Questions tagged [good-and-evil]
morally positive or negative behaviors, desires, etc.; also for use on questions about the nature of good and/or evil
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How to answer "Why do evil and suffering exist?" [closed]
I believe that evil exists because God gave us free will. Adam and Eve disobeyed God. Because of this The Fall of man happened and drew us away from God. Suffering exists not only because God can ...
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How can a Wholly Good God Deliberately Create Evil?
I think it's pretty universally accepted that God is wholly good. Indeed, many sources, including lots of answers on this website, are based on the belief that God is the perfect standard of goodness....
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How do proponents of the “free-will defense” against the problem of evil explain that God can be free and immune to moral evil at the same time?
The free-will defense is an argument commonly attributed to Alvin Plantinga, who developed it as a response to the logical problem of evil. However, in developing this argument Plantinga unwittingly ...
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How do Christians that believe in creatio ex nihilo answer the question of why human beings are not created with a perfect character from the outset?
This question is a spin-off of the previous discussion How do proponents of the “free-will defense” against the problem of evil explain that God can be free and immune to moral evil at the same time?.
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What are counterexamples to the position that Christian morality is ultimately utilitarian (i.e., that God is utilitarian)?
I personally believe that Christian morality is ultimately utilitarian. I see God as a utilitarian genius that is doing His best to guide His creation towards maximum utility, subject to certain ...
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Is an action morally good because God commands it, or does God command it because it is good? [closed]
The christian morality derives from God, and God is benevolent so whatever he commands is morally good. Does that mean that anything God does or commands is morally right? Or does God only act and ...
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What are Christian responses to the Logical Problem of Evil?
The following is a more succinct presentation of the Logical Problem of Evil based on the original presentation found in the introduction of the article Logical Problem of Evil | Internet Encyclopedia ...
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Are love and hate in a harmonious balance within God? [closed]
I am referring to this fascinating (and accepted) answer of Jonathon Byrd where he proves by the Bible that God is also the God of hate:
Psalm 5:5 (NKJV)
The boastful shall not stand in Your sight; ...
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What are Christian responses to William Rowe's formulation of the Evidential Problem of Evil?
Previously, I inquired on What are Christian responses to the Logical Problem of Evil?. Now, I would like to shift the focus to Christian responses to the Evidential Problem of Evil. For an in-depth ...
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Are good and evil in Christianity ultimately based on maximizing wellbeing and minimizing suffering? [closed]
Let me illustrate with a few examples.
Examples of good in Christianity:
Love: it's evident that love feels good and promotes behaviors that make others feel good. Therefore, love ranks very high on ...
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Can man judge whether God is fair? [closed]
Over and over I hear people pronouncing in one way or another that God is "not fair"*. Sometimes this is stated directly, other times indirectly as in "that doesn't seem fair, therefore God must not ...
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According to Calvinists, how could Adam and Eve fall? How could Satan fall?
Under Calvinism, men under grace are guaranteed to choose God and be saved.
If God's holy influence is so convincing, that it is impossible for free thinking creations to choose against it, why did ...
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What would be a typical Christian Pacifist response to 'rampant evil' - say in the form of large scale terrorism?
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing. - Edmund Burke
Do Christian Pacifists tend to argue against the sense of Burke's famous quote by affirming God's ...
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Without God is there only evil?
The Bible says in a few places that God does only good things and is full of only goodness: James 1:13 - 1 John 1:5 - 1 Corinthians 14:33. I think we can Biblically support very well that God is not ...
user3961
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Do Calvinists believe that God is the author of evil?
"Arminius taught that Calvinist predestination and unconditional election made God the author of evil." -Wikipedia
I have heard Calvinism presented in a similar way, where God has designed everything ...
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What traditions hold that Satan is not actually a person?
I heard somewhere (can't remember where) that Satan is more of a term than a person. In other words, Satan is not so much a fallen angel, person, or being, but rather a designation for evil.
Is this ...
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When did sin and evil in the universe first appear?
According to Catholicism and Protestantism (I am not aware of any division over this) When did evil in the universe first appear and what was the originating cause of it?
Note: I mean the immediate ...
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What is the basis for the Christadelphian belief that Satan is not a personal being?
The Christadelphians teach that the devil/Satan is not a personal being but an analogy for describing sin.
What is their Biblical defense for such a theology?
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Is God capable of ever doing wrong? [closed]
Does Christianity definitively state that the God can never do wrong? If so, where is this stated?
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How do Latter-day Saints answer the question of why human beings are not created with a perfect character from the outset?
This question is a spin-off of the previous discussion How do proponents of the “free-will defense” against the problem of evil explain that God can be free and immune to moral evil at the same time?.
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How could Adam and Eve have known not to eat from the Tree of Good and Evil? [closed]
How could Adam and Eve have known not to eat from the Tree of Good and Evil? As it was said that Adam and Eve did not know right from wrong.
Genesis 3:22:
And the LORD God said, "The man has now ...
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Did God create evil? [duplicate]
I would like to assume some points before asking the main questions.
God did not have a beginning.
God created everything. Not just tangible things but even dreams and imaginations.
There is evil and ...
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How can we defend our faith against the "Argument from Evil" or "Problem of Evil"? [duplicate]
Of all of the arguments against the Bible from a stance of pure logic which I have ever heard, the only one which seems to be able to stand up to honest, logical scrutiny in even the smallest way is ...
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Do Christians believe that God chose to create the "best possible world" among multiple/infinite alternatives, by maximizing a "Goodness" function?
Do Christians (or at least a well-known subset of them) believe that God chose to create the "best possible world" among multiple/infinite alternatives, and therefore, that we are living in ...
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Explain the last sentence in Matthew 6:34 [closed]
Matthew 6:25-34 gives Christ's admonition not to "give thought for your life" what to eat, drink or wear. He says to trust God to take care of us, as He does the birds and flowers. Verse 34 says,
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Do any Christian versions of 'Just War Theory' address cases in which foes exploit the principles of Just War to their own advantage?
The ends justify the means. - attributed (perhaps unjustly) to Niccolo Machiavelli
Christian proponents of Just War Theory would surely reject the quote above as being entirely antithetical to their ...
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What aspects of normal human behavior have people mistaken as the work of the flesh?
In Galatians 5, Paul helps us understand the work of the flesh, such as in verse 17:
"For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for ...
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Latter-day Saint understanding of James 1:13-15, God's omnibenevolence and God's free will?
In my previous question How do proponents of the “free-will defense” against the problem of evil explain that God can be free and immune to moral evil at the same time?, I presented the following ...
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According to Christian ethical views other than Divine Command Theory, what exactly made Adam and Eve's eating the forbidden fruit evil?
For scoping purposes, let's assume that Divine Command Theory is false. This means that explanations of the form "X is evil because God said so" would be out of scope. Having clarified that, ...
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