The Evil God Challenge.


For centuries, many Western theologians and philosophers have answered the ‘problem of evil’ – how a benevolent god could allow for pain and suffering – with the argument that, in order for humans to perform good deeds, they must be free to choose between good and evil. In this animation from the Centre for Inquiry UK, the British philosopher Stephen Law considers the inverse scenario: if there were a fully evil, omnipotent god, could we possibly imagine he would allow for good deeds to be performed in the name of freedom to choose evil?

Via Aeon.

Comments

  1. says

    Well, if the god in question is the one from any of the major monotheistic religions, then yes, it’s evil. All one has to do is read the religious texts and it’s clear as day how evil it is.

  2. says

    Yes. That’s a point I try to make on a regular basis, by expanding on biblical stories and such; so many theists never read the bible for content, or without serious filters on.

  3. AlexanderZ says

    Caine #2

    so many theists never read the bible for content

    Exactly! It’s even admitted in Isaiah 45:7:
    “I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.” (KJB version, and the closest translation to the source)
    The biblical god admits to being evil and acts evil. Why the faithful can’t take his own word for it?

  4. says

    People resort to one of two things: it’s allegory or metaphor, not literal; or but you can’t have one without the other because free will and …satan!

    The sheer amount of mental twisting done by xians is near overwhelming.

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