Believers practicing loving God with all their mind would be a witness to this world and even a way of reaching out in compassion and gentleness we have left behind by burying our arguments in our Bibles and not engaging the questions raised by the lost. Understanding where Evangelicals have fallen intellectually will help foster obedience to Christ’s command to love God with all of our mind. The major arguments held by critics Richard Hofstadter, George M. Marsden, and Alister McGrath, declare modern Evangelicalism anti-intellectual. Some of the main reasons for this are the average Evangelicals fear of defending their faith, the separation of the spiritual and secular, and the slothfulness Evangelicals have to
God eventually talks to Job making it clear that his actions need no explanation. The book of Job brings up the ever-present question of why bad things happen to good people and answers that question by saying God is above justice. When Job’s friends — Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar — hear of his calamity, they come to visit him and begin to argue their “theology” to him. Their theology is that a man’s suffering is always the result of his personal sin. Further, the more one has sinned, the greater one will suffer.
It typically fashions itself in a question such as this. How can a good God allow so much evil to take place if He loves us? This is often asked by but not limited to someone who has been hurt while serving God faithfully or by someone who has no significant knowledge of who God truly is. The problem of evil also presents itself as more of a statement rather than a question as well. If God is all powerful and in complete control why does he allow such evil things to take place?
The interplay of faith and reason in the trial of Job is similar to that of Abraham (and the story of his son), as they are both put to trial in order to test their faithfulness to God. Even though this ‘test’ is beyond logical understanding, reason becomes overridden by their steadfast belief in God, meaning, although God presented challenges that seemed unreasonable to his believers, Abraham and Job both kept faith in Him, even if it meant losing their loved ones and properties, all for the sake of keeping God alive in their life. In detail, Job is a well-respected, god-fearing man who is very devout to his faith. There came a time when Satan approached God so that he may put Job to the test and prove to Him that his faithful servant was only loyal because of his abundance in material wealth. What seems incomprehensible to reason is why God, an almighty and good being, would let Satan freely oppress Job, an innocent man.
So one can ask, “How exactly can one define sin? Is it actually defined by obeying God’s laws? But then, what are these laws and how exactly are they defined?” One question leads to the next and the questions never end. This is the state of mind John Milton was probably in. He was mystified by the clash between realities of society and destiny of God.
This is the question absolutes ask before making any decisions. Although many think this theory Has its weaknesses. Many people think that did God write this theory because it is good merely or is it that the thought it would be good to him. Some also say that why should we follow everything God says, that if he said killing people was good, will that mean it was actually good. Also Absolute Laws are always interpreted the wrong way.
God faring people accept the teachings of God and the best way to live. Euthyphro dilemma was “Is conduct right because the gods command it, or do the gods command it because it is right” (Rachel’s and 50-53)? The problem with this dilemma is that God is always right and what isn’t right is wrong according to God. Which makes Euthyphro confused because he isn’t sure anymore what is right and what is wrong. The concept of morality is mysterious is saying that just because god says its right to slap a child doesn’t really make it right.
In Romans 13: 4-5 it says, “For he is God’s servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God’s servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities not only because of possible punishment but also because of conscience.” We will first look at the purpose of the civil law. God put rulers over us for a reason.
In the world today, there is appalling devastation, pain and suffering endured by millions of innocent people. Most view them as unfair trials; they ask, ‘If there is a God, why does He allow it?’ Although pain and suffering are viewed as unnecessary and unfair trials executed by God on sometimes innocent people, they’re a necessary way in becoming more Christ-like because it is a way for sin to be explicated and for God to be revealed to the lost. From the biblical point of view, there is no intrinsic value in this suffering. Akin to the evil in the world, suffering is a perversion of what should be, which was caused by the disruption of the relationship between mankind and its Creator; it has no value in and of itself. That’s not to say that there can’t be any value whatsoever in pain and suffering.
Plato’s Euthyphro dilemma shows that the Divine Command Theory has several problems. If something is good simply because God commands it, then God arbitrary – He could have given different commands just as easily. According to Leibniz, this would be destroying all of God’s love and glory – “for why praise him for what he has done if he would be equally praiseworthy in doing exactly the contrary?” On the other hand, if God commands something because it is good, then that would mean good is independent of God. Therefore, we should not follow a God who is arbitrary, but rather, think about it separately. James Rachels states that we should be autonomous, and think about what is right and wrong for ourselves.