Theodice problem stated by David Hume:

"If the evil in the world is intended by God he is not good. If it violates his intentions he is not almighty. God can't be both almighty and good. There are many objections to this, but none that holds since God is ultimately responsible for the existence of evil. Besides, if only God can create he must have created evil. If somebody else (the devil) created evil, how can one know that God, and not Satan created the universe?"

If almighty had invented life then he/she had given birth to good and evil.With creation of good and evil god has given an oppurtunity to human souls to differentiate between the two.My faith on divinity wouldn't accuse him/her of the later invention.
With clear understanding of differences between good and evil rational human minds can take necessary steps to avoid evil and embrace good.
One appreciates light better with an in-depth understanding of darkness.Only when we know what evil can do will we arrive at goodness with certainty.

Hey Raascal:

Very profound...!!!

You are looking from one perspective only- There are plethora of ways to see this matter.

What you think???

HD

To the Theodicy Problem, I propose a Free-Will Defense. I know this will not be enough hence will post other defenses in my succesive posts if you can argue why the free-will defense will not hold against Hume's theodicy problem.

Yes, the Judeo-Christian God is all good, all powerful and yet there is evil. Evil in not a creation of God, nor there is such entity as 'evil' which challanges God's absolute existence or 'satta'. If evil exists, it exists in inferior state and cannot be comprehended as something that would eventually take over the absolute good that is God. Further, God as an entity did not create evil per se, it is a creation of human beings, for God granted humans free-will to choose and intelligence to distinguish the difference between good and bad. The choice is yours and mine and God has nothing to do with it!

"With clear understanding of differences between good and evil rational human minds can take necessary steps to avoid evil and embrace good.
One appreciates light better with an in-depth understanding of darkness.Only when we know what evil can do will we arrive at goodness with certainty."

Good thinking. So, the darkness is there so that we can understand the value of light. So, the night is there so that we can understand the value of day. So the sorrow is there so that we can understand the value of happiness. So the evil is there so that we can understand the value of God! God is smart. He knows how to maintain his status ;)

"God as an entity did not create evil per se, it is a creation of human beings." What if we say that God is a creationg of human beings?

"God granted humans free-will to choose and intelligence to distinguish the difference between good and bad." How can God grant us free-will if he does not have free will himself? Do you agree that God knows everything? Do you agree that God knows what he is going to do in the future? If he knows his future actions, then his actions are predestined. That means he does not have a free-will.

Ah, so you are serious about this stuff. But your argument about God being incapable of granting free-will assumes that some 'other' entity has pre-destined his actions and not Himself. Not quite, if you agree God to be all-knowing and all powerful, you have to accept that His destiny is a result of His all-knowing quality, at which point His destiny and free-will becomes redundant and simply play of words. If you want to move forward I suggest you view the theodicy problem with-in Judeo-Christian view that relates to Hume's refutation of Aquinas/Anslem's cosmological argument. Else we simply go around and around without any sense.

nice suggestion mystichacker...I think I should do that...

Once Stephen King said:

The beauty of religious mania is that it has the power to explain everything. Once God (or Satan) is accepted as the first cause of everything which happens in the mortal world, nothing is left to chance...logic can be happily tossed out the window.

God created Human or Human created God: it does not matter. We do not need complex and perplex philosophy just to prove/disapprove theism or atheism. What matters is just your "Dil" & "Dimag" which teach us the philosophy of Love & Kindness.

After all, at the end, kindness only matters..........!!!

Have a good weekend, Raascal- where is your alter-ego "Diablito" these days??? By the way quick question- is Satan an alter ego of Almighty??? Just curious....!!!

HD

HD, you scare me.... your writing echoes my opinion...
I am looking for something that will contradict my opinion.

diablito lai rest dieko.....bichara....one year maree maree trivia khelyo... "uskaa haath paau kunjiey" hahaha.....

Why do we have to believe in something that's profound? Why do we need to find a bigger reason for our existence?

To add to cryptonite's questions...
even if you do believe in something profound, how much of it should you allow to affect your daily life?

Question for Christians:

According to Genesis 1, the sun was created on the fourth day. How could there be day and night without the sun for the first three days?

Gotchya huh?

To answer Cryptonite and Dangerous Tranquilit-

Untill someone find some profound supplement to finish his/her "Theology" paper for semester. I guess, if I am not wrong.

I guess this thread has already digressed from its original intent to a point where people are questioning which came first, the chicken or the egg. If you stick within the context of original topic, it is not necessarily answering the Book of Genesis or the Book of Revelations. Nor is it about either Christian, Jewish, Muslim or Hindu idea of God, but the idea of God collectively (since all of them accept God to be all good, powerful and knowing) addressed by a Christian philosopher/theologian (Aquinas/Anslem) and refuted by a self-proclaimed atheist (Hume) who happened to represent a very chauvanistic, pale, arrogant society. As for the utility of 'grand' theory as some people put it, I personally think it has great ramifications in modern and contemporary times.
Law/ethics/moral codes are somehow deeply rooted in theology ar atleast draw its basis from theology or the idea of something bigger than ourselves. Even Buddhism which scoffs at the idea of God claims that there is a higher ideal to strive for, and such ideal can be attained by following a set of laws.