the Christian retort to this blast of reason.
Posted by The Atheist Missionary at 3:56 PM
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7 comments:

  1. I'm short on time tonight, so I can't read the whole thing, but my understanding (from reading the first page and a half) is that his argument rests on the assumption that (1) is incompatible with (2), or that in the case that (1) is compatible with (2), there would not be as much evil as we see in the world.

    That's all it is - an assumption, based on humans' selfish nature which demands that if God exists, there cannot be any (or any without a purpose) suffering in the world, otherwise he's evil.

    The problem is not with God, it's with humans. God didn't sin. Adam and Eve did, as do all humans. Why then do you blame God for the evil in the world, when in fact we have no one to blame but ourselves?
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  2. TAM: I am curious; did Law get expelled from the College he attended in Cambridge (before his career as a postman), or did he leave voluntarily? If the former, what was the reason for the expulsion? Do you know?
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  3. CKDC, I don't know but I will ask him.
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  4. Reversing the theodice arguments (from positive to negative) was a stroke of genius. I've never have thought to do that.
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  5. This is really interesting.

    If God (Zeus) is evil, then Lucifer (Prometheus) must be the good guy, who only wanted to bring us light (fire) and knowledge.

    Of course, this greatly angered God (Zeus) who condemned Lucifer (Prometheus) to be cast out of Heaven (Olympus) and thrown into Hell (chained to a rock).
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  6. The Evil God argument isn't simply attacking theodicy; it's showing that there is sufficient symmetry between a putative *evil* God and a putative *good* God to render the good God theodicies unreasonable.

    Theists naturally think the evil god is ludicrous, because of all the good in the world. Therefore, the challenge for the theist is to show there is sufficient *difference* between the good and evil theodicies to justify their thinking the good God reasonable and the evil God unreasonable.

    It's not possible, IMO, but I'm sure a devout theist will be able to see past the argument to continue believing!
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  7. Good God, Evil God. Who cares??? He doesn't exist remember!!! So much talk over fairy tales is enough to make me want to live in Oz. People need to get a life. And stop living to Blog. Sorry but sometimes the 5 minutes I spend on my Apple makes me wonder if I'm stepping into the garden of Eden.. ;) Moving on......
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