Thinking to Believe

I’ve demonstrated that evil doesn’t make God’s existence impossible or even unlikely, but one might wonder why, if God exists, He permits evil. What is the purpose? This is the question of theodicy. 

I cover five reasons God might permit evil:

1.       To better our souls via moral growth (soul-making theodicy)

2.       To bring glory to God

3.       To make moral freedom and love possible

4.       To make happiness possible

5.       To reveal more of God to us

Web: ThinkingtoBelieve.com
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Truth: @ThinkingToBelieve
Parler: @thinkingtobelieve

On this miscellany episode I cover:

-- How the NYC mayoral race helps us think through our voting philosophy

-- What gerrymandering is, why it's a danger to our democracy, and which party does it the most

-- Don't assume that those who believe different than you do so because of a spiritual problem. 

-- Stop worrying about people being offended.

-- 2 pet peeves - using foreign words and performative prayer

Web: ThinkingtoBelieve.com
Email: [email protected]
Facebook: facebook.com/thinkingtobelieve
Twitter & Gettr: @thinking2believ
Truth: @ThinkingToBelieve
Parler: @thinkingtobelieve

The evidential problem of evil falsely assumes that if God had a purpose for permitting the amounts/kinds of evil we see in the world, we would be able to discern what those reasons were. The bottom line is that so long as the existence of evil and the existence of evil are logically compatible, there is no good reason to think that greater amounts of evil make God's existence more unlikely.

I also discuss gratuitous evil. Some think that God can't exist if gratuitous evil exists, but this presumes that every evil must produce some good for it to be justified. The theist is not committed to such a proposition.

Web: ThinkingtoBelieve.com
Email: [email protected]
Facebook: facebook.com/thinkingtobelieve
Twitter & Gettr: @thinking2believ
Truth: @ThinkingToBelieve
Parler: @thinkingtobelieve

While there may be no logical incompatibility between a theistic God and evil, can certain amounts or kinds of evil make it highly unlikely that theism is true? That's the claim of the evidential problem of evil. In this episode, I examine the claim that there is too much evil in the world to think that God exists. 

Web: ThinkingtoBelieve.com
Email: [email protected]
Facebook: facebook.com/thinkingtobelieve
Twitter & Gettr: @thinking2believ
Truth: @ThinkingToBelieve
Parler: @thinkingtobelieve

I finish my discussion of the logical POE, showing how evil is actually one of the best evidences for God’s existence – not against God’s existence, and showing how the atheist’s answer to the problem of evil is far less satisfactory than the theist’s.

Web: ThinkingtoBelieve.com
Email: [email protected]
Facebook: facebook.com/thinkingtobelieve
Twitter & Gettr: @thinking2believ
Truth: @ThinkingToBelieve
Parler: @thinkingtobelieve

Is the presence of evil in our world evidence against the existence of God? How could an all-good and all-loving God allow so much evil?

In this episode, I begin to evaluate the logical problem of evil. I discuss what evil is (a privation of good), the different kinds of evil, and why the logical problem of evil does not succeed in undermining theism or proving atheism. 

Web: ThinkingtoBelieve.com
Email: [email protected]
Facebook: facebook.com/thinkingtobelieve
Twitter & Gettr: @thinking2believ
Truth: @ThinkingToBelieve
Parler: @thinkingtobelieve

Is the presence of evil in our world evidence against the existence of God? How could an all-good and all-loving God allow so much evil?

In this 1-N-Done episode, I tackle this problem head-on. I cover:

• Why there is no logical incompatibility between God and evil
• Evil is actually evidence for God's existence, not against it
• Theism offers a better solution to the problem of evil than atheism
• Explore some reasons God may permit evil
• Offer principles to help people endure evil and suffering

Web: ThinkingtoBelieve.com
Email: [email protected]
Facebook: facebook.com/thinkingtobelieve
Twitter & Gettr: @thinking2believ
Truth: @ThinkingToBelieve
Parler: @thinkingtobelieve

Does the multiplicity of religions and their cultural-rootedness show that religions are just human inventions? Are religions just examples of wish fulfillment? Did humans invent religion as an emotional crutch? 

Web: ThinkingtoBelieve.com
Email: [email protected]
Facebook: facebook.com/thinkingtobelieve
Twitter & Gettr: @thinking2believ
Truth: @ThinkingToBelieve
Parler: @thinkingtobelieve

Many think that science has disproven God, or at least shown that He is superfluous. Nothing could be further from the case. I show how science cannot, even in principle, disprove God's existence. I also examine whether science has truly been able to explain the things God has typically been invoked to explain such as the origin of the universe, the origin of life, and the diversity of life. In the process, I talk about why Darwinian evolution fails and why theists are not committing the God of the gaps fallacy. 

Web: ThinkingtoBelieve.com
Email: [email protected]
Facebook: facebook.com/thinkingtobelieve
Twitter & Gettr: @thinking2believ
Truth: @ThinkingToBelieve
Parler: @thinkingtobelieve

In today's episode I cover two objections: (1) Divine omniscience is incompatible with human freedom; (2) A Person without a body is impossible. 

Web: ThinkingtoBelieve.com
Email: [email protected]
Facebook: facebook.com/thinkingtobelieve
Twitter & Gettr: @thinking2believ
Truth: @ThinkingToBelieve
Parler: @thinkingtobelieve