Reading Time: 4 minutes No, I will be not talking about the dubious circumstances involving Mary’s pregnancy while Joseph was out carpenting, though I could. Instead, let’s talk about skeptical theism as a mechanism for excusing all of the suffering in the world. Skeptical theism is the “God moves in mysterious ways” gambit that believers provide in the absence […]
Problem of Evil
Posted inReligion
Phenomenal conservatism: It seems like suffering is gratuitous
Reading Time: 5 minutes Skeptical theism is defeated by phenomenal conservatism. Big words, phrases, terminology, jargon. But also, big ideas. If you’re not familiar, skeptical theism is the philosophical term for “God moves in mysterious ways.” When confronted with the problem of evil (why does so much suffering exist given “OmniGod” is all-knowing, -powerful, and -loving?), the theist often […]
Posted inReligion
Concrete thorns for skeptical theism: Why does suffering still exist?
Reading Time: 6 minutes The problem of evil is the thorniest of challenges for the theist: It is the issue of why suffering or evil exists in the world of OmniGod, where God is supposedly all-knowing, all-powerful, and all-loving. God knows what to do about this suffering, is powerful enough to do it, and loving enough to care to […]
Posted inReligion
Theodicies: Intellectual arguments don’t eliminate toothaches
Reading Time: 5 minutes The problem of evil is the biggest thorn in the side of theism and religious belief, being an often emotive argument as to why there is so much suffering in the world if God was all-knowing, all-powerful, and all-loving. With those OmniGod characteristics, God would know enough to know what to do about suffering, powerful […]
Posted inReligion
New research says: Most Americans love God but ignore his impotence
Reading Time: 4 minutes (Writer’s note: If you’d like to receive emailed links to each of my columns when posted, please sign up here.) A recent Pew Research Center survey on U.S. attitudes toward the so-called “problem of evil” (and implied divine impotence) brightly underscores how the perpetuating power of religious indoctrination continues into the 21st century to corrupt […]
Posted inReligion
The prima facie problems with prayer
Reading Time: 3 minutes There are obvious—prima facie—problems with prayer. Prime problems that hit you in the face like a divinely unstopped tsunami. But what is really evocative of the bind that religious believers find themselves in is the idea that they are praying in the first place. Okay, let’s back it up a little. No, a little bit […]
Posted inReligion
5 ways to clarify the Problem of Evil
Reading Time: 6 minutes Now it’s my turn: here are 5 Problem of Evil topics that Christians rarely explore. Christians don’t have much of a response.
Posted inMeaning & Purpose
Problem of Evil: the Soul-Making defense
Reading Time: 4 minutes A secular worldview sees life’s silver lining, and sometimes good comes from hardship. Maybe God needs this excuse as well.
Posted inMeaning & Purpose
Problem of Evil: the Free Will defense
Reading Time: 5 minutes Why the Problem of Evil, where bad things happen to good people? Maybe the bad is a consequence of free will, but free will is mandatory.
Posted inPhilosophy
The problem of evil: What would Ockham do?
Reading Time: 4 minutes A Christian wrote a long, thorough response to the Problem of Evil, but that length is a weakness. A shorter, simpler explanation is much more plausible.