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<p class=MsoNormal><st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on"><font size=2
face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>Wayne</span></font></st1:place></st1:City><font
size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>,<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>That was a good summary of the argument from the problem of
evil. However, over the last decade or so most philosophers (as I hear)
have been uneasy with such a deductive approach. The reason is that,
well, it doesn’t really work as well as one might have originally
expected. Now, the project is primarily inductive. The nature and
extent of evil in the world provides ‘evidence’ for the fact that
God does not exist; but of course, as is always the case with constructing an evidential
argument, it is not difficult for one additional piece of evidence to come in
and change the direction of what they call the inductive
‘strength.’ If I sit around all day long and look at pictures
of children mutilated by murderous parents, the evidence for the fact that a
good and all knowing God does not exist would probably begin seeming a bit
strong. So strong in fact, I might be inclined to think that ‘I
know’ that God does not exist. After all, when considered in a more
abstract and timeless fashion, the argument from the problem of evil does begin
to make a lot of sense. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>However, I also might be inclined to put the pictures down,
take a deep breath, and remind myself of the grand Christian Drama; I might
begin retelling to myself the history of the cosmos from a Christian point of
view. What I will find there, very likely, is a God who permits, yet also
passionately eradicates, evil: A God who hates murderers and will punish
them; a God who will raise these broken children up from the grave; a God who
suffered the same treatment that these little children did when he came to the
world. This sort of evidence can begin seeming even stronger if combined
by a traditional experience of repentance. In other words, one might come
to believe that the evil is not just ‘out there’ to be compared to
God, but in one’s self. If there is a problem with evil in me, then
a proposal for a solution to this problem might very well seem a bit more
reasonable. This is particularly the case if I begin feeling
‘guilty’ for evil in me. But ‘guilty’ before
whom? Or perhaps I begin feeling ‘thankful’ for all the good
and beautiful things in the world. But ‘thankful’ to whom? All
these sorts of factors can come in and start making the existence of God not
only possible, but even likely for me—for some, almost necessary. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>However, one thing that struck me reading through your deductive
way of setting up the argument was the reference to the kind of God Christian’s
believe. God is ‘all good,’ but I’ve noticed a
wild variance between what biblical Christianity and secular observers mean by ‘all
good’ to begin with. I think there might be a bit of begging the
question in your argument, for example, if you assume at the beginning that a
God is all good only if he would not permit evil. But it seems strange to
me to assume the nature of true eternal ‘goodness’ going into the
question of whether or not God exists. This reminds me of a discussion I
had with Nick Gier many years ago….<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Yours,<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Michael Metzler</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
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