Evil and Omnipotence
In J.L. Mackie’s “Evil and Omnipotence,” he argues against the existence of God. He uses the standpoint that God cannot be omnipotent, omnibenevolent, and evil can still exist. Omnipotent means all-powerful and that God is capable of anything. Omnibenevolent means all-good or that everything God does is good and no evil comes from him. However, evil exists in the world, where some believe in God. How is it possible for God to be all good and yet evil exist in the world?
The imperative answer to the problem of evil is that evil originates from human free will. However, Mackie objects to this option. His belief is that nothing eliminates a world where everyone has free will and they always choose good. If Mackie’s defense is correct, then the free will solution is not sufficient. Unfortunately for Mackie, he is incorrect; the world that he has thought of would not have the greatest human relationships – those based on love.
A world where we always choose good would not allow for these types of relationships. Bonding with another human being in a meaningful way requires knowledge of who they are. When we only know the surface of a person, we do not experience deep connection. Deep relationships are formed in the sharing of our hearts and our truest selves. If our truest selves were purely kind and good, everyone would be your friend, but it would be only surface level relationship. You could know everything about them, but since everything in them is good, there would be nothing for you to possibly reject. They would always accept you and you would always accept them. As peaceful as this seems, I fear it is a far cry from the meaningfulness relationships with depth add to our lives. For good to exist in us there must be comparative evil. In a world of free will where we always choose good, the deep bonding experience would be lost because the sharing of our truest selves involves the good as well as the evil. Unconditional love of this kind means loving
The imperative answer to the problem of evil is that evil originates from human free will. However, Mackie objects to this option. His belief is that nothing eliminates a world where everyone has free will and they always choose good. If Mackie’s defense is correct, then the free will solution is not sufficient. Unfortunately for Mackie, he is incorrect; the world that he has thought of would not have the greatest human relationships – those based on love.
A world where we always choose good would not allow for these types of relationships. Bonding with another human being in a meaningful way requires knowledge of who they are. When we only know the surface of a person, we do not experience deep connection. Deep relationships are formed in the sharing of our hearts and our truest selves. If our truest selves were purely kind and good, everyone would be your friend, but it would be only surface level relationship. You could know everything about them, but since everything in them is good, there would be nothing for you to possibly reject. They would always accept you and you would always accept them. As peaceful as this seems, I fear it is a far cry from the meaningfulness relationships with depth add to our lives. For good to exist in us there must be comparative evil. In a world of free will where we always choose good, the deep bonding experience would be lost because the sharing of our truest selves involves the good as well as the evil. Unconditional love of this kind means loving
Cited: Lewis, C. S. Miracles. New York: Macmillan, 1947. 410. Google Books. Web. 10 Sept. 2012. Mackie, J. L. "Evil and Omnipotence." Mind. 254th ed. Vol. 64. New York: Oxford UP, n.d. 200-12. JSTOR. Web. 10 Sept. 2012.