Loren Ericka O.

Tapayan

PHILO 25 E1F1

Supposedly, the world we lived in was perfect in where we had no worries and that everyone

had a notion of uniform perfection, to limit the chaotic consequences of such supposed

incident, was achieved would there be even a reason to need a God by then? This question

was formed in my attempt to shift the focus on to “why is there evil in the world made by God

whose inherent nature is supremely good”. The last statement would be made that such a

dramatic occurrence is set, a God creating a contradiction to himself. But the previous

statement along with my first question is actually problematic in a sense.

Going back to a paradise-like world in which there is a clear abundance of non-moral

goodness where people are free of worries and hardships. Could such a world exist even in

the first place? I do not think so, because a perfect world is an absurd notion. Let us limit this

supposed perfect world into the perfection everyone conforms to as to not complicate this

situation further. If it is a perfect world then we do not have anything because there is no

point in doing so. No one is technically living a life per se, they’re merely a stagnant

existence in time and space. So what would be the bottom line of that type of existence

then? This notion in which humans can never perfect their own natures in a perfect world

became a paradox.

Even if the world was made perfect, it wouldn’t still be a paradise. Because at the start there

is an imbalance between the presence of moral and non-moral goodness. Such is the case

that the overwhelming amount of the latter might result into corruption. As the lines between

the two types of goodness blurs there comes a blatant disregard to what actually is right

from wrong and no one would be able to know because there is no point in doing so.

So, for my earlier question if we live in a perfect world would there be a need for a God, in

the first place the problem lies in the existence of a perfect world – because it is too absurd
for it to actually exist. Aside from that, if we were to consider the situation in which a perfect

world were to exist or not, the most likely event to occur would be the latter. Secondly, the

existence of such world is contradictory to God’s existence in which he values his perfect

goodness constituting both non-moral and moral goodness. Because a perfect world actually

disregards moral goodness. A perfect world cannot exist if God exists. This is because

contradiction does not come within divine omnipotence and for that there is no possibility of it

occurring.

On the question on why is there evil in the world made by God whose inherent nature is

supremely good, these are actually two different line of thoughts that were awfully combined

together. As a child, this was one of the questions I refuse to entertain not because it would

challenge my faith but because the premise of the question was wrong. As discussed earlier,

God values his inherent nature and that any contradiction towards his very being has no

possibility of occurring since it simply cannot be in the first place. Having said that, we do not

have to arrive to such a question because the premise does not exist.

Moving on, Hick reconciles the notion as to why evil exists in the world and the allowance of

God for it. To be placed in such a world, would actually stimulate us to be able to perceive

and make choices accordingly. In having done so and by making the choices that brings us

closer to our creator as we perfect our nature. Because we are merely raw materials as Hick

talks about in his work and we are akin to uncut diamonds who are yet to be polished to

reveal our true values as humans. As we respond more to life’s challenges and

opportunities, we shine as if we are polished ourselves like those diamonds.

But having said that, that does not necessarily mean that we can conclude that God created

evil nor he is attributed for its existence. That line of thinking is simply fallacious. Irenaean

theodicy has not even explicitly mentioned any entity responsible for the existence of evil.

We can merely blame it to our lack of knowledge as to we cannot pinpoint where evil came

from.
To be in the finite likeness of our creator we must acknowledge that the presence of evil

allows us to reach into such perfection. This is the paradox we are currently embodying and

we must acknowledge. This is the only way we are able to achieve such since it is

impossible to do so in a perfect world that does not exist. We recognized that evil is part of

the generalization of the concept of creation but this does not necessarily mean God created

it.

References:

Hick, J. (1988). God, Evil and Mystery. In (n.a.). God and the Universe of Faiths, Essays in

the Philosophy of Religion. (Reissued. Pp 53-55)

Rowe, W. (2007). The Idea of God. In H. Allen(Ed.). The Philosophy of Religion, An

Introduction.(4th. pp 6-9)