Monday, June 11, 2012

Debunking the Problem of Evil--Why Yahweh's Way is Best

Euthyphro Dilemma keeps coming up from time to time. Atheists seem to think that it a good argument disproving God and I think they really like it because it comes from ancient Greece. I'm not only excited or moved by it at all. It really is weak. In a post today it was brought up in one of its forms again - and rather lengthily. The premise was stated in the following paragraph.

Yahweh is said by Christians to have certain attributes such as being all-good, all-knowing and all-powerful, but the attributes of the god Yahweh, as depicted in the Bible, present a god that is not only supposedly loving--but also angry, jealous, vengeful, and just plain evil. According to Christians, Yahweh is an all-powerful, all good, all knowing god--which is inconsistent with a world of suffering--and this is known as the Problem of Evil. The dilemma for Christians is that if Yahweh is all powerful and all knowing, he could accomplish any of his tasks without the need for suffering--or he would not be all powerful and all knowing. If he was all good, he would want to create a world without any pain and suffering, since it would be within his power and knowledge to do so. But clearly we have pain and suffering. Therefore, Yahweh is not all knowing, all good, or all powerful.

This farce has been answered ad nauseum for years ever since it first appeared. So instead of writing a rebuttal, I want anyone who thinks that this dilemma is a death blow for Christianity, I invite them to see what Christians have actually said in answer for this. There are good answers that do not include putting your fingers in your ears, closing your eyes, and hoping it goes away. 

I can hear the criticism already: The article is not about the Euthyphro Dilemma. It is related. It all boils down to Theodicy and the Problem of evil. It's about what God says about justice. What is right and what is wrong and who gets to decide what that is and what it means. I'm not the only one who sees the connection. Read the following article http://gospelaxiom.blogspot.com/2011/09/problem-of-evil-and-euthyphro-dilemma.html

Read  Mariano Grinbank's solution to this often used dilemma. Don't wanna read? No problem. His video has been turned into a video and an audio.  Here are links to this wonderful resources.

Text
Essay: The Euthyphro Dichotomy by Mariano Grinbank
 
Video



Audio
 MP3

Debunking Christianity: Yahweh and the Problem of Evil--Why Yahweh is an Egotistical, Evil, Sadistic, Masochistic God