Problems of Evil in Theism: A Philosophical View

Philosophical Similarities & Differences Between The Three Pieces of Literature?

1. The Plight of the New Atheism (By Gary C. Habermas)
2. Reasonable Faith: Christian Truth and Apologetics (By William Craig)
3. Suffering: Richard Dawkins Contra Jesus (By Tom Thomas)

In all three readings there is one philosophical theme that is emphasized toward theism and not existentialism (the philosophical view that meaning in life is defined by the person) The idea of life without God is absolutely meaningless and that The Biblical narrative is a much more practical option for meaning, value and purpose and the reason for evil and suffering. We see this in The Absurdity of Life Without God where the book of Ecclesiastes referenced to life as being “ vanity of vanities” and meaningless without God and towards the end, we see that Christianity gives us a firm foundation for having eternal life and for having morals (Craig. p.87).

In The Plight of the New Atheism, again we see purpose in meaning when we look at it from a Biblical point of view: “ It is much easier to answer problems of evil and suffering and even purpose, meaning, the value from within a theistic (and especially Christian) worldview.”( Habermas. p.283) In Richard Dawkins Suffering: Richard Dawkins Contra Jesus there is sort of a duel going on between both sides ( Atheism and Theism) where The Absurdity Without God is one-sided (theistic). In both of these readings, we see Dawkins arguing that “ DNA is mindless essentially ( Thomas. 2018) and that it works strictly from an evolutionary view, but in the end, pointing towards Jesus as the goal of our suffering and not for a naturalistic philosophical view.

Can Life Have Objective Meaning Without God?

To have objective meaning in life without God is impossible and is not logical. Before explaining my answer, it is important to define exactly what objective meaning is. Oxford defines objective in the adjective sense as impartial, unbiased, neutral, or fair-minded toward something.

Let me make a simple example:

(a) God is the source of all ultimate experience, purpose, and meaning.
(b) God does not exist
(c) Therefore, every day I wake up and go to sleep, feeling completely satisfied; knowing I have everything money, friends, family, an executive office at Disney, and a 7.5 million dollar beach house on the Pacific Coast.

This might be a poor example, but it contradicts itself. If God doesn’t exist, then all of this is meaningless. What does any of this matter if in the end there is nothing? In other words, we see this in “The Absurdity of Life” where God beautifully captures this. “ The Horror of modern Man is: because he ends in nothing, he is nothing.” (Craig. p.73).

Without God, we also lose any objective meaning toward morals and how we live. If there is no God, who can be fair on what is really good or bad? There is no standard or reason to measure morality. In this view who is to say homosexuality or that infanticide is wrong? “ The Concept of morality loses all meaning without God ”. ( Craig. p.75)

Could Life Be “Good” Without Objective Meaning?

I want to start off answering this question by giving a real-life example of a friend in college who I work with. I have asked him how do you enjoy life if you don’t believe in God or what Jesus offers salvation. His exact response is “ I create my own meaning. This idea captures the idea of relativism and The Human Predicament we see in The Absurdity of Life Without God. “ The dilemma of modern man is truly terrible. The atheistic worldview is insufficient to maintain a happy and consistent life” ( Craig. p85). More and more young people in our Generation are believing what is called the “ Noble Lie” in that you can be duped into believing certain things that make for their good. The Illuminati is a classic example of a cult that endorses the “ Noble Lie” and that good being obtained without some objective meaning. Imagine life, every day without something greater or ultimate purpose. It would depressing and absolute doom. God still is there, whether some know it or not. “ And we know that God works All things together for the good of those who love him, according to his purpose.” ( Romans 8:28) God is what defines good and his purpose gives us objective meaning.

Conclusion Regarding The Problem of Evil:

What effect do your conclusions regarding the problem of evil have, in your view, on the philosophical case for God’s existence? There is one quote that I believe helps explain this in The Plight of The New Atheism. “We cannot have it both ways: we can accept absolute morality and face the strong Probability of the theistic universe, or we can deny it and acknowledge that we cannot lay Evil at God’s feet, for there would be no such thing as objectively recognized wickedness. Either way, atheism receives a serious blow.” ( Habermas. p823) I believe if anything evil and suffering point us toward God and make us stronger.

If we didn’t suffer and experience evil, we wouldn’t look for hope in something more good and perfect for meaning. Godal lowed evil at the cross upon his only son; so we could have eternal life. It was finished there. Jesus “ endured the cross for the joy set before him.”( Hebrews 12:2).

Written By: Matthew Corbi, August 15, 2019 (Liberty University)

Bibliography:

The Holy Bible. Updated New American Standard Bible: Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1999.

Habermas, Gary C. The Plight of the New Atheism: A Critique. Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society: p813-27. 2008.

Craig, William Lane. Reasonable Faith: Christian Truth and Apologetics, 3rd Ed., Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2008, 71-90.

Thomas, Tom. Suffering: Richard Dawkins Contra Jesus. Moral Apologetics.com: 2008