Theological Problem of Evil

Exploration of Evil 

In reference to Keith Augustine (2016), the problem of evil theologically arises from the ideas that evils exists, and the fact that there is a supernatural being referred to as the Almighty God who is all perfect, a debate that has been in existence since history and has been influenced by the experiences that people have faced. 

With a lot of agitation and judgmental talks, Ishmael was ever upset by the things that happened around him especially the mistakes that people did which he considered ungodly, he depicted them as intentional. He expected people to know exactly what they were supposed to do in life and how to relate with others. He would fearlessly denounce most of the practices that most of his peers got involved in, as he believed that man had to be upright in all ways. Dora, on the other hand, appreciated the fact that Ishmael had the courage to denounce the mistakes of others but never appreciated the fact that he would openly let other people know what someone else did. Something she disliked for she felt it was inappropriate and un-brotherly since it was more convenient and upright to politely let know their mistakes as you lead them to the right path. Unlike the two, Zhao never believed in any existence of evil or God (Augustine, 2016). He was carefree and believed that as a human being you were entitled to express yourself as the emotions led you. The inner self he remarked is what makes us human and puts as in a position to be able to relate to each other. Ishmael asserted that human beings were holy creatures and by all means had to shun evil. In response, Dora said, “you are right Ishmael, but you must understand that man is not perfect as God is, and hence evil is inevitable.’ In confusion, Zhao looks at the two and remarks that the only evil he knows is the fact that the so-called God allows bad things to happen to his own creation. ‘How ironic, if you built a house, you’ll be considered mad if one day you woke up and started throwing stones at your glass windows while your family is inside. That is exactly what God if there is any is doing. How can he allow, war, sickness and many other wrong things to happen to the innocent.’ 

‘ It is because most of them deserve it.’ Ishmael remarked. ‘You see, God says that the wages of sin is death, and so the repercussion and the incidences of evil in the world is a contribution of God’s anger towards the evil deeds of man.’ 

‘ I disagree with you Ishmael,’ said Dora. ‘We are created as creatures of free will and therefore everyone is in a position to choose whatever they want, to follow the light or the darkness. In that case, the evil done in the world is out of choice. The unfortunate incidences that take place in people’s lives are meant to build them and not harm them in any way and it is not God’s anger towards his people.’ 

‘ You seem to miss out the point,’ said Zhao, ‘what evil do children do to deserve painful death either because of drought, floods, war or sickness like cancer?’ ‘What evil have these children done to deserve this?’ 

‘ Their parent’s evil, of course, God says that the sins of the forefathers shall run down to the fourth generation and therefore, even the children bear the sins of their parent, right Dora?’ 

‘ Well, it is also true that God is merciful and is in a position to forgive the sins committed by man no matter how big they were.’ Stated Dora. 

‘ What sins are you two referring to?’ Zhao asked. ‘I would want to believe that that God of yours does not know what he or she wants, because if he hates evil, he would not be in the frontline to commit evil and get involved in evil things. Who has power over natural calamities? Is it man?’ 

‘ Only God knows how the universe operates, unlike other creatures, man was given the most intellectual ability to resonate with God and therefore is referred to small creator.’ ‘Man has contributed to the harsh outcomes of the environment, due to greed and ignorance. For instance, the desire to own vast land has led him to destroy natural sceneries like the forests, denying wild animals a place to live for his selfish reasons which have contributed to the lack of rain formation leading to drought which later adversely affects him and other fellows that never took part in forest destruction (Augustine, 2016). Drought means lack of food because of dying vegetation and animals that later in most cases lead to death in humans due to hunger.’ Stated Dora. ‘Furthermore, man interference with nature has led to global warming which contributes to the rising of waters that end up killing people by ocean tides like the hurricanes.’ ‘So yes, man has played a part in some of the evil that has befallen innocent humans including children but it is not true that God, ruthlessly kills his own creation due to anger over their evil actions. ‘ 

Dora’s last remarks leave the two in silence but Zhao, kept on believing that there was no God, and that man was led by the inner intuition. 

Explanation of the Ideas 

Ishmael’s arguments were based on the fact that man, was the major reason for the evil that exists in the world and that some of them are out of God’s anger to destroy they that disobey Him. He settles on the fact that man chooses to do evil out of the will and he deserves any harsh repercussion since according to him humans are created to be holy creatures just like God. The man was created in the image of God and hence his characters, thoughts and abilities should be a reflection of who God is. On the other hand, Ishmael insists that sin or evil deeds never go unpunished no matter how many years it might take. Even the children of the evil doers might end up paying for their parent’s evil deeds (Augustine, 2016). His argument is based on the belief that, evil is punishable and that any wrong deserved to be corrected in a much harsh manner so that it may not be repeated. As much as Ishmael claimed he hated evil and evil men, he never realized that he was a man too and that he would fall into sin and would have ended up facing the same judgment he posed on evil doers. 

Dora, on the other hand, agrees with Ishmael to some extent. She brings out the idea of a man having been given the free will to choose whatever they felt was right to them. This was only applicable in incidences that the man was informed and was aware of the outcomes of either side that they would end up choosing. In addition, man was created by a God who offered second chances and whose intentions were not to destroy his own creation. In so doing, the notion that Ishmael had on God’s anger and destruction towards man’s evil actions was not fully accepted by Dora (Augustine, 2016).. She believes that man is not a perfect being hence can fall short of the right ways at times. She supports her arguments by claiming that only God is the perfect being who could not be compared to a man in any way especially on the idea of what to choose. Furthermore, her disagreement on Ishmael’s perspectives is based on her belief that only God is the core judge on man’s actions hence Ishmael had no power to judge anyone over anything for he too is just a mere human being. 

Contrary to the beliefs of Ishmael and Dora, Zhao disagrees on the fact that there existed a supernatural being that had power over the rest of the world especially over man. His arguments are based on the fact that there are so many evil things happening on earth all under the watch of the supernatural being who on the other and should protect his creation instead. He claims that the fact that the so-called God allows bad things to happen to the innocent is evil. Zhao believes that man is led by an inner intuition that is controlled by his emotion. Evil according to him is the allowance of harsh things to happen in the lives of many people who in most cases do not deserve by the god that many believe in. 

Contradiction of the Arguments 

If the fact that God exists and he has given man a free will to choose which way to go, I suppose his powers have the ability to direct man to whatever is right in the eyes of God. This on the other should be able to hinder man from doing evil. On the other hand, if man is God’s image and God is portrayed to be holy, why are their inconsistencies on what really is expected on earth and what really is viewed as evil. If there is no God, then how exactly did the universe come to exist? 

Resolution of Counterarguments 

The existence of God is what has made a man be who he is. The intellectual ability of man has caused both good and harm to his environment hence he is partly to blame for the evil taking place on earth. On the other hand, the incidences that that man refers to as evil are natural incidences that existed since history hence cannot be based to target innocent humans. While God has offered people a free will to choose whatever they want, he also corrects them by punishing them over evil that they were aware of. However, as Dora puts it, God is graceful hence is able to correct his creation – man without punishing them but allowing them to learn from the mistakes done. Evil ill exist for as long as man will exist. 

References 

Augustine, K. (2016). Evidential Arguments from Evil . Retrieved Nov 29, 2016, from Internet Infidels: http://infidels.org/library/modern/nontheism/atheism/evil.html