A1 Definitions
B1 Good
C1 Something comfortable
C2 Something that eases pain
C3 A lack of disasters
C4 Something that relives sorrow and unrest. We might have to call this happiness and peace.
C5 Something that is pleasant
C6 Something that obeys God's laws
C7 Something that I like or approve of (this would be the real life daily application to ourselves)
B2 God
C1 Something or someone who is better or stronger than us.
C2 An imaginary being that has complete control
C3 Someone who is excellent in what they do as in looks, sports, music, etc.
C4 Something or someone who is admired by us as money, etc.
C5 Yahweh
D1 Attributes (a few. for more see here or here
E1 Eternal
E2 Faithfulness
E3 Foreknows
E4 Good
E5 Holy
D2 Some more attributes
E1 Omnipotent
E2 Omnipresent
E3 Omniscient
B3 Allow--give permission
B4 Evil
C1 Something uncomfortable
C2 Something painful
C3 A disaster as a powerful storm, fire, trauma
C4 Something that causes sorrow and unrest
C5 Something unpleasant
C6 Something that breaks God's laws
C7 Something that I don't like or approve of (this would be the real life daily application to ourselves)
B5 Exist--The state or fact of being objectively real. WordWeb definition for existence.
A2 Notes
B1 The formal statement
C1 The common version
D1 If an all-good, all-knowing, all-loving, all powerful God exists, then evil (suffering) does not exist.
D2 Evil exists.
D3 Therefore, an all-good, all-knowing, all-loving, all powerful God does not exist. (Reference)
C2 The detailed version (Reference)
D1 God exists.
D2 God is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnibenevolent.
D3 An omnibenevolent being would want to prevent all evils.
D4 An omniscient being knows every way in which evils can come into existence, and knows every way in which those evils could be prevented.
D5 An omnipotent being has the power to prevent that evil from coming into existence.
D6 A being who knows every way in which an evil can come into existence, who is able to prevent that evil from coming into existence, and who wants to do so, would prevent the existence of that evil.
D7 If there exists an omnipotent, omniscient, and omnibenevolent God, then no evil exists.
D8 Evil exists (logical contradiction).
B2 Adam in his sinlessness states might have thought it evil to not be allowed to eat the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.
B3 But in our normal usage of the word we would understand that God pronounced a curse upon creation, because Adam disobeyed God.
B4 This curse resulted in
C1 Death
C2 Pain
C3 Guilt
C4 Fear
C5 Lying
C6 Blaming
C7 Hate
C8 Sorrow
C9 Marital troubles
B5 Who and what suffers?
C1 Everything in the universe
C2 All humans including Messiah Himself, Jesus, who suffered under Pontius Pilate and was nailed to a cross.
B6 Even knowing all this, the question still remains why would God allow such suffering if He was good and loving?
C1 Free will
D1 Negative
E1 Evolutionist, naturalists, and others do not believe in free will. They essentially believe that we are a bag of chemicals with sensors to the environment. We respond to stimuli from the environment differently, uniquely, which makes us different.
E2 The Calvinist believes much the same way. God is such a sovereign that He allows no free will (that is, an alternate choice or even to resist). He decrees all things and all things come to pass. There is no alternative. There is no resistance (unless God decreed resistance). Calvinist view. Arminian view. Calvinist view of compatibilism.
D2 Positive
E1 Typically a person believes in real free will, that is, one can make a true choice, can resist, and can change their mind.
E2 The Bible teaches a true free will that can make contrary choices and can resist. This free will is limited, not complete. There are many things we want but cannot. Explained better here and here.
C2 Love
D1 Defined
E1 General
F1 tender and passionate affection for another person--Wordsymth
F2 a profoundly tender, passionate affection for another person.--Dictionary dot com
E2 Bible
F1 Hebrew
G1 אהב / אהב 'âhab / 'âhêb This is love for people as family and sexual. It is also love for objects as food etc. Song of Solomon 1:7 and Genesis 27:9 as examples. H157
G2 חשׁק châshaq This is love as in desire. Deuteronomy 7:7, Psalm 91:14, and 1 Kings 9:19 as examples. H2836
F2 Greek
G1 ἀγαπάω agapaō This is the highest love, the love of choice. John 3:16 and Ephesians 5:25 as examples. G25
G2 φιλέω phileō This is the love of friend for friend. Matthew 6:5 (love standing where all can see them praying) and John 21:17 G5368
G3 ἔρως érōs This is sexual love whether God blessed or God cursed.
G4 ἄστοργος astorgos This is in the negative. (στοργή storgē is the word natural affection). Natural affection would be a parent's love for their children. 2 Timothy 3:3 G794
C3 Faith
D1 Defined
E1 What it is.
F1 It is believing God.
F2 When Jesus states that He is coming again (John 14:3), so He will. Paul believed this (2 Thessalonians 2:1).
E2 What it is not.
F1 Believing what we want to believe.
F2 "God told me so." "I feel in my spirit that it will happen." These things are based on our wants and physical experiences.
D2 Examples--Genesis 15:6, Jonah 3:5, Matthew 21:32, etc.
C4 Test
D1 Why? To see if they really do believe God. God knows, but people do not know until we are tested.
D2 Results
E1 Failure
E2 Success
B7 Atheist
C1 First reference
D1 Definition of evil
E1 Philosophically speaking, let's define evil in one of two ways. Evil could be defined as the opposite of good or as the absence of good. (Problem--what is the definition of good?--editor).
