Problem of evil is weak

[SGOS]

"God is only faking non-existence." I'll take that notion to my grave. Thanks.

There's a line in a Woody Allen movie, "God does not play dice with the universe.  He plays hide and seek."

[Mike Cl]

There's a line in a Woody Allen movie, "God does not play dice with the universe.  He plays hide and seek."

I missed that movie, but I do love that quote!!

[Solomon Zorn]

There's a line in a Woody Allen movie, "God does not play dice with the universe.  He plays hide and seek."

You should enjoy this one:

"Hide and Seek"
http://www.solomonzorn.com/hide-and-seek.html

[aitm]

Samson is a "hero" but for what? He killed thousands due to him losing a tunic over a bad riddle? Wow.

[SGOS]

I missed that movie, but I do love that quote!!

I think it was from Play it Again Sam.

[Mike Cl]

I think it was from Play it Again Sam.

I'll have to check it out.

[SGOS]

I'll have to check it out.

It's just a line Woody mentions in passing.  It might be in response to a random comment on the radio where someone repeats the famous Einstein quote.  The movie is about your typical Woody Allen neurotic that has this imaginary ongoing dialog with Humphrey Bogart, who coaches him on relating to women.  It's typical early Allen comedy.  I have watched the movie several times, but Woody Allen is not everyone's cup of tea.

[winterland78]

I accidentally voted the wrong way in the poll. I misread what it said. Can I vote again, please? Thanks everybody.

[Ace101]

The problem of evil is used a lot as an argument against god. I find this surprising. The argument is weak because it requires specific points to be true.

Problem of evil formulated:
A: God X is real
P1) God X says that Y is evil
P2) God X is All-Powerful
P3) God X is All-Knowing
P4) God X is All-Loving
P5) Y exists
C1) P1-P5 entails a contradiction
C2) A is false

Replace God X with any specific god where P1-P5 remains true about that god, then that god cannot exist.

It does not work on the majority of possible gods. Too many points have to be true about the god you are talking about in order for the argument to work. It does nothing against a god that is not all loving. Nothing against a god that is not all knowing. Nothing against a god that is not all powerful. Nothing against a god that does not find anything evil.

It is, overall, a weak argument.

This is true - it's only valid against certain theistic concepts of god.

It doesn't apply to deism at all, for example.

[Brian37]

Take your made up crap, replace the god you are trying to defend, replace it with Allah or Yahweh or Vishnu or Thor or Apollo, and see if your made up crap still makes sense to you.

[Solomon Zorn]

It does not work on the majority of possible gods. Too many points have to be true about the god you are talking about in order for the argument to work. It does nothing against a god that is not all loving. Nothing against a god that is not all knowing. Nothing against a god that is not all powerful. Nothing against a god that does not find anything evil.

The majority of POSSIBLE gods is irrelevant. The specific BELIEVED-IN god is all that is relevant to any particular argument. It is a case by case basis, but usually it is a good argument.

[Mister Agenda]

It targets the gods in which the most theists actually believe.

[Notthesun]

The POE is a specialized argument. While it first came about with the Greeks, it wasn't sharpened until JL Mackie came about. It is an argument focused on the traditional theistic God. That would be like saying an argument against the divinity of Jesus Christ does not work against Vishnu. NO SHIT.

[Ace101]

The problem of evil is used a lot as an argument against god. I find this surprising. The argument is weak because it requires specific points to be true.

Problem of evil formulated:
A: God X is real
P1) God X says that Y is evil
P2) God X is All-Powerful
P3) God X is All-Knowing
P4) God X is All-Loving
P5) Y exists
C1) P1-P5 entails a contradiction
C2) A is false

Replace God X with any specific god where P1-P5 remains true about that god, then that god cannot exist.

It does not work on the majority of possible gods. Too many points have to be true about the god you are talking about in order for the argument to work. It does nothing against a god that is not all loving. Nothing against a god that is not all knowing. Nothing against a god that is not all powerful. Nothing against a god that does not find anything evil.

It is, overall, a weak argument.

Problem of Evil doesn't work against Deism either. Because a Deistic God is not necessarily "omnipotent".

[josephpalazzo]

The problem of evil is used a lot as an argument against god. I find this surprising. The argument is weak because it requires specific points to be true.

Problem of evil formulated:
A: God X is real
P1) God X says that Y is evil
P2) God X is All-Powerful
P3) God X is All-Knowing
P4) God X is All-Loving
P5) Y exists
C1) P1-P5 entails a contradiction
C2) A is false

Replace God X with any specific god where P1-P5 remains true about that god, then that god cannot exist.

It does not work on the majority of possible gods. Too many points have to be true about the god you are talking about in order for the argument to work. It does nothing against a god that is not all loving. Nothing against a god that is not all knowing. Nothing against a god that is not all powerful. Nothing against a god that does not find anything evil.

It is, overall, a weak argument.

You have to consider that an All-Powerful, All-Knowing, All-Loving God might want evil to exist, for whatever reasons, and so the conclusion C2 does not follow. The syllogism is badly constructed and therefore its conclusion is invalid.