Quote:
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Nullifidian wrote
either God is not omnipresent, or
evil can exist in God's presence, or
evil does not exist,
or God does not exist.
1. God exists.
2. God is omnipresent.
3. Evil cannot exist in the presence of God.
4. Evil exists.
Therefore,
At least one of the above four propositions cannot be true.
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The proposition that is not true is 3)
Theists readily admit that God allows evil. Depending on who you ask you will get a different answer, but I think the argument with the most force is also the most perplexing one, because it makes sense, but at the same time it doesn't (if
that makes any sense)
the argument being, that there can't be good without evil; there cannot be happiness without suffering.
I think that this argument is valid, but at the same time it does not make evil=good, it does not make true=false.
Its a matter of how you define perfect. Indeed, it is questionable if saying that any entity including God could be morally perfect.
In other words, this argument is the problem of evil disguised as something that would contradict omnipresence. The argument that there cannot be good without evil is not really the argument that most theists will make. They will probably say that God allows evil for greater good. Another thing they might say is "God doesn't cause evil, Satan does". I always have to chuckle when I think of little devils like the one on my avatar running around. I guess that's not really an argument for why doesn't God stop satan from being evil blah blah blah