E2 That third definition of evil that I alluded to earlier addresses this issue. I talk about it more in depth in here. But to make a long story short, good and evil are human constructs. When we are talking about evil in this context we are not talking about some supernatural force. We are not talking about the character of Satan or his plans. Good and evil are not actual forces in the world acting on human beings. These are concepts create by people to help us interact with each other and the world around us. There are no all-powerful gods who are willing or able to stop suffering. We as human beings must stop suffering on our own. (Problem: what is the definition of good. Evidently by this author every human being will have their own definition or some world political/philosophical body will define good and evil. He still does not answer the question of what is evil and why is there evil--editor).
E3 Human compassion is the atheist solution to the problem of evil. (Problem--there still is no answer of why there is evil. There is only a response to a problem. A Christian would offer the same solution--editor).
C2 Second reference The author and other authors (links on the page to other responses to the problem of evil) no definition of evil or good is given. There is no answer to the question of why? There are only responses to theists positions or arguments. (I did not read each article that is linked, so there may be an author who does define good and evil. Judging by the articles titles, the only answer they have is "theists are wrong").
B8 Theists
C1 Plantinga's Free Will Defense
D1 Argument
What might God's reason be for allowing evil and suffering to occur? Alvin Plantinga (1974, 1977) has offered the most famous contemporary philosophical response to this question. He suggests the following as a possible morally sufficient reason:
(MSR1) God's creation of persons with morally significant free will is something of tremendous value. God could not eliminate much of the evil and suffering in this world without thereby eliminating the greater good of having created persons with free will with whom he could have relationships and who are able to love one another and do good deeds. (reference)
D2 Problem
E1 No answer to the question, "Why did God create free will," nor "what is free will?"
E2 No answer to the question, "Why is there evil and suffering?" The solution offered assumes good and evil just exist.
B9 Defining good and evil
C1 Most define good and evil as the above (A1 B1 and B4)
C2 God's definitions
D1 Good Micah 6:8, Deuteronomy 10:12, Matthew 19:17,
D2 Evil. This would be not doing in thoughts, desires, words, and deeds what God requires. What God requires is the way He lives His life.
D3 Both good and evil demand a standard.
E1 Breed standards for animals, for example, the Labrador Dog and here For cattle here for example.
E2 God has standards, too. Consider the summary of the 613 Old Testament commandments is the Ten Commandments. In the New Testament that are over 1,000 rules. Here are some examples. We are NOT to
F1 Tempt the Lord (Matthew 4:7; Luke 4:12)
F2 Kill (Matthew 5:21; 19:18; Luke 18:20; Romans 13:9)
F3 Commit adultery (Matthew 5:27-28; 19:18; Luke 18:20; Romans 13:9)
F4 Pray to be seen of men (Matthew 6:5)
F5 Steal (Matthew 19:18; Mark 10:19; Luke 18:20; Romans 13:9)
F6 Bear false witness (Matthew 19:18; Mark 10:19; Luke 18:20; Romans 13:9)
F7 Covet (Romans 13:9)
C3 Can God only do good?
D1 Depends on how one defines good.
D2 Omnipotency in God is defined by many as all powerful in the sense that God can do anything as "can god create a rock so heavy than he cannot lift it" and other omnipotent paradoxes.
E1 Some demand this according to their definition of omnipotence. God is a being, not an abstract thought, force, superman, or alien.
F1 Be a liar, but cannot lie.
F2 Be a murderer, but cannot murder.
F3 Can do a and not a at the same time.
E2 Some things God cannot do.
F1 He cannot lie. Numbers 23:19, Titus 1:2, Hebrews 6:18
F2 He cannot deny Himself. 2 Timothy 2:13, James 1:17 (The idea of deny Himself is we may apostatize, but He is consistent and does not turn away from what He is).
F3 God has some characteristics, personality traits, that are consistent and cannot be otherwise.
B10 Why does God allow what we consider evil, bad, uncomfortable, pain, sorrow, death, loss, destruction, etc.?
C1 What God says is in the Bible.
C2 The first use of the word evil is And out of the ground the LORD God made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. (Genesis 2:9, NKJV)
C3 Evil existed before, however, because the devil has already rebelled. Ezekiel 28:12-19, Isaiah 14:12-14 (No earthly could ever be described as such).
C4 Why did the devil do evil? (Evil here is defined as rebellion against God. Ezekiel 28:15). He was proud. His business or merchandise is slander. Some people's occupation is an evil activity. For example an assassin. Pride was the downfall. He thought he was better than he really was.
C5 God wants volunteers to serve Him. Exodus 25:1-2, 1 Corinthians 9:17, 1 Peter 5:2, Philemon 1:14, etc.
C6 God makes resistance possible. Acts 7:51, 2 Timothy 3:8, James 4:7, etc.
B11 It should be noted that God is so powerful, so sovereign, that He CAN decree, allow, a libertarian free will. This is not a sovereign free will but a limited free will. Some use the illustration of a pasture where the cattle can roam wherever they wish but cannot go out of the fence. Some use the illustration of a dog on a rope tied to a stake or tree. The dog can go wherever he will but is limited in extent by the rope. A libertarian free will allows for genuine resistance in choices.
B12 Jesus, the only begotten Son of God, also suffered evil from being tired, to being thirsty, to being mocked, hit, and crucified, but there was a reason.
B13 The book of Job shows the problem of suffering, trying to understand why, and God's solution.
A3 Other's articles
B1 How can a good God allow evil?
B4 Why the problem of evil is a problem
