Apparently summer's long, boring nights and days have gotten to me and I've deevolved into writing about philosophical bull****. I even started a new blog, Goddammit. Most of this drivel is crossposted from it (and some is crossposted from my submission to reddit.) Regardless, I thought maybe a few of you would enjoy this.
I've been wondering about God's existence for a long while now. Ever since taking an introductory philosophy course at my university just this last Spring, I've been wondering about the implications of the theistic God as defined by C.S. Lewis. He claims the theistic God is omnibenevolent, omnipotent, and omniscient. Along with this, he adds that God desires our love and our acceptance.
At the very least, I mean to provoke thought by exploring the theistic God outlined in Lewis's own definition.
1. The theistic God exists.
2. The theistic God desires humanity's acceptance.
3. The theistic God works toward a greater good.
4. To accept God, humans must first recognize him and then understand him.
5. Evil Exists.
6. God allows evil in his plan for a greater good.
7. God's reasoning behind his allowance of evil toward his plan of a greater is not apparent.
8. Therefore, a benevolent God who desires our understanding cannot work towards a non-apparent greater good.
9. Therefore, God does not exist.
Notes:
Once again, the definition of God and his will are taken from C. S. Lewis, a prominent Christian theologian. Since he explicity expresses that God desires our understanding, and that God is benevolent, then it must be apparent to us why evil's atrocities exist. However, it is impossible to form a rationale behind why a benevolent God would sacrifice his creations towards a greater good, unless God's reason is impercitable
Assuming God does indeed exist outside humans' capability for logic, then God cannot desire our acceptance because we would be incapable of understanding him. And if he does not desire our acceptance, he is not a theistic God per Lewis's definition.
To reiterate, no God that desires our acceptance could work in mysterious ways. For us to accept him, we must follow a continuum of acceptance: firstly, we rocognize God, and from this recognition stems understanding, and from this understanding stems acceptance. If at any point this continuum is broken, then we cannot accept God. It follows that God cannot both desire our acceptance and work in mysterious ways if he desires our understanding. These two concepts are mutually exclusive because God circumvents our continuum of acceptance by working in mysterious ways, outside our ability to understand. For God to work outside our understanding yet desire our acceptance through understanding is contradictory, so it follows that God, with the aforementioned traits, cannot exist.
I've been wondering about God's existence for a long while now. Ever since taking an introductory philosophy course at my university just this last Spring, I've been wondering about the implications of the theistic God as defined by C.S. Lewis. He claims the theistic God is omnibenevolent, omnipotent, and omniscient. Along with this, he adds that God desires our love and our acceptance.
At the very least, I mean to provoke thought by exploring the theistic God outlined in Lewis's own definition.
1. The theistic God exists.
2. The theistic God desires humanity's acceptance.
3. The theistic God works toward a greater good.
4. To accept God, humans must first recognize him and then understand him.
5. Evil Exists.
6. God allows evil in his plan for a greater good.
7. God's reasoning behind his allowance of evil toward his plan of a greater is not apparent.
8. Therefore, a benevolent God who desires our understanding cannot work towards a non-apparent greater good.
9. Therefore, God does not exist.
Notes:
Once again, the definition of God and his will are taken from C. S. Lewis, a prominent Christian theologian. Since he explicity expresses that God desires our understanding, and that God is benevolent, then it must be apparent to us why evil's atrocities exist. However, it is impossible to form a rationale behind why a benevolent God would sacrifice his creations towards a greater good, unless God's reason is impercitable
Assuming God does indeed exist outside humans' capability for logic, then God cannot desire our acceptance because we would be incapable of understanding him. And if he does not desire our acceptance, he is not a theistic God per Lewis's definition.
To reiterate, no God that desires our acceptance could work in mysterious ways. For us to accept him, we must follow a continuum of acceptance: firstly, we rocognize God, and from this recognition stems understanding, and from this understanding stems acceptance. If at any point this continuum is broken, then we cannot accept God. It follows that God cannot both desire our acceptance and work in mysterious ways if he desires our understanding. These two concepts are mutually exclusive because God circumvents our continuum of acceptance by working in mysterious ways, outside our ability to understand. For God to work outside our understanding yet desire our acceptance through understanding is contradictory, so it follows that God, with the aforementioned traits, cannot exist.