How do Abrahamic faiths tackle the problem of evil?

[DawudTalut]

Is a God that is omnipotent, omniscient and all good compatible with a universe that has evil?

Seems like it introduces paradoxes that are impossible to explain. Are there any good responses to this issue, from Abrahamic faiths? I'm actually quite curious about this and if there are any good books or thinkers who have tackled this issue I'd love to know.

This flow chart does a good job of explaining the problem.

Peace be on you.
On the right side a box says:
"If God is all-knowing, he would know what we would do if we were tested, therefore no need to test us"

In Holy Quran, Allah the Exalted teaches us a prayer which states 3 possibilities and we seek to get help to walk on a blessed path:

[1:6] Guide us in the right path —
[1:7] The path of those on whom Thou hast bestowed Thy blessings, those who have not incurred Thy displeasure, and those who have not gone astray.

===========================================

[2:214] Mankind were one community, then they differed among themselves, so Allah raised Prophets as bearers of good tidings and as warners, and sent down with them the Book containing the truth that He might judge between the people wherein they differed. But now they began to differ about the Book, and none differed about it except those to whom it was given, after clear Signs had come to them, out of envy towards one another. Now has Allah, by His command, guided the believers to the truth in regard to which they (the unbelievers) differed; and Allah guides whomsoever He pleases to the right path.

============================================

[6:3]He it is Who created you from clay, and then He decreed a term. And there is another term fixed with Him. Yet you doubt!

===========================================

[2:22] O ye men, worship your Lord Who created you and those who were before you, that you may become righteous;
[2:23] Who made the earth a bed for you, and the heaven a roof, and caused water to come down from the clouds and therewith brought forth fruits for your sustenance. Set not up, therefore, equals to Allah, while you know.

===========================================

[18:8]Verily, We have made all that is on the earth as an ornament for it, that We may try them as to which of them is best in conduct.


[67:3] Who has created death and life that He might try you — which of you is best in deeds; and He is the Mighty, the Most Forgiving.

===========================================

[91:8] And by the soul and its perfection —
[91:9] And He revealed to it what is wrong for it and what is right for it —
[91:10] He indeed truly prospers who purifies it,
[91:11] And he who corrupts it is ruined.

===========================================

[20:121] But Satan whispered evil suggestions to him; he said, ‘O Adam, shall I lead thee to the tree of eternity and to a kingdom that never decays?’
[20:122] Then they both ate thereof, so that their shame became manifest to them, and they began to stick the leaves of the garden together over themselves. And Adam observed not the commandment of his Lord, so his life became miserable.
[20:123] Then his Lord chose him for His grace, and turned to him with mercy and guidedhim.
[20:124] He said, ‘Go forth, both of you, from here, some of you being enemies of others. And if there comes to you guidance from Me, then whoso will follow My guidance, he will not go astray, nor will he come to grief.
[20:125] ‘But whosoever will turn away from My Reminder, his will be a strait life, and on the Day of Resurrection We shall raise him up blind.’
[20:126] He will say, ‘My Lord, why hast Thou raised me up blind, while I possessed sightbefore?’
[20:127] God will say, ‘Thus it was to be; Our Signs came to thee and thou didst disregard them; and in like manner wilt thou be disregarded this day.’

============================================

[7:176] And relate to them the story of him to whom We gave Our Signs, but he stepped away from them; so Satan followed him up, and he became one of those who go astray.
[7:177] And if We had pleased, We could have exalted him thereby; but he inclined to the earth and followed his evil inclination. His case therefore is like the case of a thirsty dog; if thou drive him away, he hangs out his tongue; and if thou leave him, he hangs out his tongue. Such is the case of the people who disbelieve in Our Signs. So give them the description that they may ponder.

===========================================

[14:23] And when the matter is decided, Satan will say, ‘Allah promised you a promise of truth, but I promised you and failed you. And I had no power over you except that I called you and you obeyed me. So blame me not, but blame your own selves. I cannot succour you nor can you succour me. I have already disclaimed your associating me with God. For the wrongdoers there shall, surely, be a grievous punishment.’

===========================================


[17:62] And remember the time when We said to the angels, ‘Submit to Adam,’ and they allsubmitted, except Iblis. He said, ‘Shall I submit to one whom Thou hast created of clay?’
[17:63] And he said, ‘What thinkest Thou? Can this whom Thou hast honoured above me be my superior? If Thou wilt grant me respite till the Day of Resurrection, I will most surely bring his descendants under my sway except a few.’
[17:64] He said, ‘Begone! and whoso shall follow thee from among them, Hell shall surely be the recompense of you all — an ample recompense.
[17:65] ‘And entice whomsoever of them thou canst, with thy voice, and urge against them thy horsemen and thy footmen and be their partner in wealth, and children, and make promises to them.’ And Satan promises them naught but deceit.
[17:66] As to My servants, thou shalt certainly have no power over them, and sufficient is thy Lord as a Guardian.

