Analysis Of Theodicy: The Free Will Defense

Augustine also did not have a perfect answer, but he believes that God must let mankind through the experience of ignorance and difficulties. “It is true that, in the works studied by Ogliari, Augustine says that not all people will be saved by the grace of the second Adam, Christ. Everyone is treated justly and some will receive the mercy of God” (Van Geest, Paul). Augustine thinks that not everyone has the right to be saved. God knows who will be saved, so some of the humans are destined to be saved.

He also stated that “For since I know that my own nature is very weak and limited, whereas the nature of God is immense, incomprehensible and infinite, I also know without more ado that he is capable of countless things whose causes are beyond my knowledge”. Descartes believed that it is his mind that prevents him from understanding why God gave him the chance to create human error. The model of descartes human error problem does not succeed because nothing can be seen or perceived without the mind, and the mind is everything for us at the moment. Altough the physical body and the mind are different both are controlled by the mind. This means that even thought descartes can not see God he still believe in him, and anything that have anything evil like actions who knows it did not come from God.

Suffering is a problem for theists because evil exists due to the ability of having free will. If this were not true, humans would not be capable enough to make their own decisions. Because of free will sin exists in our world which causes suffering. Sin is the result of not perfecting God’s creation.

He discusses the possibility of this occurring through natural theology, or contemplation, but decides that this is not possible due to the “ignorance and stupidity of the people” (sec. 6, pg. 29, para 1). He continues on to refute other possible explanations, before concluding that it occurs as a natural result of the flattery system; humans place one God above all others and say that he is omnipresent and infinite (sec. 6, pg. 31, para 1). They worship that one perfect God with the hope that they will attain the maximum control over their own anxieties and suffering. The purpose of these sections is to lead readers to doubt the foundations in reason of their belief

A proposition that is A priori is based on reasoning or knowledge that follows from theoretical deduction rather than from observation or experience. A strong argument that Descartes describes but rejects is the GOD Example where he states that GOD would have the omnipotence required to deceive us, even in rational thought. But, although he says that GOD could deceive us, that GOD wouldn’t because of he/she/it out not to. GOD is essentially perfectly good, therefore never does anything ought not to do. (Descartes “GOD = Good”).

How can you best describe the so-called problem of evil? The problem with evil is an argument that is meant to prove that God does not exist or it is more likely than not that God does not exist. Ernest Nagel believes that one of the most important characteristics of atheists is the belief that, “there are no good reason to believe that god exists” (Velasquez, 2014p.260) based on the existence of evil in the world. David Hume’s argument on the problem with evil is that man can only know what he has experienced so if we take the idea of such a god out of our minds and then were forced to look at our world we would never have reason to believe that a, “supreme, intelligence, benevolent, powerful god exists”.

The argument of free will always seems to fall back on how much blame humans can put on God for their mistakes. However, the most comforting argument typically seems to be the one that provides the most forgiveness and understanding of human nature. Perhaps humans are all born with flaws and they have to go through life attempting to make up for them. There is also the possibility that eternal peace will be granted only if one truly chooses God, regardless if the religion deems them worthy. At the end, the only thing that matters is what one believes in, because there’s no way to know which religion got it “right.”

Augustine attempts to inform others about the various enjoyments life has to offer. His big argument is that people can attain true happiness by accepting God into their lives, and refrain from participating in worldly pleasures. He believes that rejecting the temptations of all worldly pleasures is essential in developing a true and fulfilling life devoted to God. The argument to be had here is that some could debate that Augustine’s strict views of steering clear of the pleasures our world has to offer is excessive and can prevent him from attaining a balanced lifestyle. Society views overeating as outrageous and unhealthy, and the same could be said for Augustine’s belief of self restraint.

Aikman (2008) refers to Atheism as a cause of uncertainty and violence in the world of faith. It only disturbs the concrete beliefs of Christians to the supremacy of God. With unseen motives, Atheism became a source of development of hesitations that break the connection of God and man. People became more aggressive because they do not worry on the possible consequences of their wrongdoings and the sins they commit. Atheism brings about the existence of evil and suffering.

People, especially religious ones may find this appalling but then again God himself is as well, to his own end, standing, foundation, intention and self-amusement and that only by living this way can human beings be said to take part in his life For non-believers the main difference between them and the believers is that the importance and resolve of life lie outside it. But even for believers this isn’t reasonably true. In classical theology, God surpasses the world, but figures as a deepness inside it. In Wittgenstein’s words “if there is such a thing as eternal life, it must be here and now. It is the present moment which is an image of eternity, not an infinite succession of such moments.”

Discuss whether the existence of evil disproves the existence of God A major argument used by atheists against the existence of God is the existence of evil in the world. In philosophy evil is viewed in two different ways: moral evil, which is a result of human action, and natural evil, which caused by a fault in the natural world; the consequence of both types of evil is suffering. Due to this God’s presence is questioned by many non believers, because an omnibenevolent God wouldn’t allow suffering to his people; as a result of this Thomas Aquinas saw a frequent conclusion from philosophers that stated if God existed, there would be no evil in the world, but there is evil; therefore, God does not exist (1917). However, the existence of evil and suffering for a religious

Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis, can be connected to many of the Catholic Intellectual Tradition core claims and questions. That being said, the core question “What is our relationship with the Natural World?” is actually heavily based off of this book. In book one, Lewis gives the readers a description of all the natural laws we can be faced with in this world. The Law of Human Nature, on page 4 and 5 he says “this law or rule is about right and wrong… it is called the Law of Nature because people thought that everyone knew it by nature and does not need to be taught it.”

From the “Night” by Elie Wiesel, his Jew character turns to God and asks: “What are You, my God? I thought angrily. How do You compare to this stricken mass gathered to affirm to You their faith, their anger, their defiance? What does Your grandeur mean, Master of the Universe, in the face of all this cowardice, this decay, and this misery?

In life, people tend to classify ideas into good and evil based on their views and beliefs. The novel, Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya, portrays the life a six-year old boy named Antonio living around the time of World War II. Antonio faces many challenges in life as he grows into adulthood. In order to see what is good and evil, Antonio sees things as good if it agrees with his beliefs and sees things as evil if something threatens his beliefs. Many people in life think like Antonio, if people’s beliefs are agreed upon, they see it as good and if people beliefs are contradicted, it is seen as evil.

Everything around us is built of our faith in our senses, and our faith in other people. Without faith we are surrounded by the fear of the known, every neighbour could be planning our death, our senses could be simulated by some machine; and without faith in God, for many people can be the difference between bearing the evil of the world and slipping into the world of oblivion and chaos. Yet is this faith in God rational or not? Mackie thinks not, in his essay “Evil and Omnipotence” he uses the problem of evil in the world to expose the irrationality of God. He shows how, the contradicts of an Omni God makes the belief in such a being irrational.