How do you reconcile the problem of evil?

[Me Myself]

I dont.

God is not "good" "or" "bad" in the conventional sense to me.

God contains all, s/he is both "good" and "bad" and more importantly, s/he is beyond.

When someone suffers in the hnds of someone, it is God suffering at the hands of God.

Ultimately, it is all Lila

 

[Sand Dancer]

I guess I have the view that God is good and Satan, or whoever you want to call it, is evil. God is all good and love.

 

[Willamena]

It works the other way around. The concept of God isn't made to fit the logic. The God is posited first and then the logic follows.

The alternatives allowed in your option #1 are god concepts made to fit the logic.

 

[SonofSonofGod]

The Simple answer is that God is both good and evil. Whatever we imagined he imagined first, yet he became flesh and gave his life to overcome his own evil he created so that he could also overcome death itself when he could have let us all die or chose to not create us in the first place.

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

The Simple answer is that God is both good and evil.

You confuse simple with simplistic.

 

[sandandfoam]

I have not solved the problem of evil. I struggle with it. At different times I have different thoughts about it.
Yet I see God everywhere.

 

[BruceDLimber]

I ask believers how they reconcile the problem of evil.

From the Baha'i scriptures:


"Chapter 74.

"THE NONEXISTENCE OF EVIL

“The true explanation of this subject is very difficult. Know that beings are of two kinds: material and spiritual, those perceptible to the senses and those intellectual.
“Things which are sensible are those which are perceived by the five exterior senses; thus those outward existences which the eyes see are called sensible. Intellectual things are those which have no outward existence but are conceptions of the mind. For example, mind itself is an intellectual thing which has no outward existence. All man's characteristics and qualities form an intellectual existence and are not sensible.
“Briefly, the intellectual realities, such as all the qualities and admirable perfections of man, are purely good, and exist. Evil is simply their nonexistence. So ignorance is the want of knowledge; error is the want of guidance; forgetfulness is the want of memory; stupidity is the want of good sense. All these things have no real existence.
“In the same way, the sensible realities are absolutely good, and evil is due to their nonexistence—that is to say, blindness is the want of sight, deafness is the want of hearing, poverty is the want of wealth, illness is the want of health, death is the want of life, and weakness is the want of strength.
“Nevertheless a doubt occurs to the mind—that is, scorpions and serpents are poisonous. Are they good or evil, for they are existing beings? Yes, a scorpion is evil in relation to man; a serpent is evil in relation to man; but in relation to themselves they are not evil, for their poison is their weapon, and by their sting they defend themselves. But as the elements of their poison do not agree with our elements—that is to say, as there is antagonism between these different elements, therefore, this antagonism is evil; but in reality as regards themselves they are good.
“The epitome of this discourse is that it is possible that one thing in relation to another may be evil, and at the same time within the limits of its proper being it may not be evil. Then it is proved that there is no evil in existence; all that God created He created good. This evil is nothingness; so death is the absence of life. When man no longer receives life, he dies. Darkness is the absence of light: when there is no light, there is darkness. Light is an existing thing, but darkness is nonexistent. Wealth is an existing thing, but poverty is nonexisting.
“Then it is evident that all evils return to nonexistence. Good exists; evil is nonexistent.”
— Some Answered Questions, pp. 282-284

 

[Koldo]

Yes and how can something relative have objective meaning? I suppose God doesn't have to be that way, but bring up a God concept like that and at most it's worth a laugh.

How could it not have an objective meaning? What do you even mean by 'objective' ?

 

[Koldo]

Evil exists only in the minds of humans. Remove the human race from the earth and evil will not exist. Only nature. Nothing is evil in nature. Come to think about it, would god still exist without humans?

You have yet to hear about the natural evil, right?

 

[Koldo]

Life is eternal but 'Problem of Evil' believers view things from the limited perspective that life begins at birth and ends at death.The natural illusion.

I try to look at life from the perspective that life is eternal and we are in the process of learning that. We live as individuals for eons and not one life. We all return to godhead in the end. If one could see one's life from separation from godhead through the eons to return to godhead then things make more sense. What we see as evil are very short temporary events in the grand scheme of things where each individual story ends in success; return to peace/bliss/awareness of godhead.

How many times have i told you that saying 'evil is temporary' is not a proper answer to the matter? Seriously, i have lost the count.

 

[Willamena]

Relegating parts of your problem into non-existence is never a solution to your problem.

 

[George-ananda]

How many times have i told you that saying 'evil is temporary' is not a proper answer to the matter? Seriously, i have lost the count.

Well, how many times have I told you that you fail to grasp a non-dualistic worldview. Seriously, I have lost the count.

The 'Problem of Evil' doesn't exist in non-dualistic thought. You think within a western theological box with those assumptions.. God/Brahman may not be as incompetent as you want to think, He might be smarter than Koldo.

