Untenable Faith
Respond to the following quotation: “The Holocaust shows not only that religious faith is untenable but also that life is absurd. A powerful and loving God could not create a world in which such events are possible. Religion is wishful thinking -- ‘Fear created the first gods’ (Caecilius Statius, 2nd c. BCE). Moreover, life itself contradicts the most basic of human aspirations: to live without suffering and cruelty.” Etty herself discusses these issues, so in responding be sure to show that you know how Etty would reply to this kind of position.
Taking into account the Holocaust and all of the other suffering that some groups of people have inflicted on others, an argument could easily be made to show that religious faith is untenable, or not defendable. How could all powerful and loving God let all of these bad things happen? This reminds me of Epicurus quote around 300 BC, "If God is willing to prevent evil, but is not able to then He is not omnipotent. If He is able, but not willing then He is malevolent. If He is both able and willing then whence cometh evil? If He is neither able nor willing then why call Him God?" (Mastin) This is one of the biggest arguments of Atheists against the existence of God. However, if they would research a little farther, Epicurus also states that God or Gods, whichever any person believes in, does exist but does not interfere with the lives of humans. He also allows evil to exist in order to give us freedom of will to follow either path. In turn, this creates a chance for humans to grow and become more spiritually powerful in order to fight the temptations of evil. There is also another argument against the existence of God. This argument is called The Paradox of the Stone. In this argument the question is asked, “Can God create a stone so heavy that he cannot lift it?” If he can create the stone, then he would be unable to lift it. If he cannot create the stone, then there is still something he cannot do. This proves
Taking into account the Holocaust and all of the other suffering that some groups of people have inflicted on others, an argument could easily be made to show that religious faith is untenable, or not defendable. How could all powerful and loving God let all of these bad things happen? This reminds me of Epicurus quote around 300 BC, "If God is willing to prevent evil, but is not able to then He is not omnipotent. If He is able, but not willing then He is malevolent. If He is both able and willing then whence cometh evil? If He is neither able nor willing then why call Him God?" (Mastin) This is one of the biggest arguments of Atheists against the existence of God. However, if they would research a little farther, Epicurus also states that God or Gods, whichever any person believes in, does exist but does not interfere with the lives of humans. He also allows evil to exist in order to give us freedom of will to follow either path. In turn, this creates a chance for humans to grow and become more spiritually powerful in order to fight the temptations of evil. There is also another argument against the existence of God. This argument is called The Paradox of the Stone. In this argument the question is asked, “Can God create a stone so heavy that he cannot lift it?” If he can create the stone, then he would be unable to lift it. If he cannot create the stone, then there is still something he cannot do. This proves
Cited: Existence-of-God.com. 2004. 15 July 2012. . Hillesum, Etty. An Interrupted Life and Letters From Westerbork. New York: Holt, 1996. Mastin, Luke. The Basics of Philosophy. 2008. 12 July 2012. .