Lecture 07 Notes

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The Argument Against Western Theism: Reason to Doubt that a Christian God Exists

Christianity assumes God is omniscient, omnipotent, perfectly good, and loves us.
Massive evil exists.
1. Moral Evil=Suffering caused by us (e.g., murder)
2. Natural Evil=Suffering caused by nature (e.g., hurricanes)
3. Both of these kinds of evil clearly exist.
God and evil are inconsistent.
1. Unpacking the Premise:
  - God would know about suffering (omniscient).
  - God could have prevented suffering (omnipotent).
  - God would want to prevent suffering (loving, perfectly good).
  - Therefore, it seems that the existence of God is inconsistent with the existence of suffering.
2. What sort of inconsistency?
  - Strong: Logical Inconsistency--It is not possible that God and evil coexist. (Problematic--It is difficult to support this strong of a claim.)
  - Weak: Evidential Inconsistency--It is not likely that God and evil coexist.
Therefore, either God or evil doesn't exist.
The existence of evil is indisputable.
1. Suffering of both forms clearly exists.
2. If we know anything, we know that evil exists.
Therefore, the God of Christianity does not exist.
1. Like the teleological argument for God, this argument is based on the nature of the world.
2. This is in contrast with the ontological argument which is based on a priori knowledge.

Copyright 2009, by the Contributing Authors. Cite/attribute Resource. Ramsey, W. (2006, September 19). Lecture 07 Notes. Retrieved November 23, 2009, from Notre Dame OpenCourseWare Web site: http://ocw.nd.edu/philosophy/introduction-to-philosophy-1/lectures/lecture-07-notes. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

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Lecture 07 Notes

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	Info Lecture 07 Notes Document Actions — filed under: Introduction to Philosophy, Philosophy The Argument Against Western Theism: Reason to Doubt that a Christian God Exists Christianity assumes God is omniscient, omnipotent, perfectly good, and loves us. Massive evil exists. Moral Evil=Suffering caused by us (e.g., murder) Natural Evil=Suffering caused by nature (e.g., hurricanes) Both of these kinds of evil clearly exist. God and evil are inconsistent. Unpacking the Premise: God would know about suffering (omniscient). God could have prevented suffering (omnipotent). God would want to prevent suffering (loving, perfectly good). Therefore, it seems that the existence of God is inconsistent with the existence of suffering. What sort of inconsistency? Strong: Logical Inconsistency--It is not possible that God and evil coexist. (Problematic--It is difficult to support this strong of a claim.) Weak: Evidential Inconsistency--It is not likely that God and evil coexist. Therefore, either God or evil doesn't exist. The existence of evil is indisputable. Suffering of both forms clearly exists. If we know anything, we know that evil exists. Therefore, the God of Christianity does not exist. Like the teleological argument for God, this argument is based on the nature of the world. This is in contrast with the ontological argument which is based on a priori knowledge. Copyright 2009, by the Contributing Authors. Cite/attribute Resource. Ramsey, W. (2006, September 19). Lecture 07 Notes. Retrieved November 23, 2009, from Notre Dame OpenCourseWare Web site: http://ocw.nd.edu/philosophy/introduction-to-philosophy-1/lectures/lecture-07-notes. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.