The Problem of Evil and the Characteristics of God

The Problem of Evil and the Characteristics of God

Introduction   

The existence of evil and God has been a subject for numerous arguments and studies across the world. God is considered by many Supreme Being who created the universe and everything in it. Some of the characteristics of God include He is omniscient, whish means He knows everything and omnipotent meaning He is all-powerful. In addition, God is considered a morally ideal being. God is also considered as the creator of everything in the world, the reason why things the way they are, he controls everything that happens in the world, the natural phenomena that occur in the world are His doing, that He is forgiving and very love regardless of your age, race and skin color.

Pecorino provides the following as the attributes of God, “supreme being. Eternal being, all perfect, beneficent being-all good, all powerful-omnipotent, all knowing-omniscient, all good, all present-omnipresent, all merciful, all just , all loving.” However, there are those who believe that both evil and God cannot exist simultaneously because God is more powerful than evil. They wonder how God can allow evil to exist when He has all the power to eliminate evil since He is all-powerful and stands for everything morally upright.

Discussion

            The characteristics attributed to God make Him the most Supreme Being who exists among men. These attributes make Him feared and respected by all humankind. The differences in religions and religious beliefs do not matter when it comes to honoring God. All religions have their gods and these gods held with the highest esteem and utter respect. This kind of esteem cannot be bestowed upon ordinary men because men are considered helpless and weak. The lives of men are dependent on their gods and men would do anything their gods’ demand of them. All this with the hope of being rewarded after this life, these rewards include living eternal life in paradise for the Christians.

There are arguments for the non-existence of God. Those in support of this argument say that evil would not exist if God truly existed since He would not allow because He does not condone evil. Michael Tooley asserts that “Why, then, do such undesirable states of affairs exist, if there is a being who is very powerful, very knowledgeable, and very good?”. This argument undermines and questions the presence of God. The writer argues that God does not exist because if He did then we would not experience any evil in our midst and everything that evil advocates for would be non-existent.

This argument conclusively states that evil can exist if God does not exist. The ‘undesirable state of affairs’ in this case is evil. The writer wonders how it is possible for evil to exist alongside God when the attributes of God trample over the mere mention of the word evil. An example is the death of young children. Most parents always feel that it is wrong for their children to die before them. It is supposed to be the other way around; children bury their parents. These parents often blame the devil for the deaths of their children. The aspect of God is rarely motioned in these cases. The existence of this evil that kills their children therefore means that God does not exist because if He did then He would not have allowed their children to die.

Evil is believed to be the opposite of good. Goodness is associated with God because He is the epitome of morality and ethics. He who is evil does not do good things to himself or herself and especially to those around him or her. Humanity sins because there is evil in the world. The act of sinning is blamed on the presence of evil in the world. If there was no evil, there would be no sinning and life would be perfect just like God. Evil is therefore to blame for everything that goes wrong in our lives, regardless of whether it is our fault or not. This has become the scapegoat for us human beings for all our wrongdoings.

The presence of evil underrates the power, knowledge and goodness of God. It portrays the picture that God is an underachiever since all His power would make this world, which He created, a perfect one. This also means that H e is unable to make this world as perfect as He would want it to be. However, this world is far from perfect because evil reigns and exists freely. The presence of this evil within the world makes God look bad. This is because God is believed to have created everything and it is by His merciful permission that everything exists and that include evil. Meaning He also created evil and allows it to exist amidst humankind.

Michael Tooley also says that Leibniz claims “God wills everything in the world”. Nevertheless, this notion must be properly understood. He goes further to say that God wills evil so that He is able to perform His duties as the ‘maintainer’ of peace and tranquility in humankind. Humans are discouraged from doing that which is evil so that they receive their reward after this life. The duties of God include ensuring that hums beings do not conform to the influences of evil. Because human beings are gullible, they can be influenced into doing evil deeds, which are against Gods commands. Therefore, God lets us decide whether we want to be influenced by evil to see that we keep His word.

