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    Made withinDC&Austin
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    God cannot be the agent of evil — Carmelics
    Home/Problem of Evil
    HistoryEditSee Inverse

    God cannot be the agent of evil

    Against an aspect of GodProblem of Evil
    ?Rate how convincing each reason is below to see the overall strength.
    1 reason for
    2 reasons against

    Reasons For

    1 perspective
    Reason for
    ?
    • 1.Evil found in nature is due to matter
      ?

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    • 2.Evil is a privation, like darkness is the privation of light
      ?

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    • 3.As privation, evil is not-being and cannot be brought about by an agent
      ?

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    Reasons Against

    2 perspectives
    Reason against 1 of 2
    ?
    • 1.God's omnipotence entails that God is the ultimate causal ground of all that exists, including matter and its privative potentialities.
      ?

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    • 2.If God creates and sustains matter knowing it will produce privation, God is the proximate cause of the conditions necessary for evil.
      ?

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    • 3.Causal responsibility does not require directly producing a thing but extends to deliberately instituting the sufficient conditions for its occurrence.
      ?

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    Reason against 2 of 2
    ?
    • 1.Job 45:7 and Isaiah 45:7 explicitly attribute the creation of evil ('ra') to God as a direct divine act, not a mere absence of divine action.
      ?

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    • 2.The privation theory re-describes evil as non-being to exculpate God, but this redescription conflicts with scriptural and phenomenological accounts of evil as a positive force causing suffering.
      ?

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    • 3.A theodicy that requires redefining evil contrary to ordinary experience and revelation sacrifices explanatory adequacy for theological convenience.
      ?

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    Topics

    Problem of EvilAgainst an aspect of God

    Connections

    2 topics

    Causation2 linkedProof of definition segments1 linked

    Related

    A theodicy that requires redefining evil contrary to ordinary experience and rev...As privation, evil is not-being and cannot be brought about by an agentCausal responsibility does not require directly producing a thing but extends to...Evil found in nature is due to matter
    +5 moreShow less
    Evil is a privation, like darkness is the privation of lightGod's omnipotence entails that God is the ultimate causal ground of all that exi...If God creates and sustains matter knowing it will produce privation, God is the...Job 45:7 and Isaiah 45:7 explicitly attribute the creation of evil ('ra') to God...

    Similar

    As privation, evil is not-being and cannot be brought about by an agen...83%If evil does not follow from the essential natures of created things, ...76%God creates beings that are essentially evil.76%If the above is true, God is evil76%

    Source

    AI-extracted1/3 agreementValid
    SEP: abraham-daud
    View source passageHide passage
    The topics that have been discussed thus far are all considered by Ibn Daud to be necessary steps towards the solution of the problem of the freedom of the human will. Towards the end of the book, he finally addresses the issue within the context of a cluster of related problems, such as God’s knowledge, the nature of evil, causality and providence. Ibn Daud’s theory of physical evil is to a large extent based on Ibn Sina’s approach. It is impossible that God should be the agent of evil. The evi
    Extraction notes

    Validity: Extracted via Max plan + API grounding/validity checks

    Details

    The privation theory re-describes evil as non-being to exculpate God, but this r...
    Type
    claim
    Perspectives
    3 (1 for, 2 against)
    Edits
    1 edit