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John Hick's Argumentative Analysis

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Many people question how God exists in a world full of so much evil, while other people have no problem accepting the reality of an omniscient (all knowing), omnibenevolent (all good), and omnipotent (all powerful) God. According to John Hick, God is omniscient, omnibenevolent, and omnipotent. Hick’s version of God allows the existence of evil for a specific purpose. Process- Relational theologist believe in a God of love, power, and relatedness (Mesle, 25). While I agree with certain aspects of both theories, I have to dispute both outlooks on the ultimate power of God. John Hick believes that there is no way you can deny the existence of evil, but he believes all evil exists because the all powerful God allows it to. How could a God who is all good allow evil to be present, you ask? Hick’s answer to your question would be; In order to draw us closer to him(GOD). If there were no sorrows, pains, or woes, mankind would not see the need for God’s forgiveness and love. Hick asserts that evil comes in two forms : moral evil and natural evil. Moral evils are acts that are committed by people like murder and rape. Natural evils are derived from …show more content…

However, I cannot completely agree with either point of view concerning God’s power. According to Hick’s theory God is, was, and always will be all powerful, but the Process-Relational Theory suggests that God though a very powerful being, He is not all powerful. Both suggest that evil exists either because of God’s awesome power or due to the lack of that power. As a Christian it is easy to agree with John Hick’s arguments that God is all knowing and all good but can the belief that God is all powerful hold its own in a world full of evil. If he is all good why would he not use his bounty of power to rid the world of evil? There is a simple explanation to this question; God is in fact not all

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