Leibniz is content that the world as it is perfect because it was created by God and God is perfect. He says, “Since God is all-powerful, all-knowing, and all-good, there is certainly nothing that can prevent God from creating the best world. God’s goodness further obliges God to create the best world. Thus, the actual world is the best world.” The actual world being the world in which we live. He has not attributed the presence and existence of evil in the world in this statement. This is because he believes that God created a perfect world but He did not create evil or the devil.

There are those who do not believe in God and the devil. To such people, evil does not exist. Some religions in the world today do not believe in the existence of God. These religions believe in humanity, nature, etc. To the followers of such religions, there is no god in the world. These religions believe that human beings are capable of doing evil deeds all on their own without being influenced by external forces. The fact that human beings are not perfect is purely out of their own doing. In these religions and beliefs, those who are found guilty of doing evil deeds are liable for punishment and serious repercussions.

John Kekes is in support of those who do not believe in the existence of God and the devil. He argues, “Those who perpetrate evil deserve to be held responsible and indeed condemned”. Kekes sees that existence of evil in the world as that which proves that there are good ad bad people amongst humankind. Those who are guilty of committing evil deeds should be held accountable and are liable for punishment. He adds, “The existence of evil entails the existence of evil doers”. This means that evil cannot exist if there is no one to practice it. Therefore, because there is evil in the world, there must be those who put into practice evil and everything evil entails.

The evil doers are well aware of their actions. They know what they are doing and should stop blaming evil for their own actions. Most of them like to say that they were under the influence of evil when they were doing the ‘deed’. This notion is a misconception that human beings like to use to get themselves out of situations; situations that are of their own making. Kekes says that humanity is a weak species. This weakness makes us the only species that is associated with evil. We must ask ourselves why there are never any cases of animals doing evil deeds to each other and then blaming it on the influence of evil. This is because, human beings like to ‘snake’ their ways out of sticky situations, and especially when the situations are their faults.

There are those who are staunch believers in the existence of God. This includes most religions in the world today. According to these religions, God is the beginning and the end of their lives and everything in the world. Most religions also believe that everything in the world was created by God. The existence of these things created by God is only because He lets them. The creator and controller of all things, living and non-living, in the world is what these people refer to God. This attribute places Him higher than all human beings. Man considers himself inferior to God because he does not possess the power and supremacy that God possesses.

Those who believe in the existence of God are supported by Descartes when he was writing his mediations. He says, “The vital importance of the cause and the glory of God, to which the entire undertaking is directed here compel me to speak somewhat more freely about my own achievements than is my custom”. He declares his strong belief in God. Descartes also strongly believed in the attributes of God and his unmatched gallantry. Descartes, in all his mediations, indicated his belief in God.

There are those who say that he was speaking on behalf of all humanity. In this light, his mediations indicated that humanity is unable to live without committing evil therefore this makes humanity imperfect and God perfect. Because humanity was created by God and placed on earth, human beings have somehow bee able to go against the teachings and commands of God their creator and they are engaging in evil activities. This has become a custom in humans and they cannot do one good deed without doing another evil one.

Conclusion

            In summation, the existence of evil in the world is said to undermine the attributes of God. There are obvious comparisons between those who believe that God exists and those who do not. There are also differences in their beliefs. It is also argued that evil cannot exist if God exists and vice versa. Some insight into the issue of the existence of God and evil has been provided by a look at different religions and their beliefs in evil, and how these beliefs influence their everyday lives. All this, however helpful, does not shed adequate light into the problem of evil and the characteristics of God. For that reason, the view of the existence of God and evil will remain a subject of argument for generations to come.

Work cited

Descartes, René. The Philosophical Writings of Descartes, Volume II. Cambridge Cambridgeshire: Cambridge UP, 1984. Print.

Michael Tooley, “Leibniz on the Problem of Evil.” Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 2009. Web. 22 May 2012.

Michael Tooley, “The Problem of Evil.” Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 2009. Web. 22 May 2012.

Project MUSE. “Kekes on Religion and Evil.” The Good Society. 2005: 20-24. Print.

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