============================================

[6:74] And He it is Who created the heavens and the earth in accordance with the requirements of wisdom; and the day He says, ‘Be!’, it will be. His word is the truth, and His will be the kingdom on the day when the trumpet will be blown. He is the Knower of the unseen and the seen. And He is the Wise, the All-Aware.

=============================================

[20:9] Allah — there is no God but He. His are the most beautiful names.

============================================

From all these specimen verses, it follows that
1--God wants people to practice righteousness.
2--People can go astray at will; they have been told about right and wrong from inside [heart and mind] and outside [by Messengers].
3--Satan is a testing force, but it cannot force anything on human, it is decision of human to go right or go stray.
4-- God is All-Knowing He Knows seen and unseen. He is also Wise and has all Noble Attributes. He has no weakness.
5--All-Knowing does not mean He will frustrate His own plan [ i.e plan of making human with qualities to get progress and with choice too]. He is Wise....Field to get progress is open for all human.

 

[randomvim]

"... rather than disproving God’s existence, the reality of evil actually points to it, in an indirect way. If evil exists, then it follows that morality exists. If morality exists, then it follows that God exists."

I agree issue in this conversation is difficult as we may not agree with or understand in whole what certain things are. At best I may direct to more articulate readings. Following links provide such articulation. ..

http://www.catholic.com/blog/matt-fradd/the-problem-of-evil

http://www.catholic.com/magazine/articles/the-problem-of-evil

http://www.catholic.com/radio/shows/the-problem-of-evil-38754

But with any study one must know what is meant by some term uses. what is evil, a thing? etc.

interesting earlier posts. I'll leave y'all to it.

 

[Hawk Flint]

Is a God that is omnipotent, omniscient and all good compatible with a universe that has evil?

Seems like it introduces paradoxes that are impossible to explain. Are there any good responses to this issue, from Abrahamic faiths? I'm actually quite curious about this and if there are any good books or thinkers who have tackled this issue I'd love to know.

This flow chart does a good job of explaining the problem.

This chart is incorrect. One reason is is that evil exists still to glorify
G-d, and to pull out evil at its roots by allowing it to exist for a time. G-d is not tainted by evil, MAN and SATAN are. G-d allows evil to exist for a time in order to teach men what it is, and then destroy it while leaving free will inside of man. The chart says that G-d is not all-powerful if He couldn't make a universe without evil but with free will. He can. But He allows it to exist to bring Himself glory. He brings Himself glory by saving the remnant from His wrath. But only the remnant will be saved, those He has chosen. And this only because He Himself draws them to Him, it is not by works, but by the Law of faith. There is a new creation in those who have the Law of Faith, caused by G-d before we even now about G-d. The Holy Spirit of G-d leads the remnant to G-d by the Law of Faith. The Law of Faith is when our ways are transformed into G-d's way by the transformation He causes in us, showing that it is not by works that we are saved but by He who calls us and transforms us. He doesn't do this for all men.

"Is He unjust then? By no means. He says to Moses,"I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion." And He says to Pharoah,"For this very reason I raised you up, so that I might display my power in you and that my name may be proclaimed across the earth." Therefore, G-d has mercy on whom He wants to have mercy on, and he hardens whom He wants to harden."

"Not only that, but Rebekah’s children were conceived at the same time by Isaac. Yet, before the twins had been born or had done anything good or bad—in order that G-d’s purpose in election might stand: not by works but by He who calls—she was told, “The older shall serve the younger.” Just as it is written: “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated"

"One of you will say to me: “Then why does G-d still blame us? For who is able to resist his will?” But who are you, a human being, to talk back to G-d? “Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it, ‘Why did you make me like this?’” Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for special purposes and some for common use? What if G-d, although choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience the objects of his wrath—prepared for destruction? What if he did this to make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory—even us, whom he also called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles? As he says in Hosea:

“I will call them ‘my people’ who are not my people;
and I will call her ‘my loved one’ who is not my loved one,”

and,

“In the very place where it was said to them,
‘You are not my people,’
there they will be called ‘children of the living G-d.’”

