The Problem of Evil, the part no one ever deals with

[Christianus_Dei]

buzzfeed.com/floperry/stephen-fry-says-that-if-there-is-a-god-he-must-be-utterly-e#.nqKQk3Rn8

I’ll say, “Bone cancer in children? What’s that about? How dare you! How dare you create a world in which there is such suffering that is not our fault? It’s not right, it’s utterly, utterly evil. Why should I respect a capricious, mean-minded, stupid god, who creates a world which is so full of injustice and pain?”

Stephen Fry recently released this statement on his opinion of God, and it’s brought up something I’ve been thinking of for a little while, the Problem of Evil.

The thing is, one side of the Problem of evil is incredibly easy to deal with. Free will of humans and God’s refusal to take that away is simple.

catholic.com/blog/matt-fradd/the-problem-of-evil

But what about environmental evils? What Mr. Fry brings up here is of all the horrors of the natural world that exist outside of human will, and I have never heard or read a satisfactory response to this.

 

[Dorothy]

Many people do not fully understand the problem of evil, because they do not understand about original sin, (the loss of sanctifying grace), and our beloved Redeemer Our Lord Jesus Christ.

Jesus, the God-man, Second Person of the Blessed Trinity suffered a horrific death out of love for us.

Our Infinite, loving God can bring good out of evil when we surrender to His will in all things.

Our life on this earth is short and passes quickly, even if we live to be very old.

Believers have many opportunities to repent, grow in the Lord’s grace and become closer to Him.

Non-believers see this world as all that there is, and so have no understanding of how the Lord works in our lives, and in this fallen world. It seems that many times all they can see is what they would like it to be, and not as an opportunity to be sanctified in His Grace.

 

[powerofk]

buzzfeed.com/floperry/stephen-fry-says-that-if-there-is-a-god-he-must-be-utterly-e#.nqKQk3Rn8

I’ll say, “Bone cancer in children? What’s that about? How dare you! How dare you create a world in which there is such suffering that is not our fault? It’s not right, it’s utterly, utterly evil. Why should I respect a capricious, mean-minded, stupid god, who creates a world which is so full of injustice and pain?”

Stephen Fry recently released this statement on his opinion of God, and it’s brought up something I’ve been thinking of for a little while, the Problem of Evil.

The thing is, one side of the Problem of evil is incredibly easy to deal with. Free will of humans and God’s refusal to take that away is simple.

catholic.com/blog/matt-fradd/the-problem-of-evil

But what about environmental evils? What Mr. Fry brings up here is of all the horrors of the natural world that exist outside of human will, and I have never heard or read a satisfactory response to this.

And I’m afraid that there isn’t an answer that will sound satisfactory to all people. The first thing to understand, though, is that destructive things that happen in the environment (such as natural disasters, animal attacks, cancer) should not be called “evil”. Why? Because the natural environment (which includes all matter other than living humans) does not have the capacity for good or evil. To do so requires a mind that is able to think beyond only satisfying one’s (and if the circumstances allow it - one’s offspring’s) basic needs for survival.

Honestly, this question of environmental evil, and suffering caused by circumstances beyond one’s control, is pretty much the theme of the Book of Job. Job is never really given an actual answer at the end, by the way - God simply tells him that he doesn’t even have the right to ask, because he wouldn’t understand anyway. There’s a reason why it’s called the mystery of suffering.

The ancients used to think that such suffering was caused by one’s sins - it’s Jesus Himself who refutes this idea, stating (in the Gospel of Luke), that the people who were killed by the falling of the tower at Siloam (Luke 13:4) were not greater sinners than anyone else in Jerusalem; and that it wasn’t due to anyone’s sins that the man born blind (John 9) was born blind. In other words, we don’t really have an answer to why such things happen - just that they do. But we can offer up the suffering caused by such events to help us become more like Jesus, for our conversion, and for the conversion of others.

 

[Jubilarian]

Many people do not fully understand the problem of evil, because they do not understand about original sin, (the loss of sanctifying grace), and our beloved Redeemer Our Lord Jesus Christ.

Jesus, the God-man, Second Person of the Blessed Trinity suffered a horrific death out of love for us.

Our Infinite, loving God can bring good out of evil when we surrender to His will in all things.

Our life on this earth is short and passes quickly, even if we live to be very old.

Believers have many opportunities to repent, grow in the Lord’s grace and become closer to Him.

Non-believers see this world as all that there is, and so have no understanding of how the Lord works in our lives, and in this fallen world. It seems that many times all they can see is what they would like it to be, and not as an opportunity to be sanctified in His Grace.

There is a scripture verse I stumbled upon one time in the book of Kings, I forget the chapter and verse but you can Google it. It said roughly , " but God was not in the wind" referring to a storm wind that destroyed things. Environmentally, what was put into motion just happens based on the formula used at creation. God is not in it… unless of course he chooses to enter it . In that case we may not know it was his doing.

 

[Charlemagne_III]

The question raised here has puzzled theologians for centuries. So far as I know, there is no definitive answer to your question about nature bringing tragedy into our lives. Needless to say, it isn’t nature’s intention to bring this tragedy, but it is our misfortune. Why doesn’t God prevent all these natural disasters? What does God do with those souls who are victims of untimely sudden death, or long suffering illness resulting in death. Not sure that this is altogether relevant to your question. But we all must die sooner or later, some having lived a full life, and others not so full a life. I don’t think God is “stupid” as Fry says, to let some of us die sooner than others.

