Dialogue between an Atheist and a Theist on The Problem of Evil from Speech or Presentation

Dialogue between an Atheist and a Theist on The Problem of Evil from Hick - Speech or Presentation Example Amy: Uhh...I guess so. Why do you ask? John: Well, a retired old man doesn’t have much to do these days, and I want to see what these professors are teaching you kids these days. But let me ask, how come you are reading Russell? Are you an Atheist? Amy: Yes. John: May I ask why? Amy: See, my main problem with believing in God, is that when you look around the world, there are so many problems. Not just small problems, but real, serious, heartrending problems. There is world hunger and starvation. There is violence, hatred, war and genocide. There are natural disasters like earthquakes, floods and volcanoes, which wreak havoc and cause terror amongst fellow humans. There are egregious crimes we commit against each other, like rape, kidnapping and murder. If God really exists, how could he ever allow all of these terrible things? John: Ah, I as most other practicing Christians have ran into some of these existential type worries, which have caused me to doubt my faith. But in th e end, after working hard and maintaining my relationship with God, the answers have been revealed to me, and my faith has in turn become stronger. Amy: That’s all well and good to the practicing Christian. However, I admit that I am not too familiar with the bible, many of your religious teachings, and your personal esoteric spiritual experiences, so before we can have this discussion, we are going to have to define God in purely ontological terms. Exactly what sort of entity is God? What are his characteristics? John: Fair enough. As a theologian, I had to read many of the works of the great metaphysicians back in divinity school, so I am comfortable having this sort of discussion. It seems to me that God would have to be the best possible being, with all the best possible characteristics. Amy: And why is that? John: Because as the creator of the Universe and all of being itself, God must be the best possible being because nothing created can be greater than its creator. Am y: But certainly you have seen instances where a child grows up to be far more powerful and noble than his or her parents. Is this not an example of a creation being greater than its creator? John: Well in my opinion God created humanity. So even though a child may be born from parents, they descend from a long line of human history that started with God’s creation of Adam and Eve, and thus are technically God’s creation. Amy: Well, that theory may work for you. But it assumes the existence of God, and that God created Humanity. However I do not believe in God, and I believe that life evolved on Earth. John: Touche my friend. It’s good that you caught me in my assumptions. I must point out though, that even if you believe in the theory of evolution, their parents do still not create children. Rather, human genes are passed on through Natural Selection. If the female attracts a strong mate with good genes, and the chance combination of those genes results in stro nger offspring, then it seems it’s not the case that the parents are creating the children. The situation can better be described as resulting from the biologically necessary process of natural selection, combined with luck in the genetic lottery. Amy: Wow, I must say I am impressed by your knowledge of Biology! You are certainly no ignorant believer, who detests science and seeks to explain everything strictly through religion. And I admit that what you say is true. Furthermore, I cannot think of any more counterexamples to the assertion that no creation turns out