Augustine’s soul deciding theodicy was the demonstration that God is not responsible for the existence of evil. A theodicy is a Greek term which means to justify God and that is what Augustine tried to do. Augustine stated that there is no such thing or substance as Evil but the idea of evil stems from the absence of goodness and our human free will which is central to being truly good. God created all things ex nihilo, from nothing, so it is impossible for evil to exist as a substance. Augustine said that “Evil stemmed from the free fallible choices of beings…in the pre-history of time,” referring to the free will of Adam and Eve and the Fallen Angels.
He also has some strong opinion on the solutions that the theists have on the resolution to the problem of evil. He states that "If we use the cosmological argument at all, all we are entitled to infer is the existence of a cause commensurate with the effect to be explained, the universe, and this does not entitle us to postulate an all powerful, all perfect, uncaused cause." He also states that theists come up with what he believes is "unintelligent" instances of how we find reasons to believe in God and how he can exist in a world that has evil involved in people's lives. These instances of how evil can exist while GOd can to at the same time include, being punishment for people's wrongs or the consequence of having free will. But here I would like to put in my own opinion much like McCloskey has throughout his article.
Therefore no square circles and no married bachelors. God is Omniscient being all-knowing, knowing everything, including the future. An omniscient God knows all about evil, when and in which circumstances it would happen and how to keep it from happening. An omnibenevdent God would want to prevent evil if he could. An omnipotent God would be able to prevent evil if he wanted to.
He further explains that the evil deeds that we perform are of our own accord, and that we are punished by God’s justice because they are done out of our own free will. This argument leads perfectly into the question of free will because, like Aug, I agree that we are not taught evil. Aug explains to Ev that it is impossible to learn evil deeds. It is impossible to learn something evil because our intelligence is inherently good. Since our intelligence is inherently good it is not possible to take away from something that is good, something that is evil.
(Job 4:17). Here Eliphaz stresses the idea that humans can’t be just. God is too superior, so that in comparison humans are not capable of being just and cannot be pure. Eliphaz also says to Job that “as I have seen, those who plow iniquity and sow trouble reap the same” (Job 4:8) This simply states the theology of the friends that good comes from good and bad from bad. Bildad words to Job are in same vein “ God will not reject a blameless person, nor take the hand of the evil doer” (Job 8:20) and Zophar agrees that God punishes the wicked and rewards the righteous (Job 11; Job 20).
Reconciling the existence of Evil, in a world that was created by God The question of how can evil exist if an all powerful, all knowing, and morally perfect being, God, exists. He should know of the evil, and since he’s morally perfect and all powerful be able to stop it. Many moral philosophers have attempted to answer this question throughout our history. Some have used it to prove that God doesn’t exist, others to show the nature of evil. Plato discussed the question of God being good.
People who go to college now pay to go there and if they fail a class they just wasted a lot of money. If the government paid for everyone’s education then no one would think they would have to work hard and they would think they would have to work hard and they would end up failing once they moved in to there career. The only people that deserve to go to college for free are people that earn a scholarship or those who apply for financial aide. These programs are there for the people that have the desire to go to college. Most people that think a higher education should be free are not very wealth but there are programs like financial aide to help them if they have the desire to get a higher education.
McCloskey is reminding atheists the ways theists argue for their belief in God. He is reminding atheists the reasons they believe that there is no God. He feels atheism is superior to theism; however; I find that his opinions only strengthen my belief that there is a God. Proof, as he states, carries no weight for a theist. He is half correct in his statement as a theist does not believe in the proofs individually, but finds enough evidence in them to form the belief that God does exist; He is the creator of the universe, and He is morally perfect.
The most important conclusion Shakespeare has drawn about the nature of humanity in King Lear is the fact that evil is not something the gods have cursed you with at birth but it is something that you choose for yourselfACt . The contrast he uses shows us that Edmoud had everything he needed to be good, he had the look and he had the attitude , but ultimately he chose to wrong path, he was blinded by power and his need to be treated as an equal. Later in that scene [165] after his brother is wounded Edgar affirms his belief that the gods play no hand in the evilness of the world through his dialogue “The gods are just, and of our pleasant vices make instruments to plague us” he states that the gods are fair and only punish us with our own wrong doings, even Edmoud agrees with him. Edmonds good side does make an appearance, towards the end of act 5 scene 3, “ Despite of mine own nature. Quickly send – be brief in it – to th’castle; for my wit is on the life of Lear and Cordelia” , in this remorseful dialogue Edmond`
He believed that life is meaningless and that we have no souls, so we should therefore grasp everything that the world has to offer whilst we can as there is no chance of an afterlife in his perspective. Neitzche also said that everyone should strive to seek pleasure and success wherever it could be found, he also thought religious beliefs to be false. But what did Neitzche mean by God is ‘dead’? He felt that religious outlook is no longer credible for the modern intellectual person. He meant that humans had advanced their understanding of the natural world enough to realize that the literal teachings of the religions that espoused God were not true.