Isaiah cries out concerning Israel:

“Though the number of the Israelites be like the sand by the sea,
only the remnant will be saved.
For the L-RD will carry out
his sentence on earth with speed and finality.”
It is just as Isaiah said previously:

“Unless the L-RD Almighty
had left us descendants,
we would have become like Sodom,
we would have been like Gomorrah.”

So you see, G-d chooses remnants who will bring Him glory, and destroys the rest.

 

[Hawk Flint]

Whoops...I edited this out since I can't delete it. I accidentally sent a response when I was trying to edit my first post.

 

[Hawk Flint]

Did I say something wrong?

 

[Hawk Flint]

Never mind. This is why Christ said,"No one can come unto me unless the Father who has sent me draws them to me..."
And elsewhere He says,"Many are called, but few are chosen"

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

We understand our suffering comes from wrong choices , which go against the will of God.

Where do wrong choices come from?

 

[loverofhumanity]

Where do wrong choices come from?

Wrong choices come from ignorance. These passages from the Buddha is the point I wish to make that it is ignorance not evil that is the cause of wrong choices.

69. As long as the evil deed done does not bear fruit, the fool thinks it is like honey; but when it ripens, then the fool suffers grief.
(Dhamapaddha)

17. The evil-doer suffers in this world, and he suffers in the next; he suffers in both. He suffers when he thinks of the evil he has done; he suffers more when going on the evil path.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

Wrong choices come from ignorance.

And where does ignorance come from?

 

[loverofhumanity]

And where does ignorance come from?

Lack of education

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

Lack of education

And where does that come from?

To get to the point: if God is the ultimate source of everything, then God is the ultimate source of suffering.

Do you think that God is the ultimate source of everything?

 

[loverofhumanity]

And where does that come from?

To get to the point: if God is the ultimate source of everything, then God is the ultimate source of suffering.

Do you think that God is the ultimate source of everything?

Light exists, darkness is the absence of light. A plant in the shade will get less light than a plant in the sun.

By becoming closer to God our suffering lessons just as darkness vanishes where there is more sunlight.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

Light exists, darkness is the absence of light. A plant in the shade will get less light than a plant in the sun.

And when a plant doesn't get enough light, do you blame the plant or the gardener?

 

[loverofhumanity]

And when a plant doesn't get enough light, do you blame the plant or the gardener?

In this case the plant of course as this is metaphorically speaking. So people choosing not to be enlightened through drawing closer to the light remain in the darkness of ignorance and it's accompanying consequences.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

In this case the plant of course as this is metaphorically speaking. So people choosing not to be enlightened through drawing closer to the light remain in the darkness of ignorance and it's accompanying consequences.

But we don't choose the motivations that guide our choices. Eventually, the responsibility has to trace back to God, no?

 

[loverofhumanity]

But we don't choose the motivations that guide our choices. Eventually, the responsibility has to trace back to God, no?

A pure heart with good intent will choose never to do harm or evil. The closer we are to God the more pure our motives become.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

A pure heart with good intent will choose never to do harm or evil. The closer we are to God the more pure our motives become.

Save the platitudes and answer the question.

Is God responsible for his creation or not? If he is, then he's responsible for suffering. If not, then he's not truly sovereign. Which is it?

 

[loverofhumanity]

Save the platitudes and answer the question.

Is God responsible for his creation or not? If he is, then he's responsible for suffering. If not, then he's not truly sovereign. Which is it?

You're trying to get me to agree with your stance which I cannot do as I believe our suffering comes not from God but through disobedience to His Laws.

Yes He created the world and has continually offered us paradise but we have refused it. That is our choice not his decision.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

You're trying to get me to agree with your stance which I cannot do as I believe our suffering comes not from God but through disobedience to His Laws.

And back down the path we go: where did our disobedient spirit come from?

Yes He created the world and has continually offered us paradise but we have refused it. That is our choice not his decision.

If that was really the case, one of two things must be going on:

- God wanted us to accept the offer. Our failure to accept it implies that God was incapable of convincing us.

- God knew his attempts would fail, but he didn't seriously expect us to accept it.

Which is it?

 

[loverofhumanity]

And back down the path we go: where did our disobedient spirit come from?


If that was really the case, one of two things must be going on:

- God wanted us to accept the offer. Our failure to accept it implies that God was incapable of convincing us.

- God knew his attempts would fail, but he didn't seriously expect us to accept it.

Which is it?

We choose often to remain ignorant instead of learning.

God is confident we will turn to Him eventually so He continues to send His Messengers to educate us spiritually. God believes in our goodness and knows that as we come to know and love Him we will follow His Ways and He is willing to wait until that time that we mature.

God is confident we will eventually accept so He is patient with us.