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Examples Of Mccloskey's Objection To Theism

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Recommended: Natural evil vs. moral evil

McCloskey’s main objection to theism is the presence of evil in the world and he raises it several times. The language of this claim seems to imply that it is an example of the logical form of the problem. To best answer why there is evil; both physical and natural can be done by saying there is a God. He has given us freewill. Humans have the ability to stop there from being evil but choose not to. Next arises the question if there is free will, why is there natural evil? The most suitable solution to this question is as consequences of humans moral evil there is natural evil and suffering. Without freewill we would not be morally responsible or capable or loving or God. A robot made to love is not worth much compared to a living being who chooses to love! …show more content…

We would not be doing what is right “freely.” If this “righteous free will” were true then the point of laws, rewards and so forth would be pointless. There has to be an opposite for them to choose between. It possible that there cannot be a world containing moral good but no moral evil. Rather than looking at God and evil as incompatible the two should be seen as

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On the teleological argument, McCloskey’s claim that “to get the proof going, genuine indisputable examples of design and purpose are needed” is not reasonable. Why does one side of the equation need examples and the other does not, is not a fair assessment of a problem. There should always be examples to prove that each side is disputable or undisputable for the premise. A person can assume that a statement is true but that does not make the argument true and in all fairness why would that argument be considered true without some type of proof. The teleological argument is to show probability of theism, exhibit purpose of order, design and infer that the cause must be an intelligent

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Evaluation of Keith Ward's reply "The Evil God Challenge — A Response" (2015) When examining the monotheistic belief, the foundational aspect of it is the description of an omniscient, omnipotent, and "good" God. Throughout Stephen Law’s paper, “The Evil God Challenge”, this supreme being is hypothesized to be all-powerful, all-knowing, and benevolent, a theory he refers to as the "good-god hypothesis". Regarding God’s morality, Law also poses an alternate view, stating that, assuming the existence of God, it is just as reasonable to believe that God is malevolent, despite this view being dismissed by the majority of theists. Keith Ward argues, in his response, that the monotheistic God can only be benevolent.

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1530 Words | 7 Pages

“It is probably the same in the universe. God created things which had free will… if a thing is free to be good it is also free to be bad. And free will is what has made evil possible. Why then did God give them free will?” I agree with this concept, if something is a free to be a good it is also free to be bad.

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This seems to be a bit hypocritical of his point of view considering he continuously argues against Christians not having any solid proof that God exist. However, there is no definitive evidence that the big bang theory or even the evolution of humans exists but McCloskey (1986) believes they did. McCloskey (1986) also claims that the presence of the imperfections and evil in the world argues against “the perfection of the divine design or divine purpose of the world”. With knowing that the teleological argument is not a hundred percent conclusive about God, it makes it a difficult subject to approach McCloskey about. However, God made the world and humans in hopes to follow and love Him.

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933 Words | 4 Pages

At the beginning of the article, Mackie states that the initial issue with God’s existence is that, “God is omnipotent; God is wholly good; and yet evil exists” (Mackie, Paragraph 3). If god is such a pure and good being, then he should be able to combat all evil. The first statement that showcases that God is omnipotent, God is wholly good, then evil cannot possibly exist. The definition of omnipotent is

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212 Words | 1 Pages

In life, we have to make many choices. There is a constant struggle when it comes too good and evil. One cannot exist without the other. The choices we make however, determine the extent of our happiness. The obvious thing to say about evil is that it is the opposite of good.

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This is so because it becomes difficult to know whether moral goodness is independent of the will of God or if it is as a result of His will. The Euthyphro dilemma offers two intensely differing sides. On one side of the argument, theorists are of the opinion that morality is whatever God wills. This position then brings into question the goodness of God’s will if His command vindicates what is wrong. Arguing that goodness is the determined by God shows that what is rights is so because God wills it to be right.

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JL Mackie was persuasive in his argument by showing that belief in an almighty God is not rational. He proves this by posing the problem of evil. According to JL Mackie, if God exists and is omniscient, omnipotent, and good then evil would not exist. However, evil exists in this world, sometimes in the form of undeserved suffering (diseases that affect humans, earthquakes, famines ...) and others perpetrated by man (murders, wars ...). If God exists and has the capability to be powerful, good, omniscient and omnipotent, why would he let evil be perpetrated?

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Good Vs. Evil or Good and Evil Would it be ideal if every choice someone made was considered to be good? Imagine a world without rules. A society without a moral compass. What would it be like?

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that men always freely choose what is right?” (McCloskey, 1968). Atheist side with McCloskey’s view that the individuals who put value in the choices of man controversy point to people making poor utilization of their free will. As indicated by Evans and Manis, the subsequent malevolence is because of mans mischief, not of Gods. The fact of the matter is, no one person knows for certain why a cherishing, decent, supreme God would permit malevolence and misery to exist.

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This paper will discuss the problem of evil. In the first part, I will discuss Walter Sinnott-Armstrong’s atheist stance and William Lane Craig’s theist stance on the problem of evil. In the final part of this paper, I will argue that Walter Sinnott-Armstrong’s argument is stronger. The Problem of Evil

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There are two main ways in which natural evil operates to give humans those choices. First of all, natural evil provides chance for humans to learn how to bring the evil. For example, I can choose to ignore my sick friends instead of showing compassion towards the sufferer. If I get sick, I can either choose to spread it to others or subdue to disease and prevent it from spreading. Humans have the free will to choose to be good or evil.

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On the other hand, theists like Swinburne, believe that evil is necessary for important reasons such as that it helps us grow and improve. In this paper I will argue that the theist is right, because the good of the evil in this specific case on problems beyond one’s control, outweighs the bad that comes from it. I will begin by stating the objection the anti-theodicist gives for why it is wrong that there is a problem of evil. (<--fix) Regarding passive evil not caused by human action, the anti-theodicist claims that there is an issue with a creator, God, allowing a world to exist where evil things happen, which are not caused by human beings (180-181).

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On the contrary, during the European Renaissance the Church of England alone was a force to be reckoned with and still had a massive say on legal proceedings. Even though the Churches influence in politics was weakening the popularity of religion was growing, and so it’s evident that christianity remained a vital and essential element of European Renaissance culture. One explanation for this growth is that the Renaissance placed emphasis on knowledge and travel, and so Europeans were experiencing a lot of other new territories, cultures, peoples and religions as they ventured to new places. Europeans also began experiencing an increase in immigration as technological advancements enabled global mobility for the first time. This led an increase

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A lot of arguments have been known to prove or disprove the existence of God, and the Problem of Evil is one of them. The Problem of Evil argues that it is impossible to have God and evil existing in the same world. Due to ideal characteristics of God, evil should not have a chance to exist and make human suffer. In this essay, I will examine the argument for the Problem of Evil, a possible theodicy against the argument, and reply to the theodicy. First of all, to be clear, the Problem of Evil is an argument that shows that God cannot be either all- powerful, all-knowing, and/or all good.

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