Introduction
The existence of God has been a subject that most people debate. Those who claim that God exists have their rationale to support their opinion, and the group is referred to as theists (Bartlett, 2017). On the contrary, some people do not believe in God’s existence and prove their claims in many ways to entice the opposing group that their opinion is the correct one. The debate has existed since the universe’s creation by the Supernatural being. Many theologists came before Jesus to claim that God’s great power on earth is the sole controller of everything that happens in the world (Bartlett, 2017). However, the theologians were faced with criticism from an atheist society that advocated for fate in existence and the pleasure of wellbeing as the key drivers of earthly matters.
It is important to note that atheists’ argument on God’s non-existence is based on one factor: the problem of evil. People, who do not believe that God exists, claim that if He could be present, all the evil issues could not be happening if at all God is all-powerful, loving, and careful with His creatures. This essay expands on the atheists’ view of God’s existence by evaluating the problem of evil. This paper defends that God exists because of His nature of work and that He intends to gain glory from human beings.
The Problem of Evil in More Detail
While people live in the world, they come across evil and holy situations. The problem of evil is explained as the situation in which actions of people cause harm to the welfare of others. Most of the time, this is based on the level of destruction that actions cause to people’s lives (Bartlett, 2017). Irwin and Johnson (2010) have given two examples of the problem of evil, namely, the story of Cartman and the biblical narration of Job’s life. Most people, just like Cartman, have become selfish to satisfy their desires while provoking people.
Some people choose to live evil lives without minding the implications that might befall them. It appears normal to some people who have made evil a character as long as it gives them pleasure. God watches the evil prevail and gives His people a grace period to change. If people do not stop evil-doing, God may give punishment such as the economic crisis in a country just as Cartman became broke after many times of displeasing individuals. Due to people’s narcissistic nature, there has also been the notion that even events that require members to attend have been neglected. Most people find attending the family as time waste, which contributes to the constraints due to the internal division (Irwin & Johnson, 2010).
From Job’s story, it is clear that God took time to prove that He does according to His will. Some people such as Job’s wife realized that it is important to obey and have faith in God as blessings would come in multiple ways. If Job had cursed God, he would not have benefited from the double restoration of property and children (Irwin & Johnson, 2010). Every time people doubt God, a powerful message is sent to the opposing group from the major gifts that God rewards to His people. Job’s story shows that God exists because no man can bless to the extent of giving double of what one owns. If God did not exist, there would be suffering in the community where Job lived until all creatures perish from evil. However, God’s existence was proved when He decided to restore Job to his previous position. God also requested Job to pray for his friends so that he may forgive them for the evils they had said.
Defending God’s Existence Despite the Prevailing Problems of Evil
What atheists seem not to agree with is the purpose of God letting the world have evil-centric matters when He can remove the occurrences. They believe that if people succeed in their unmindful life, then God does not exist (Irwin & Johnson, 2010). However, God exists because of various premises that the paper explores. He allows evil to happen for his benefit, as seen in the story of Cartman and Job. It is easy to get the point about Him allowing evil to occur so that He can demonstrate His holiness and bring glory to himself (Irwin & Johnson, 2010). Cartman was able to get happiness for a short time, after which he came to be unable to operate the park since it needed funding, renovations, and a skilled workforce.
Many people are unable to continue with evil, just as Cartman was incapable of running the park. Therefore, it shows moments of happiness can turn to sorrow if one keeps on committing evil (Irwin & Johnson, 2010). The revelation that God is powerful is that He did not give Cartman an entire life to keep wronging others for his happiness. The power that God has can be seen from the turning of events that people could not anticipate. If God would not allow evil, then there was no need for human beings to live since evil defines a balanced life (Irwin & Johnson, 2010). When people pray to God, He hinders evil from happening for His satisfaction and that of His people.
From Job’s point of view, God manifested His power and concern when He gave Job back his property and children in a tremendous manner. From a biblical perspective, God multiplied Job’s properties by giving him more than what he had. For example, if Job had 3,000 cattle, he was given back double that number (Bartlett, 2017). Additionally, God gave Job the most beautiful daughters that even the world has not witnessed. Therefore, God allowed Job to suffer to prove a point that evil occurs and when people pray against it, He can prevent it and give happiness to His people (Irwin & Johnson, 2010). If Job did not believe in God and followed his wife’s recommendations, perhaps, society would not have seen the powerful manifestation to prove God’s existence.
Conclusion
The issue of evil and God’s existence has been a common discussion. God is termed to be holy, immortal, and one who hates evil. The holy scriptures mention that God punishes those who do evil but He loves those who live upright lives. If certain wellbeing can only be achieved by permitting evil, then God allows that to happen so that society can see His power and credit His almighty existence. From Cartman and Job’s story, the reader can meditate that God accepts happiness in the first case before consenting to more happiness after the absence of evil. Atheists should not base their arguments on typical human philosophies. Rather, they should critically analyze the compatibility of evil and God from many aspects of the life that people lived before and now.
References
Bartlett, S. (2017). Paratheism: A proof that God neither exists nor does not exist. SSRN Electronic Journal, 2(4), 5-14. Web.
Irwin, W., & Johnson, D. (2010). Introducing philosophy through pop culture. Wiley-Blackwell.