Howard

This is a spinoff from an interminable �Free will vs. Omniscience� thread in the EoG forum. I�m not sure where it belongs but I had to get out of EoG as it gives me a crushing headache.

Anyhow, here�s the syllogism:
Everything God creates acts exactly as he intended
Human beings were created by God
Human beings act in evil ways
Therefore God intended for humans to do evil, i.e., God is responsible for evil.

I�m not trained in formal logic but it seems valid to me. The key premise is obviously the opening one. But if one assumes an omnipotent God, who is the Designer and Creator of the universe, doesn�t everything in it, from electrons to humans, have to act according to his Grand Plan?

(Mods: Pleeeease don�t send me back to EoG. That would be evil.)

mike_decock

I agree. If we assume an omniscient God, then the current state is exactly the state God chose to create. That's one of the conclusions that lead to my deconversion. Only a malevolent being would choose to create this mess.

-Mike...

wade-w

Just a little nitpick, but technically that is not a syllogism.

That said, yes the argument is indeed a valid one. The question I think you are asking is slightly different, i.e. is it a sound argument.

That depends on your point of view. To an athiest, it is not sound because premises 1 and 2 assume the existence of god. To a theist, the only way I can see to attack the argument would be, as you suspect, by attacking premise 1.