The Problem of Evil Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The Problem of Evil - Term Paper Example The â€Å"all-good,† the â€Å"all-powerful,† etc., are claims to justifying the creator who made the world of all possible worlds. Theodicy involves these traditional arguments and weighs these arguments against the scale of the problem of evil. G.W. Leibniz is a case in point. According to Leibniz, this world, no matter how imperfect, is actually the best of all possible worlds that God would have created in any way. More so, Leibniz’s optimistic theodicy does not see the existence of evil in the world as fundamentally counting against God’s existence. Therefore, evil, as it were, becomes a non-issue when seen from the purview of God’s grand plan of the universe. â€Å"Further, we realize that there is a perpetual and almost free progress of the whole universe in fulfillment of the universal beauty and perfection of the works of God, so that it is always advancing towards a greater development.† (1967, 421). Theodicy as the rational study o f God necessarily has to come to grips with evil, where the question is about justifying God’s goodness in the presence of evil. ... Does belief in God contribute to man’s pursuit of happiness, notwithstanding the other equally issue called evil? Or, is it something superfluous let alone erroneous? The presence of evil in the world is real, no doubt. But it has a purpose. The process of evolution forces us to admit to ourselves that we are not at the center of this cosmic process, and that what we need to do is to align ourselves to the ultimate end of the process. Teilhard de Chardin sees evil as part of the whole process of evolution from which man must learn to find his rightful place. De Chardin explains: â€Å"Statistically, at every degree of evolution, we find evil always and everywhere, forming and reforming implacably in us and around us.† (1975, 312). Similarly, an uncritical belief in an objectivist divine providence needs to give way to the reality of evil which God uses to teach man of his existence in the world. Divine providence is not magic. Evil is a privation of man’s suppose d end of goodness. In the end, human affairs need to be addressed by man, not God. â€Å"The evil in the world is very great and we see little or no reliable evidence of a benevolent providence,† (Cupitt 2001, 106). Leave God alone! Atheism easily dismisses God’s existence on account of the reality of evil, as if to falsify altogether God’s existence because of the perceived presence of something that goes against God’s attributes. For atheism God’s existence is nothing but man’s projection of his desire to get the help of some superpower to take away the problem of evil which he cannot do. From a theistic perspective, the objections of atheism can be adequately addressed - not apologetically, but