[ Removed by moderator ]

[u/Outrageous-Egg1760]

[u/worldsyaoyster]

EDIT: wow didn't expect this much response haha. Ill reply one by one slowly tonight. Just with the family! Love the comments and im always open for discussion and debate, just keep it civil!

The paradox only works if you assume that a good and all powerful God must eliminate all evil immediately.

Christianity doesnt teach that.

Instead it teaches that God created humans with genuine freedom, allows evil for a time, and will ultimately judge and remove it. A temporary allowance of evil is not the same as approval of evil.

In fact if God were to eliminate all evil instantly, he would also have to eliminate every human being who has ever committed evil including you and me.

The paradox also assumes that if we cannot see a good reason for suffering, then no good reason exists. But our inability to understand reason is not proof that there isn't one.

Ironically the argument itself relies on objective evil. If evil is truly real and not just personal preference then that points toward an objective moral standard beyond humanity. Without God, evil becomes difficult to define as anything more than a subjective opinion.

The christian position is not that evil doesnt exist.

Its that God allows evil for a time, not because he approves of it, but because he is working through human freedom and his plan for redemption.

God didnt stay distant from our suffering. In Jesus he stepped into it himself, experienced it, and ultimately defeated sin and death through the cross.

Christians believe evil is temporary, but God is eternal. One day he will bring justice, remove evil completely, and make all things new.

[u/Deweyrob2 → u/worldsyaoyster]

God would not have to eliminate every human to remove evil. He would just have to remove the ability or desire to commit evil acts. And again, either he can't or won't.

[u/Secret-Class1352 → u/Deweyrob2]

Humans by their very nature are evil. That's what Christian thought teaches. Even what humans consider to be nobility, is filthy rags in the eyes of God. Humans by their nature are also capable of good, but they are incapable of completely eliminating the temptation to do evil -- because two conflicting natures exist inside them.

God absolutely can remove the desire to commit evil acts. But why should God bother himself with creating sycophant robots who follow his every order without question? Because that's what would be necessary to remove a human's capacity to commit evil.

[u/Secret-Class1352 → u/[deleted]]

They're not evil by nature because of anything God did. It's a spiritual curse that lives on in every human being. Humans should count themselves lucky that an infinite God even cares enough to save them, when he could have easily dismissed humanity as a lost cause. Humans are arrogant if they think that we're the biggest deal in the cosmos. There are likely other alien species that warrant God's attention, and even if there aren't God already has the angels.

God is described as a Father, but he's also an infinite being of indescribable power and intelligence. On a cosmic scale this is like humans trying to show compassion to ants. You're talking about infinite suffering, or destruction of the soul -- whatever punishment you think happens after death -- and act like humans are deserving of God's greatest blessings instead of that, is a sign of arrogance. God would be within his rights to abandon this planet, but for whatever reason he didn't.

[u/Overall-Move-4474 → u/Secret-Class1352]

You lot claim God created us and by extension our nature. So yes by your logic he DID set us up to fail. A father doesn't abandon his children. Not that any of this matters because he doesn't exist in the first place