Many here have asked the question, " If God is both all-good and all-powerful, how can he permit the great evil which exists in the world? "
This short essay by Dallas Willard takes on the question. Here are a few snippets. Follow the link for the whole thing. And then definitely discuss!
www.dwillard.org/articles/artview.asp?artID=30
[This message has been edited by Modano (edited 7/13/2006 9:41a).]
This short essay by Dallas Willard takes on the question. Here are a few snippets. Follow the link for the whole thing. And then definitely discuss!
quote:
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In resolving this dilemma, the first step is to affirm that a universe which permits the development of moral character--one which makes it possible for persons to become the immeasurably precious and even glorious beings that they sometimes do--is of greater value than any world which does not. A world containing only minerals, or minerals and plants, for example, would be of much less worth or intrinsic value than one which also contained human beings as we know them. If personality is not to be regarded as having a very great value, it would clearly be wrong of God to permit the actual suffering and wrong-doing that occurs in order to procure it.
But the moral development of personality is possible only in a world of genuine freedom. To nurture moral perfection, horrendous moral crimes must be permitted by God--though he himself never approves of them, actualizes them or requires them. Nurturing moral perfection (within a suitable world) and not allowing wrong doing is impossible. If a child is never permitted to do wrong, it will never become capable of developing a nature or character that resolutely chooses the good. Good persons must live in a world where doing evil is a genuine choice for them.
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If the janitor does not sweep the room after a lecture, his supervisor can rightly point that out to him, and require that he do it. But the supervisor cannot require that he both sweep the room and not sweep the room. Sweeping the room and not sweeping the room is not something that can be done or left undone. It is nothing at all. The fact that the janitor "cannot do it" does not mean that the janitor is limited in some way, as he would be if he had no arms and could not hold the vacuum or broom.
To hold God to be limited because he does not nurture moral character while simultaneously preventing choice is like regarding the janitor as limited because he does not both sweep and not sweep the room. Producing people with character without giving them choice is impossible because the capacity to choose is a part of character.
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Because I make my living as a university professor and philosopher I am frequently asked, in so many words, "Why do you follow Jesus Christ?" My answer is always the same: "Who else did you have in mind?" I am open, I am willing, and I always seek to know more. But so far I have found no one who remotely compares to Jesus Christ as a practical guide to how things are and should be in human life.
www.dwillard.org/articles/artview.asp?artID=30
[This message has been edited by Modano (edited 7/13/2006 9:41a).]
You don't want to discuss things for which you have no reflexive answer??