Running head: THEISM AND EVIL
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Theism and Evil
Gretchen Boyer
Liberty University
Running head: THEISM AND EVIL
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Theism and Evil
Theism is the trust and belief in one creator who is God, the ruler of the universe. Evil is
a form of sin or the nature that give rise to wickedness as asserted by Hasker (2008). This paper
is about the factors that Theism and Evil have in common and those that differentiate them. It
contains the factors that make them both right in their status. It as well tells about what either of
them outshines the other. Theism stands to be right as evil goes against some of its ideologies.
Running head: THEISM AND EVIL
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God prevention of evil actions and preservation of human freedom of will
The man has kept on asking about who he is and why he is on earth. The man has tried to
answer these questions, and he says that he is an accidental product of nature and that there are
no reasons for his existence since all he faces death. The man thought that when he gets rid of
God, he has freed himself from all that affected and repressed him. Instead, he found out that by
killing God, he had killed himself too. For if Gods presence fails to be there, man’s life becomes
miserable and absurd, leading to no freedom. (Craig, 2000).
With no God, both man and the universe are doomed to face death. Even though man
must die like all other biological organisms, he has no belief in immortality his life heads to
grave. Everyone knows that someday he or she will no longer exist and will be no more in the
universe. We all live with the inevitable, and our insight remains true on whether we will lose our
eternity. There is no ultimate value with no God and Immortality, and so it makes no difference
on how one has lived as if there is no immortality since all things permit with that. It shows that
it would be foolish to do anything much with life since it has no eternity; this is due to the
viability of ethics without Gods presence (Craig, 2000).
It is true that without God, there is no immortality, and so God can always disapprove
evil. It as well makes no difference on whether the earth ever existed or not because it is doomed
to die. Craig (2000) posits that human race is as well at risk since it is part of the dying universe,
and their end is all the same. Man, therefore, needs immortality and God if life is to be
meaningful since man and the universe would exist forever. This story tells of why man does not
just need immortality but God as well, “An astronaut two vials: one containing a portion that
would make him lives forever and the other had poisoned, he consumed the poison. Then
discovered that he had used the wrong vial, he had consumed portion for immortality. And that
Running head: THEISM AND EVIL
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meant he was to exist forever, life with no end”. So with no God life would go on and on with no
meaning. It is provable that in the presence of God, man can evade evil and fulfill their will.
God maintenance of a world without evil by having a continual divine intervention
Man lives happily because of his continuous belief and faith in God (Wimberley, 2003).
Man cannot have a consistent happiness with his atheism. In the world of Gods intervention, God
can direct lava harmlessly around valuable properties and homes when the volcano erupts. He
would unbelievably rescue a mountain climber who slipped on ice as added by Wimberley
(2003). God’s intervention from time to time helps to do away with the amount of evil in the
earth. He would intervene to prevent all moral evil since He answers to man’s prayers as asserted
by Wimberley (2003)
God’s continual intervention helps prevent more serious evils like natural calamities, and
He would have to save every person in difficulty. God has to help everyone regardless of
whatever problem one has, by these He cannot protect some from evil and allow others to suffer
or else we would have a strange world. If there is a limitation in God’s response, it will be of less
value since not all those faced with evil will get comfort instead, they will face additional evil
due to the presence of unfairness during the selection process. With this, the evil forces will still
exist, and these will affect the amount of evil in the world to a certain degree.
However, much regular intervention would do away with evil as well as a spark off
various effects to humanity as a man will be carefree, irresponsible, unconcerned, never care for
others, and never worried about doing things right. People would not care about their financial
collapse since God will always do something to rescue them. Nobody can insist that God has to
do whatever they want since He chooses to do so or not, and man will not complain if He does
not give what they require. Regular intervention would better the world and satisfactory solution
Running head: THEISM AND EVIL
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in the world (Wimberley, 2003). There will be no evil present from time to time, and the
existence of any evil proves it is logically impossible for a Perfect Being to exist.