Fry no doubt thinks he would have made a better God than our God. But for God to interfere with every possible action or accident of nature, or to save us all from every burning house or every flood or every hurricane or every earthquake or every car accident or every heart attack or every case of cancer, would mean that we live in a world without natural laws that must run their natural course. Yes, God could interfere and save us in every case, but he clearly doesn’t. He cares more about saving our souls than about saving our bodies, and God’s son gave his body on the cross to save all our souls.

 

[JackVk]

One way I answer the problem of natural evils is to turn it on its head. Let’s assume it does disprove God. That leaves us with the question: “what are we to make of such things?”

The only possible answer is that it is merely natural selection on a greater scale. In a naturalistic worldview, childhood cancer is the result of having arbitrarily bad genes, and the inability to survive a building collapse is mere inability to adapt to nature’s fickle, ever-changing standards of survival.

In the end, if there’s no God, then good and evil are merely inventions of the weak to inhibit the strong. If there’s no God, then we should feel no pity for victims of tragedies, since their misfortunes are merely evolution in action. The weak, stupid, and incompetent go extinct to make way for the strong, smart, and talented.

Don’t believe me? Friedrich Nietzsche believed all these things. I know how cold, dark, and heartless this all sounds. To that, I (and nature, by proxy) say: “tough beans, loser”.

 

[JackVk]

The question raised here has puzzled theologians for centuries. So far as I know, there is no definitive answer to your question about nature bringing tragedy into our lives. Needless to say, it isn’t nature’s intention to bring this tragedy, but it is our misfortune. Why doesn’t God prevent all these natural disasters? What does God do with those souls who are victims of untimely sudden death, or long suffering illness resulting in death. Not sure that this is altogether relevant to your question. But we all must die sooner or later, some having lived a full life, and others not so full a life. I don’t think God is “stupid” as Fry says, to let some of us die sooner than others.

Fry no doubt thinks he would have made a better God than our God. But for God to interfere with every possible action or accident of nature, or to save us all from every burning house or every flood or every hurricane or every earthquake or every car accident or every heart attack or every case of cancer, would mean that we live in a world without natural laws that must run their natural course. Yes, God could interfere and save us in every case, but he clearly doesn’t. He cares more about saving our souls than about saving our bodies, and God’s son gave his body on the cross to save all our souls.

Right. This world is not an end in itself. When will people realize that? Unfortunately, to materialists like Fry, this answer doesn’t count.

It’s not God’s job to keep everyone feeling as good as possible all the time. If that’s the case, then the highest good is pleasure (which makes Charlie Sheen a hero and war veterans scoundrels). God made us for Himself. and if God is omnipotent, then He is able to bring good out of evil.

 

[fhansen]

buzzfeed.com/floperry/stephen-fry-says-that-if-there-is-a-god-he-must-be-utterly-e#.nqKQk3Rn8

I’ll say, “Bone cancer in children? What’s that about? How dare you! How dare you create a world in which there is such suffering that is not our fault? It’s not right, it’s utterly, utterly evil. Why should I respect a capricious, mean-minded, stupid god, who creates a world which is so full of injustice and pain?”

Stephen Fry recently released this statement on his opinion of God, and it’s brought up something I’ve been thinking of for a little while, the Problem of Evil.

The thing is, one side of the Problem of evil is incredibly easy to deal with. Free will of humans and God’s refusal to take that away is simple.

catholic.com/blog/matt-fradd/the-problem-of-evil

But what about environmental evils? What Mr. Fry brings up here is of all the horrors of the natural world that exist outside of human will, and I have never heard or read a satisfactory response to this.

Man needs God. Only complete communion with Him will bring about the absolute perfection and integrity we all desire. Separation from God=suffering to one degree or another, in one way or another. The sufferings of this life are inevitable and temporary. Life, itself, here on earth is temporary. The next life is eternal happiness unless for some reason we prefer to continue to be separated from the true Source of all life, wholeness, and happiness. Jesus-God, Himself-conquered sin, suffering, and death by His own willingness to undergo it as a human and prove it’s ultimate powerlessness by His ressurection.

 

[oldcelt]

One way I answer the problem of natural evils is to turn it on its head. Let’s assume it does disprove God. That leaves us with the question: “what are we to make of such things?”

The only possible answer is that it is merely natural selection on a greater scale. In a naturalistic worldview, childhood cancer is the result of having arbitrarily bad genes, and the inability to survive a building collapse is mere inability to adapt to nature’s fickle, ever-changing standards of survival.

In the end, if there’s no God, then good and evil are merely inventions of the weak to inhibit the strong. If there’s no God, then we should feel no pity for victims of tragedies, since their misfortunes are merely evolution in action. The weak, stupid, and incompetent go extinct to make way for the strong, smart, and talented.

Don’t believe me? Friedrich Nietzsche believed all these things. I know how cold, dark, and heartless this all sounds. To that, I (and nature, by proxy) say: “tough beans, loser”.

None of that precludes a creator…just a micromanager.

John