Argument on Mackie's analysis on existence of God Essay

Argument on Mackie's analysis on existence of God - Essay Example On the other hand, theists continue to defend the stance that God exists and can, in fact, coexist with evil. Mackie challenged theist notions by seeking to demonstrate the invalidity and lack of persuasiveness inherent in regard to the presence of God. The basis of Mackie’s argument is the provision of atheist criticisms towards theistic assertions regarding the issue of evil in the world (Geisler 65). However, throughout his argument, Mackie fails to unequivocally prove why the coexistence of God and evil is a contradiction of the presence of an omnipotent and all good God. Mackie’s depiction of God is that of a form of immortal monster that chooses to sit idly despite being aware of the terrible experiences of people in the world as a consequence of his inaction. As a result, Mackie attempts to prove this inconsistency by delving into his understanding of the disposition of an omnipotent being (Geisler 114). It is because of this that this paper will critically asses s Mackie’s arguments using a theistic point of view, thereby showing that Mackie’s argument is incompatible with God’s overall purpose and his vision for the world. Although God frowns upon evil, he reveres free will, thus does not permit unnecessary suffering. The argument presented in this paper will defend a position that reconciles the presence of God with the presence of wickedness, thus highlighting the existence of God. ... In fact, evil presupposes God’s existence since God provides a benchmark on which actions can be considered evil or good. Without the presence of God then evil would be nonexistent, hence it would be impossible to measure actions as either good or evil. This means that all actions, whether right or wrong can be deemed morally neutral since they are performed by individuals who are also morally neutral. Therefore, by allowing evil, in the short run, God could be attaining the eventual objective of destroying evil in the long term (Aquinas 626). In Mackie’s opinion, God’s first priority should be to deter evil even if it means infringing on people’s free will. Therefore, Mackie appears to presume that God’s actions are negligent since he does not stop evil. However, such an assumption is likely to imply that God is obligated to do something, but fails to do it. Being an almighty being, God is not compelled to do anything; for instance, stop evil since if he was, then this would imply that God is constrained by the desires of another higher being. Ironically, God’s omnipotence is evidenced by his capacity not to destroy evil in order to fulfill some form of obligation. As an omnipotent and benevolent being, God must have morally sufficient reasons for allowing the extent of evil in the world (Geisler 37). Despite the amount and types of evil present in the world, a balance also exists such that more good than evil characterizes the world. This makes humans look forward to the future and deem life as worth living. Argument against the existence of God While the argument against the existence of God encompasses a myriad of presumptions, perhaps the