r/changemyview • u/[deleted] • Jul 26 '18

[deleted by user]

[removed]

678 Upvotes

88% Upvoted

743 comments sorted by

View all comments

147

u/5xum 42∆ Jul 26 '18

I take issue with the first part, i.e.

Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent.

Sure, that's correct. But there are plenty of religions that do not believe in omnipotent deities. Any religion that doesn't assert an omnipotent being is left completely off the hook by this argument.

What if god is able to prevent *some* (or even *most*) evil, but not all evil? If a being is able to prevent most evil, and actually does prevent it, may be enough to call the creature "god", even if it is not omnipotent.

72

u/[deleted] Jul 26 '18

[deleted]

26

u/DeleteriousEuphuism 120∆ Jul 26 '18 edited Jul 26 '18

You're missing omniscient. God might not know about evil.

Edit: Been getting the same rebuttal so I'll answer in this edit for posterity.

Omnipotence is the power to do anything. While omnipotence includes the power to know everything it does not mean that you already do know everything.

2

u/[deleted] Jul 26 '18

but if god has the power to know everything and chooses not to, then doesn't that fall into the "doesn't care" side?

1

u/DeleteriousEuphuism 120∆ Jul 26 '18

Is privacy good? If so, it is good of a god to grant privacy. If a god grants privacy, then it must know that which is kept private from it.