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Single Idea 5766
[filed under theme 29. Religion / D. Religious Issues / 3. Problem of Evil / a. Problem of Evil
]
Full Idea
If you could see the plan of Providence, you would not think there was evil anywhere.
Clarification
'Providence' is God as the controller of our reality
Gist of Idea
If you could see the plan of Providence, you would not think there was evil anywhere
Source
Boethius (The Consolations of Philosophy [c.520], IV.VI)
Book Ref
Boethius: 'The Consolations of Philosophy', ed/tr. Watts,V.E. [Penguin 1969], p.141
A Reaction
This brings out the verificationist in me. See Idea 1467, by Antony Flew. Presumably Boethius would retain his faith as Europe moved horribly from 1939 to 1945, and even if the whole of humanity sank into squalid viciousness.
Related Idea
Idea 1467
Religious people seem unwilling to accept any evidence that God does not love us, so their claim is unfalsifiable [Flew, by PG]
The
21 ideas
with the same theme
[reasons for the existence of evil]:
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2057
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There must always be some force of evil ranged against good
[Plato]
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2659
|
The lists of good men who have suffered and bad men who have prospered are endless
[Cicero]
|
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20698
|
Irenaeus says evil is necessary for perfect human development
[Irenaeus, by Davies,B]
|
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5761
|
God can do anything, but he cannot do evil, so evil must be nothing
[Boethius]
|
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5766
|
If you could see the plan of Providence, you would not think there was evil anywhere
[Boethius]
|
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21266
|
God does not exist, because He is infinite and good, and so no evil should be discoverable
[Aquinas]
|
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21274
|
It is part of God's supreme goodness that He brings good even out of evil
[Aquinas]
|
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19339
|
Evil is a negation of good, which arises from non-being
[Leibniz]
|
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13164
|
God only made sin possible because a much greater good can be derived from it
[Leibniz]
|
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19337
|
How can an all-good, wise and powerful being allow evil, sin and apparent injustice?
[Leibniz]
|
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19345
|
Being confident of God's goodness, we disregard the apparent local evils in the visible world
[Leibniz]
|
|
6737
|
Particular evils are really good when linked to the whole system of beings
[Berkeley]
|
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21468
|
The Creator created the possibilities for worlds, so should have made a better one than this possible
[Schopenhauer]
|
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21335
|
Belief that an afterlife is required for justice is an admission that this life is very unjust
[Mill]
|
|
21333
|
Evil comes from good just as often as good comes from evil
[Mill]
|
|
21334
|
No necessity ties an omnipotent Creator, so he evidently wills human misery
[Mill]
|
|
7200
|
A combination of great power and goodness would mean the disastrous abolition of evil
[Nietzsche]
|
|
1473
|
Is evil an illusion, or a necessary contrast, or uncontrollable, or necessary for human free will?
[Mackie, by PG]
|
|
1472
|
The propositions that God is good and omnipotent, and that evil exists, are logically contradictory
[Mackie, by PG]
|
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2175
|
There is a problem of evil only if you expect the world to be good
[Williams,B]
|
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24164
|
Even non-theists can wonder what, if anything, makes the universe good
[Cochrane]
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