Good and Evil - PowerPoint Presentation

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Good and Evil

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A. If God is totally good and all-powerful, how can there be evil? Either he is not all-powerful, or he is not truly good. (Or he is not there!)Slide4

Alternatively…

God exists

God is omnipotent, omniscient, and perfectly good

A perfectly good being would want to prevent all evils

An omniscient being knows every way in which evils can come into existence

An omnipotent being, who knows every way in which an evil can come into existence, has the power to prevent that evil from coming into existenceSlide5

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

If there exists an omnipotent, omniscient, and perfectly good being, then no evil exists

Evil exists (logical contradiction)

WikipediaSlide6

B.

Genesis - Creation: “Very Good”

Tree of the knowledge of good and evil ?

Eat it, and

die

?Slide7

What is Evil?

Pain and suffering?

Pain = defence from damage (leprosy?)

“No pain, no gain”

Athletes and “pain barrier”

Cut someone open with a knife?

Both my children born that way

Massive earthquake and tsunami?

What if it happens on Jupiter?Slide8

“You know how confusing the whole good-evil concept is for me.” — Jim Butcher,

Proven Guilty

"The man who is to be great is the one who can be the most solitary, the most hidden, the most deviant, the man beyond good and evil, lord of his virtues, a man lavishly endowed with will - this is precisely what greatness is to be called: it is able to be as much a totality as something multi-faceted, as wide as it is full."

—

Friedrich Nietzsche

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Assume: No God

Universe created itself from nothing

Material universe is all their is

Life : a purposeless momentary blink

NO “good”, No “evil”

What is is.Slide10

“There is no good and evil, there is only power and those too weak to seek it.” ― J.K. Rowling,

Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s/Sorcerer's Stone

“Those who forget good and evil and seek only to know the facts are more likely to achieve good than those who view the world through the distorting medium of their own desires.”

―

Bertrand Russell

“Good and evil do not exist for me any more. The fear of evil is merely a mass projection here and on Earth.”

―

Hans Bender

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Still No God – Alternatively:

“Good” and “Evil”

do

have meaning

Good = what 'I' like; Evil = what 'I' dislike

Totally relative – personal opinion

No permanent 'real' valueSlide12

“Moral authority has been laid to rest, world opinion is no more than a game show and the difference between good and evil is about as relevant as changing channels.”

–

Ralph Steadman

“Mankind is not likely to salvage civilization unless he can evolve a system of good and evil which is independent of heaven and hell.”

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George Orwell

“Defining Good and Evil is not a simple task, and getting it wrong means either punishing the good or rewarding the evil, both furthering evil. As humanity is only effective as a group, the judgement of good or evil must be the recognition of what is good and what is bad for the group.”

–

Philip AtkinsonSlide13

God IS

Supreme being

All loving, knowing, powerful

Creator of all

Not part of & therefore 'outside' of universe

Therefore

definer

of everythingSlide14

Thus:

“GOOD” – in conformity to God; as designed

“EVIL” – out of conformity with God; being/doing contrary to design

God is good – always in conformity with himself, totally self-consistent; ultimate example of goodnessSlide15

Pure GoodGood exists in its own right – so long as God exists

Pure and total good is a valid conceptSlide16

Pure EvilEvil does not/cannot exist in its own right

It is in total dependence on good for its existence

“Pure evil” is an impossibility, an oxymoron

Eg. Death depends on life

Evil, generally, is deprivation or negation or corruption of good

We don’t choose evil because it is evil, but because we believe it will produce ‘good’Slide17

“Well, obviously I take the classic view that evil does not exist ontologically. And that's why it's so powerful - because it's so parasitic on our deepest desires - and why so oftentimes the most profound evils that are perpetrated are done in the name of the good.” ―

Stanley Hauerwas

“And this is the forbidden truth, the unspeakable taboo - that evil is not always repellent but frequently attractive; that it has the power to make of us not simply victims, as nature and accident do, but active accomplices.”

―

Joyce Carol Oates

“All the things of the wild have their proper uses. Only misuse makes them evil.”

― Ellis Peters,

One Corpse Too Many

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Good is Better than EvilGood is always better than evil, more beautiful than evil; it is truer, righter, more attractive

That is why evil has to clothe itself in apparent goodness (if I cheat I will get a better result, more money, glory, etc.)

But if/when we see them truly only GOOD is good, right, true, beautiful, alive, lasting...Slide19

“Vicious actions are not hurtful because they are forbidden, but forbidden because they are hurtful.” ― Benjamin FranklinSlide20

Consider a Car

Carefully designed & built; new – 'perfect'

Instruction manual

Drive/maintain according to manual – best results all round

“Good” is to do so

“Evil” - wrong oil; kerosene in tank; leave handbrake on; lights failed; window broken; ...Slide21

A Capricious God?

Something good today may be evil tomorrow



internally inconsistent



could never be 'God'; could never create a functioning universe

Could not be love or author of love



good, evil, love, justice, etc. have no basis of being

No, we do not have this optionSlide22

What if I Don’t Like God?

He doesn't do what I want, or think he should

He is a killjoy

He has done/commanded ‘evil’ (eg. see OT)

He let my sister dieSlide23

“Good” is

defined

by God, not by our feelings

As creatures, our understanding of good & evil can

only

be as defined by God



if anything about Good appears other than pure & total good, then:

Incomplete knowledge/understanding/perspective

Wrong perception of God

Wrong or distorted perception of the situation

I have been deceived by a third partySlide24

Tree – Knowledge of Good & Evil

Greatest possible good requires the

choice

of embracing God’s image

Love is not love if there is no choice

For God to create greatest possible good – and how could such a God do otherwise – had to create opportunity to choose, and



option to choose differentlySlide25

Tree – Knowledge of Good & Evil

Since God is epitome/definition of “Good”, then to be distinct from God

 other than good

 to be & to know ‘evil’

From that point evil has grownSlide26

“God did not create evil. Just as darkness is the absence of light, evil is the absence of God.” ― Albert Einstein

“People couldn't become truly holy, he said, unless they also had the opportunity to be definitely wicked.”

― Terry Pratchett,

Good Omens

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Did God Create Evil?

One can only create from what is in them

Everything that IS came from God (John 1:3)

Is God responsible for evil?

Is evil part of who God is? (yin and yang?)

 doctrine of “trinity” (another story!)

Since the greatest good involves the choice, it must inherently contain the concept (possibility) of choosing otherwise.

SO: No! No darkness, evil, wrong, etc. in God. And yet in creating the greatest good, evil (= other than God) had to be possible.Slide28

Conclusion

Without God, “good” & “evil” do not exist, merely reality

Thus also the “problem of evil” does not exist unless God exists

“Good” means being fully congruent with God. “Evil” means deviating from that. “God is Good = tautology – no other option

To accuse God of evil can only be from ignorance or actual evil in myselfSlide29

So – What is “evil”? Following the argument through we end up with “If there DOES NOT exist an omnipotent, omniscient, and perfectly good being then evil does not exist.”

Thus to claim that evil exists is to acknowledge that God exists! Thus the problem of evil is only a problem to the theist – ie. to those who believe in both God and in the existence of evil. Yes we struggle with it. Yes it is hard (sometimes impossible) to understand. But because we believe in God – as defined earlier – we believe that there IS an answer.Slide30

Questions / Comments

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