Once again I return to the
Theodicy by
Leibnitz,
to address the
problem of evil and
free will.
First off, lets rephrase the argument to use the more common
terms from philosophy:
- God is omnipotent
- God is omnibenevolent
- God could and would eliminate evil
- Evil is here
- Therefore God does not exist
#5 means there is no being that is omnipotent and omnibenvolent.
I have previously addressed this in
Omnibenevolence and Omnipotence
showing that Omnibenevolence and Omnipotence are not contradictory.
The problem of evil is at the core of this argument and centers around
#3 as mentioned above.
Does omnibenevolence mean that there should be no evil? Is evil
part of a larger plan for the universe?
To overthrow this objection, therefore, it is sufficient to
show that a world with evil might be better than a world without evil
Without
day, there is no
night. Without a wrong way there is no
right way. Without
evil, there is no
good.
Without
sin, there can be no
salvation. If it is the case that
salvation is more
good than
evil is
bad, then it is necessary to have
a world with
evil in it. There can be no choices made on a
road with no forks.