Monotheistic Argument Essay

“Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil? Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?” These are the sage remarks of the third century BCE Greek philosopher Epicurus who founded the school of philosophy called Epicureanism. He taught the purpose of life was to obtain tranquility and peace with the avoidance of pain and suffering. Epicurus rejected the idea of an all-powerful and all-loving God. His assertion has become the platform on which many skeptics of religion stand on and have used to question the co-existence of God and evil. If God is omnipotent, then he has the power to prevent evil from occurring. If God is omnibenevolent, is he able to prevent evil but not willing? So, if God is both able and willing, then why does evil exist? This notion paints a contrasting picture on the canvas that’s monotheistic religions. The three major monotheistic religions …show more content…
Leibniz offered an explanation to the problem of evil. He believed that despite all the suffering in the world, we are living in the best of all possible worlds. Since God is omnipotent, anytime a catastrophic event occurs, it is not because God was idle. God allowed the event to occur as a means to prevent a more terrible event from occurring. This belief offers some comfort to those dealing with grievances. However, to say that God is in control of everything in the universe is hard to fathom. In saying so, one should take cognizance of the idea that some things do happen for no reason, that there is randomness in the universe. These pockets of chaos aren’t God’s handiwork, it’s simply the universe following the firm laws of nature, but every now and then, there are events that happen that seem to break outside the laws of nature. Nonetheless, this idea fails to understand that God has prerogatives that are unknown to