If a god remains both omnipotent and omniscient (and also actively engaged) then free will is an illusion. In the absence of free will, god is irrelevant to us from a practical standpoint because there is nothing for us to decide. Nothing happens that is not precisely what the god wants to have happen.
If anything happens that is not precisely what the god wants to have happen, then he is a limited god - even if self-limited. Events are taking place that are contrary to his will. And again, creating the option to engage in evil is creating evil.
Free will is not infinite. I do not have the free will to flap my arms and fly away to the moon of my own volition. Teleportation, telepathy, invisibility, immortality, perpetual youth - I can freely will none of those, nor a myriad of more mundane actions.
Once the will is finite, then it has parameters. If a god created free will, god defined the parameters. If he defined the parameters to include the enactment of anything he deems evil, then he is either an evil god or a dualist god. An evil god, to whatever degree, is rationally irrelevant, because he lies.
He could also be an irrational or a capricious god - but those are practically irrelevant as well.
How do you structure free will without the potential for evil? Without that potential, it's not free will.
That God chose to introduce free will into the Universe, does not make Him evil.
The bottom line is that God is the Creator. His instructions for you are that you "depart from evil and do good". If you fail to do that, you will answer to Him. He will not answer to you. The sooner you understand that basic truth, the better off you are.
Job 28:28 - And unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the LORD, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.
Psalms 34:14 - Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it.
Psalms 37:27 - Depart from evil, and do good; and dwell for evermore.
Proverbs 3:7 - Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil.
Proverbs 13:19 - The desire accomplished is sweet to the soul: but it is abomination to fools to depart from evil.
Proverbs 16:6 - By mercy and truth iniquity is purged: and by the fear of the LORD men depart from evil.
Proverbs 16:17 - The highway of the upright is to depart from evil: he that keepeth his way preserveth his soul.
Micah 6:8 - He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?
Regardless of what philosifical arguments you want to bring against God, the bottom line is that you will answer to Him, for the things that you have done and the things that you have failed to do. A pardon is available if you are wise enough to accept it.
Interesting. You seem to be arguing (please correct me where I misunderstand) that human free will, albeit limited, is conclusive evidence against the existence of an omnipotent, omniscient and actively engaged deity.
I have several questions, but for now, please elaborate on why giving someone the choice to commit good or evil is the same thing as causing the evil. I can dictate certain behaviors to my kids but if I wish them to develop into responsible adults, at some point I have to give them some freedom to make their own choices. They will inevitably choose to do evil at some point, but that is their choice, not mine.
Perhaps some understanding of how we might define evil would be helpful. I completely agree with your assessment that a dualistic god is useless. In dualism, good and evil are equal, but they are, practically interchangeable in that context. Also, the 'liar' god is equally worthless to us for exactly the reason you propose.
However, the absence of a god to define the good results in simply every person defining the good for themselves and acting that ought merely tto the degree that they have the power to do so. As Dostoevsky's character put it in the Bros Karamazov, 'If God does not exist, everything is permitted.'
If God, whose very personality and actions define the good, the idea that that God could create entities with free will is not so far-fetched. Were that God to create entities that merely act in accordance with God's will, then he would have created robots. What robots lack is the capacity to love. sitting around for an eternity simply talking with robots sounds pretty boring, even for God. But enjoyoing the company of entities whom you love and who (by virtue of their ability to make choices) can choose to love you or not, sounds infinitely more satisfying. Even if (as DannyTN put it well) there is the risk that those free beings will choose to do evil.
If a god remains both omnipotent and omniscient (and also actively engaged) then free will is an illusion. In the absence of free will, god is irrelevant to us from a practical standpoint because there is nothing for us to decide. Nothing happens that is not precisely what the god wants to have happen. |