This piece appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald. I think it
helps understand a little better the mystery:
Waves of destruction wash away belief in God's benevolence
December 30, 2004
Compassion is the best response when humanity faces the problem of
evil, writes Edward Spence.
"Why did you do this to us, God? What did we do to upset you?"
asked a woman in India this week, a heart-wrenching question asked
in common these past few days by Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus and
Christians. Nothing could have prepared us for what happened when
the tsunami unleashed its terror. So we seek answers where answers
are hard to come by, in either secular or sacred realms.
Traditionally, the Judeo-Christian God, considered the most supreme
and perfect being in the universe, has been ascribed the following
necessary attributes: omniscience (all-knowing), omnipresence
(present everywhere at all times and at once), omnipotence
(almighty and powerful) and benevolence (all good and
caring).
How, then, did a God as powerful and benevolent as this allow such
a thing to happen? If he is benevolent then he cannot also be
omnipotent, for a God who has both these attributes would have
wanted to, cared to and been able to prevent such a
catastrophe.
Perhaps, though omnipotent, He is not benevolent. That might
explain why, although it was within His power to stop the tsunami,
He simply chose not to: God has His own reasons and we are not to
ask why. However, this answer will not suffice since by definition
God is perfect. Being perfect, He must of necessity not merely be
omnipotent but benevolent as well.
A possible solution to this problem, traditionally known as the
problem of evil, was offered by the heretical Manicheans, who
believed not in one supreme being but two: one good God responsible
for all the good things in life and another bad God, Satan,
responsible for all the evil in the world.
St Augustine, a follower in his early 20s, became an ardent critic
of this doctrine, thinking a weak God powerless to defeat Satan was
not worth worshipping.
Philosophically, if God is perfect, then there can be only one
perfect God, not two. In any case, evil is an imperfection and thus
not a characteristic that can be attributed to God.
If the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune are at play and the
deaths caused by the tsunami are a cosmic payback in the form of
karma, does that offer a solution, albeit a philosophical one, to
the problem of evil? I think not. For how can children, some as
young as a few months, who had not yet lived their lives, deserve
to be punished so cruelly for their past sins - especially when
they have not been offered the promised divine opportunity to atone
for those sins through another life?
Even if solutions are forthcoming to these philosophical
conundrums, humanely speaking they make little sense. Perhaps that
is why some people remain sceptical about the presence of any
divine providence ruling over us.
A compromise solution, between secular scepticism and a
psychological need for the sacred, was offered by the Greek
philosopher Epicurus. Although believing in gods, he claimed these
divine beings would not want to diminish their heavenly happiness
by mingling in the sordid affairs of mortals. For Epicurus, the
gods were not crazy but simply indifferent to both human joys and
sorrows. When it comes to social or natural evils, we are all
alone.
But if natural disasters are merely random events caused by the
uncaring and blind forces of nature, does this offer us any comfort
or meaning in the face of the apocalyptic events on Boxing
Day?
Even if our heads offer us such solutions, our hearts refuse to
follow. For the problem of evil is an existential problem that
confronts our own individual mortality and vulnerability to unknown
and unexpected disasters.
Ultimately, heartfelt tears shed in earnest and with compassion,
with offerings of charity for those who have suffered, are more
meaningful than any theological and philosophical treatise on the
problem of evil. Especially at Christmas when, according to the
gospels, love is the single core message.
Perhaps this is the essence, if the legend is true, of what God
learnt from us when He walked and suffered as a man among us.
Ultimately, the problem of evil confronts us not as a puzzle to be
solved but as a mystery to be experienced. And as Jesus and Plato
before him indicated, the meaning of the mystery of life can be
found only by experiencing another great mystery - the mystery of
love.
Dr Edward Spence is a philosopher at the Centre for Applied
Philosophy and Public Ethics, Charles Sturt University.
http://phorum.phatmass.com/index.php?showtopic=26475&hl=
