More Than A Single Story

Sample Solution

nd eye to all the suffering in the world. Suffering is not something perceived by the eyes, it is perceived by the heart and to ignore it would mean being heartless. It’s possible to reject the third premise if we viewed the world as neutral and indifferent to morality . If the world were devoid of emotion and feelings, only then could one deny the existence of evil. But evil is not an abstract entity. The sufferings of humans are concrete evidence to the existence of evil which makes it inhumane to reject the third premise. C. Rejecting the Second Premise Rejecting the second premise is therefore the only plausible way to reinforce the theistic beliefs that assert the existence of God as an all- PKG. Rejecting the second premise seeks a way to explain the co-existence of God and evil. There are two notable ways that explain this co-existence; Theodicy and Defense. Theodicy refers to explaining why an all-PKG God will allow evil to thrive. Defense is the notion of accepting that there’s no reason good enough to explain how or why the second premise can be true . To understand better, let’s consider the extinction of dinosaurs as an example. One could raise the question that if dinosaurs were created by God to inhabit the earth, then why did they go extinct? Theodicy would seek to answer this question by stating the motives God must have had for making dinosaurs go extinct. On the other hand, Defense would answer this question by asserting that there was no good reason for God to have prevented the extinction of dinosaurs. Most religions including Christianity employ theodicy and try to explain God’s motives for letting evil thrive.

III. Soul Building Evil

One of the leading concepts in theodicy is of soul building evil . This concept asserts that some evils are capable of soul building and refers to the strengthening of character by suffering adversities and hardships. It is offered as a plausible explanation by theodicy for God allowing evil to thrive. It is indeed a fact that hardships strengthen ones character and make one a better and stronger person. Suffering might make a person stronger, but it can also destroy a person. The torture that the Jews were subjected to, in the second world war, didn’t strengthen them as much as it destroyed them. It inflicted irreversible damage. The brutal tortures people are still being subjected to in different parts of the world every day are not making them any stronger but are destroying them. And even if such brutal tortures did reform or strengthen people, it is not worth it. A strength that requires going through inhumane ordeals is not worth acquiring. People who prevail the concept of soul building evil would not choose to go through such adversities them