 

[idea]

Simple -
some evil is there to refine us (refined in the fire etc.) ~ pride is torn down by humbling someone, materialism is put in it's proper place by taking away material goods, sexual immorality is punished with heartache fatherless children etc.... consequence for one's actions are often called evil, when consequences are really there to refine a make us into better people.


some evil is there so that we can have pity and empathy for those who are being refined.... we all have issues to overcome, no one is perfect, rather than looking down on someone who is struggling with this or that consequence, sometimes "good people" experience similar trials to "not-yet-refined" people. Walk a mile in another's shoes to know them so you can best help them - so we all experience health issues, loss of loved ones, persecution, natural disasters etc. etc. that help us have compassion on others who experience the same things. Evil is the great equalizer.

the atonement is the ultimate example of "why bad things happen to good people" - Jesus was good, and bad things happened to him, the point of it? he felt our pain, and was therefore able to have compassion and understanding of us.


some evil is there to give us appreciation for what is good.
Who appreciates good food the most? Some who has been starving, or someone who has lived in the lap of luxury their whole life? "You don't know what you've got until it's gone", "absence makes the heart grow fonder"... opposites define one another, we know what light is by comparing it to something dark, we know what good is by comparing it to something evil. Good and evil, right and wrong, left and right, up and down - these are all relative terms that do not exist without one another.

Free will - would not exist if we were not given the freedom to choose evil actions.

etc. etc.

 

[Skwim]

Evil exists only in the minds of humans.

Only if humans are the only thing capable of evil.

 

[Koldo]

Simple -
some evil is there to refine us (refined in the fire etc.) ~ pride is torn down by humbling someone, materialism is put in it's proper place by taking away material goods, sexual immorality is punished with heartache fatherless children etc.... consequence for one's actions are often called evil, when consequences are really there to refine a make us into better people.


some evil is there so that we can have pity and empathy for those who are being refined.... we all have issues to overcome, no one is perfect, rather than looking down on someone who is struggling with this or that consequence, sometimes "good people" experience similar trials to "not-yet-refined" people. Walk a mile in another's shoes to know them so you can best help them - so we all experience health issues, loss of loved ones, persecution, natural disasters etc. etc. that help us have compassion on others who experience the same things. Evil is the great equalizer.

the atonement is the ultimate example of "why bad things happen to good people" - Jesus was good, and bad things happened to him, the point of it? he felt our pain, and was therefore able to have compassion and understanding of us.


some evil is there to give us appreciation for what is good.
Who appreciates good food the most? Some who has been starving, or someone who has lived in the lap of luxury their whole life? "You don't know what you've got until it's gone", "absence makes the heart grow fonder"... opposites define one another, we know what light is by comparing it to something dark, we know what good is by comparing it to something evil. Good and evil, right and wrong, left and right, up and down - these are all relative terms that do not exist without one another.

Free will - would not exist if we were not given the freedom to choose evil actions.

etc. etc.

Except an omnipotent God could possibly create everyone in such a manner that there would be no need to refine us...

 

[Riverwolf]

Only if humans are the only thing capable of evil.

Far as we can tell, humans are the only thing capable of conceiving evil.

 

[Penumbra]

I've not really seen any defense against the PoE, whether it's an afterlife or some cultivation of virtue, which makes flesh eating bacteria, brain-eating amoebas, endless predator/prey natural systems, horrible birth defects, or the possibility for prolonged unbearable torture, things that are beneficial to exist.

 

[nazz]

Simple -
some evil is there to refine us (refined in the fire etc.) ~ pride is torn down by humbling someone, materialism is put in it's proper place by taking away material goods, sexual immorality is punished with heartache fatherless children etc.... consequence for one's actions are often called evil, when consequences are really there to refine a make us into better people.


some evil is there so that we can have pity and empathy for those who are being refined.... we all have issues to overcome, no one is perfect, rather than looking down on someone who is struggling with this or that consequence, sometimes "good people" experience similar trials to "not-yet-refined" people. Walk a mile in another's shoes to know them so you can best help them - so we all experience health issues, loss of loved ones, persecution, natural disasters etc. etc. that help us have compassion on others who experience the same things. Evil is the great equalizer.

the atonement is the ultimate example of "why bad things happen to good people" - Jesus was good, and bad things happened to him, the point of it? he felt our pain, and was therefore able to have compassion and understanding of us.


some evil is there to give us appreciation for what is good.
Who appreciates good food the most? Some who has been starving, or someone who has lived in the lap of luxury their whole life? "You don't know what you've got until it's gone", "absence makes the heart grow fonder"... opposites define one another, we know what light is by comparing it to something dark, we know what good is by comparing it to something evil. Good and evil, right and wrong, left and right, up and down - these are all relative terms that do not exist without one another.

Free will - would not exist if we were not given the freedom to choose evil actions.

etc. etc.

Do these three "somes" equal an "all"? Because I can think of suffering that does not fall into that category such as what infants or animals experience.

Also if your third point is valid would that not make heaven a boring place?

 

[idea]

Except an omnipotent God could possibly create everyone in such a manner that there would be no need to refine us...

I believe that God is cleaning up a mess that He did not create. (I subscribe to the original meaning of the word create - which means organize/transform what eternally exists)

 

[idea]

Do these three "somes" equal an "all"? Because I can think of suffering that does not fall into that category such as what infants or animals experience.

I would not call it an "all", to understand all reasons, we would need to see beyond this short mortal existence to how everything fits together eternally - and to understand the effects which reach beyond the individual (it's not just a matter of what the infant experiences, but what their parents/friends/society experience through watching them - we learn from other's pain as we learn from our own.)

Also if your third point is valid would that not make heaven a boring place?

The ultimate heaven for me is to become a God - to become a parent able to advance other spirits through the university of life, and to increase in love/understanding - the ultimate close relationships of being united in one heart and one mind with others - as there is no upper bound to love, no upper bound to creation etc. etc. I believe heaven will be anything but boring, with lots of ups and downs - the highest highs (and like the atonement, the lowest lows)