Evil continues to exist since when we look at the universe, it consists of space. The
bodies moving on it are so few and so small if compared with space itself that in case one of
them crowded would have happy creatures in (Allan, 2015). It will be difficult to believe that
happiness and life are by-products to power that made the universe hence; there is no perfect
being in it. Earth existed for million years without life and will live for millions more when life
leaves. All forms of life on the earth live by preying upon one another and in the lower process it
entails death while in the upper form it entails pain and to some extent death, even though it is
sustainable. Man can foresee his pain and death while keenly desiring eternity (Wimberley,
2008). There is a history of recorded crime, war, and disease and with all these; any race that
comes or exists in the universe is doomed. These cannot be the work of omnipotent and
benevolent spirit and with this evidence; there is no spirit in the universe that does good or evil.
Among the Jews, people squeezed in great warlike empires, were continually defeated
and led into captive, all these would not have happened with the wisdom and goodness of the
Creator if there was one (Wimberley, 2003). To say that the universe looks as if it is the work of
a good, and wise creator is wrong, even religion like Christianity is not in favor of that since it
does not conclude the debate on the origin of the universe. It is in itself one of the awkward
ideas, which are into a system; it creates instead of solving the problem of pain we face. It is a
belief put in someone about something that does not exist.
The existence of Evil confirms that we do not need God to find meaning and purpose in life.
The existence of God is like an extra layer of complexity that is not necessary since if
God were good, His creatures would always be happy and able to do what He wants and wishes
Running head: THEISM AND EVIL
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(Lewis, 2001). God does not have to be there for man to live meaningful and purposeful life
since man still undergoes pain. The man has his freedom to choose by himself and has no control
by anyone; there is man’s environment in which he instills his nature. God’s judgments must
differ from ours in case He is wiser than we are, so what seems good to us is bad in His eyes and
what is evil to us is not to Him. An utterly unknown quality of God leads to knowing moral
grounds about Him. Man can gradually learn to accept their standards, as he grows throughout
his life. He can foresee his problems and achievements throughout the life. The man is capable of
being ethical and moral without God because man is not inherently evil.
Social ties do not guide man’s behavior, sympathy, and needs. Neither God nor Religion
is necessary because both do not restrain man’s fear of punishment and death. (Lewis, 2001).
Man’s ethical prostitution affects the greatest amount of happiness, and it does not work outside
human life, this is without God or religious considerations. The introduction of God adds nothing
to man’s moral life since these values come about by the moral motivations man undergoes.
Hence, any moral intervention by God adds nothing, or it adds the idea not required. A man goes
through all the suffering and pain, and still survives and foresees all the pain coming with no
God.
Conclusion
Theism is righteous and just as explained before with all these implied in man. It does not
show Christianity to be true or wrong, but either of which can apply. The existence of God is
provable. His non-existence is also provable. A Happy life is stressful including what enables it
to come about. Life faces various events including pain, futility and destruction. Meaningfulness
and happiness of life has an expression in both Theism and Evil.
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References
Allan, L. (2015). The Soul-Making Theodicy: A Response to Dore. URL=< http://www. Rational
Realm. com/philosophy/metaphysics/soul-making-theodicy-do re. html.
Craig, W. L. (2008). Reasonable Faith: Christian Truth and Apologetics, 3rd Ed., Wheaton, IL: Crossway
books, 2008, 71-90.
Hasker, W. (2008). The triumph of God over evil: Theodicy for a world of suffering. InterVarsity Press.
Lewis, C. S. "The Problem of Pain." The Complete C. S. Lewis Signature Classics. New York: Harper
San Francisco, 2007. 551-619. Print.
Morris, Thomas V. "Various Theodicies." Philosophy for Dummies. Foster City, CA: IDG Worldwide,
1999. 261-78. Print.
Wimberly, E. P. (2003). Claiming God: Reclaiming Dignity--African American Pastoral Care. Abingdon
press.
