Whence cometh evil?
“Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able?
Then he is not omnipotent.
Is he able, but not willing?
Then he is malevolent.
Is he both able and willing?
Then whence cometh evil?
Is he neither able nor willing?
Then why call him God?”
Epicurus – Greek philosopher, BC 341-270
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the best quote ever!!!
Not from Epicurus.
This quotation is interesting because it points out the fact that in order for God to be worth worshipping, He must be both omnipotent and Good. While this argument is clever, it is fallacious.
1. God must be omnipotent.
2. God must be Good.
3. If there is evil, God is can’t be both.
4. Therefore if there is a God, He isn’t worth worshipping.
The fallacy lies in part 3 where the philosopher assumes that evil is something physical that, like all things physical, must have been created. If I asked the question: “What is darkness?” the only logical answer would be the lack of light. If I asked: “What is silence?” you would have to say the lack of sound. There is no way to measure darkness or silence but through the lack of their opposite, which does exist. I suggest a new (new to the modern non-thinker) argument formulated by St. Augustine which he derived from Socratic and Platonic philosophy.
1. God is all Good.
2. God created everything.
3. Everything is good (or at least aims to some good).
The problem with evil is that it is the good, perverted. Sex, drugs, and alcohol are good in the end they bring. There is nothing inherently wrong with pleasure. However, the means of obtaining that end are not aimed toward God. By aiming your actions away from God and toward yourself, the side-effect is what we call evil.
Jason,
Your argument only regresses the issue. It does not invalidate the argument.
Even if “evil” is not a thing…it still exists and persists. Even if god did not directly create it, if he is still omnibenevolent and omnipotent and omniscient he is still sovereign and has the final authority in letting evil exist in the first place (no matter its nature or cause – sin, freewill, rebellion, etc) and allowing it to persist for so long.
Therefore your argument is meaningless in reconcilling this synogism. It would have been more appropriate for the argument: 1) God created all things; 2) evil is a thing; 3) therefore, God created evil…not this one.
in other word, god is our landlord and has been allowing or causing us to live in darkness and the cold for too long…
You guys r dumb, you cant have good without evil, there would be no point. Where would the free will in that be. If god only made us to be good, and we could only think good, then we would be slaves and everyone would be happy. But we are not slaves, we can fuck up and do what we want, so there is evil.
Came across this googling. I love this quote, and it makes a brilliant point. And dado2, you prove that point. Why would god give us free will if he knew we would suffer? For that matter, why would he create us at all?