God: A Made Up Entity? Essay, Research Paper
God, supernatural being or a myth? That is the question that this paper will try to answer. This paper will try to prove that the supernatural being known as god truly does exist. In doing so, I will use an argument, by Elliot Sober, which tries to prove that God’s existence is merely a myth and refute that argument. In the end proving that God truly exists.
(1) If God were to exist, then that being would be all-powerful, all-knowing, and all-good (all-PKG for short).
(2) If an all-PKG being existed, then there would be no evil.
(3) There is evil.
Hence, there is no God.
This argument by Elliot Sober is a valid one when examined at a deductive point of view. Yet, when this argument is analyzed inductively, it becomes an invalid argument. Sober made some good points in this argument but I will attempt to refute premiss (2) and (3) to prove that an all-PKG God exists.
In premiss (2) of the argument from evil, Sober says that “if an all-PKG being existed, then there would be no evil.” Deductively, this premiss seems to be true but Sober forgets another being could have created evil. This other being could be the one and only, well renowned Satan. Satan is another being that is believed to be all-powerful, all-knowing, but not all-good. Since Satan posses these magnificent attributes then he too could not have created a few things, such as evil or maybe even the universe. If Satan created the universe then God also has to exist, if he doesn’t then who would have created goodness in the universe? Sober’s argument states as its conclusion that there is no God, but this refusal proves that God does exist, whether or not he created the universe.
In premiss (3) of the argument from evil, Sober states that evil exists. Evil does exist but what exactly is evil? If you define evil as something that you do not like, then evil can be someone making a batch of raisin oatmeal cookies. If you define evil as suffering, then having to eat lima beans and liver for dinner can be considered evil. Premiss (3) depends on how the word evil is being defined. The Judeo-Christian definition of evil is anything done by one of god’s spirits beings against him or his created beings. This definition provided by the Judeo-Christian religion proves that God, himself, is never responsible for evil. It is God’s spirited beings that are held responsible and control evil. This proves that God is still an all-PKG being because he is not responsible for the evil placed on the universe he created.
Going back to premiss (3) of the argument from evil, Sober states that evil exists. Once again evil must be clarified. We must ask the question: what actions are considered evil? If killing is considered evil then death is a cause of evil. Yet death is required for the beings on earth to survive. If the created beings of god did not die then the carbon on earth would be regulated only to the living beings; this in turn would cause the loss of photosynthesis. Without photosynthesis no oxygen will be produced causing all beings on earth to expire. So death and killing are a necessity on earth, and evil is not. This means that death and killing cannot be considered evil because evil is not a necessity and death and killing are.
If death and killing are not considered evil, then what is? Inflicting pain must surely be evil. Inflicting pain is putting your hand near a fire or poking someone with something sharp. If god took away pain because it was evil then the beings on earth would definitely not survive. Say for example you put your hand close to the
You might then say that inflicting slow unnecessary pain and torturing on someone else is considered evil. Well God created the universe without his main intention being that of creating a good universe. God created the universe as a testing site for all beings to explore their free-will, mainly to choose to love God or not. In order to love, free-will must exist or else love is then controlled and no longer considered love. With this free-will, God allows evil to be present because without evil, love cannot then be defined. Also if evil is not available then there is no other option and love can no longer be defined. With no other option available, free-will is no longer granted. Also an object that is controlled, such as a microwave, a blow dryer, or even a robot, cannot love like that of a being acting under free-will. This is because the controlled object has no choice so it is not love, nor is it evil that he feels. So God wanted there to be some evil present in the earth because that is the reason he created the universe, to have free-will exist. God wanted there to be free-will because along with free-will comes evil and love. That is what God ultimately wanted, the created beings to have the free-will of whether or not to love him.
Looking back at the argument from evil and premiss (2), Sober says that “if an all-PKG being existed, then there would be no evil.” This statement is also untrue because another supernatural being exists, in the name of Satan, and he created evil. God is considered all-good and still is all-good because he did not create evil. Yet does being all-good mean that he has to eliminate all evil in the universe. Let’s say that it does mean that God has to eliminate evil. The Bible states that God exists in another dimension, “Behold, heaven and the highest heavens cannot contain Thee?” (Kings 8:27) and “the Almighty is beyond our reach.” (Job 37:23) Since god exists in another dimension and he has to eliminate evil, this would mean that he would have to suspend the universe because of the different dimensions. Because there is evil apparent in the universe every second this would mean that God too would have to suspend the universe every second, just to eliminate all the evil. If God suspended the universe this also means that he has to suspend the law of physics of the universe. With the universe and the law of physics being suspended so often chaos and unpredictability will be apparent in the universe. God does not want the chaos and the unpredictability to affect the universe and the beings located in it because the beings will then be confused. The beings becoming confused will not make the universe an ideal site for God’s goal of creating a universe that will love God, or not. So that is why God does not eliminate evil in the universe.
God, supernatural being or myth? This paper hopefully proved to all the non believers that a God truly does exist and yes he is all-PKG. Did he create the universe? That cannot be proven for sure but a God does exist.
Bibliography
References
The Bible
Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Vol. 4. New York: Routledge Firm, 1998.
Sober, Elliot. Core Questions in Philosophy. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1995.