[EmilyAl]

We learnt in RE that God created everything and is supposed to be all-powerful, all-caring, and all-knowing, so why would a good God create a world with natural disasters?

[Trailblazer]

The answer is, a good God wouldn't, because he doesn't actually exist.

Jokes aside, I suggest you read up on the Augustinian and Iranean theodicies. Both unsuccessfully try and justify the existence of both moral and natural evil by claiming its either a great big test of character, or it is punishment for the original sin of Adam and Eve. Both convincing conclusions right?

[Perseveranze]

(Original post by EmilyAl)
We learnt in RE that God created everything and is supposed to be all-powerful, all-caring, and all-knowing, so why would a good God create a world with natural disasters?

From the Islamic perspective, this explains it well.

[EonBlueApocalypse]

What kind of RE lesson was that, surely it was put in a context where you realised it was just a belief not actually true?

[EmilyAl]

(Original post by EonBlueApocalypse)
What kind of RE lesson was that, surely it was put in a context where you realised it was just a belief not actually true?

I know, but I go to a catholic school so we only really learn one point of view, which I think is a little unfair, but what can you do?

[Okashira]

(Original post by EmilyAl)
We learnt in RE that God created everything and is supposed to be all-powerful, all-caring, and all-knowing, so why would a good God create a world with natural disasters?

Why do you assume God created this world with natural disasters?

[aljolson]

(Original post by Okashira)
Why do you assume God created this world with natural disasters?

He created the good things, but not the bad?

[Okashira]

(Original post by aljolson)
He created the good things, but not the bad?

If He created this place, there must also be a history between creation and creator. Without knowing the history, how can we say anything about God?

[Hylean]

First you have to define evil and then ask why those events would be considered evil by such a being.

[aljolson]

(Original post by Okashira)
If He created this place, there must also be a history between creation and creator. Without knowing the history, how can we say anything about God?

Simply because if God exists as the creator, the explicitly he created all things, good or bad.

[aljolson]

(Original post by Hylean)
First you have to define evil and then ask why those events would be considered evil by such a being.

In which case all attributes given to "God", should be denied. He is the unfathomable one, we should not give him any defined charachteristics.

[Okashira]

(Original post by aljolson)
Simply because if God exists as the creator, the explicitly he created all things, good or bad.

Yet did God create bad, or is bad a result of something else? Anytime you talk about a creator, he will have characteristics. If there are no characteristics, the creator is not a creator. It is simply the juices that jump started life.

[Hylean]

(Original post by aljolson)
In which case all attributes given to "God", should be denied. He is the unfathomable one, we should not give him any defined charachteristics.

Quite true, but we are working within a religion that has given attributes to God, as so we have to work with them. A hurriance destroying New Orleans, for example, might appear evil to us, but could appear beneficial to a being such as God.

[miser]

Moral relativists can beat around the bush as much as they like - intentionally causing beings to suffer with no just cause is evil. If that's not evil then we have a useless word. If I bought an island and put people on it with no reasonable recourse to leave, then built volcanos into it and earthquake tremor machines, added some wild animals, perhaps occasionally insighted wars, etc., I would be put in prison and quite rightly. We are capable of judging evil in ourselves, so why do we become so impotent in judging God?

[Okashira]

I believe the most logical reasoning when concerning the possibility of a creator (meaning something made this place on purpose), is that this creator is more perfect in understanding than we are. That he is more moral than us as well, because it's been shown that evil is less than good. Evil can even go against the person who's dishing it out. So if the creator were evil, he himself could be destroyed and would be.

This shows that evil is something more along the lines of where we are, and wouldn't be something a creator has. So it's reasonable to say there is no evil in God.

[Hylean]

(Original post by miser)
Moral relativists can beat around the bush as much as they like - intentionally causing beings to suffer with no just cause is evil. If that's not evil then we have a useless word. If I bought an island and put people on it with no reasonable recourse to leave, then built volcanos into it and earthquake tremor machines, added some wild animals, perhaps occasionally insighted wars, etc., I would be put in prison and quite rightly. We are capable of judging evil in ourselves, so why do we become so impotent in judging God?

Because we have no way of judging or knowing God's motives at the moment, whereas we can know and judge ours. It's like judging a book by its cover. You say being suffer with "no just cause", but you don't know there is "no just cause".

[miser]

(Original post by Hylean)
Because we have no way of judging or knowing God's motives at the moment, whereas we can know and judge ours. It's like judging a book by its cover. You say being suffer with "no just cause", but you don't know there is "no just cause".

It does not matter my motives when considering destroying a city.

Edit: That is if I don't have any just cause to do it, like I mentioned in my first post.

[Hylean]

(Original post by miser)
It does not matter my motives when considering destroying a city.

Really? So the bombing of cities during a war is an evil act regardless of munition factories, etc. in them?

Killing a thousand people, so millions might live?

There are lots of examples where your statement does not hold true.

[marky--mark]

I'm an Atheist, so I could be wrong here, but I always kind of assumed that everything in the world was kind of a battle between the two deities, God and Satan/equivalent. In that situation, all good would be caused by God and all evil would be caused by Satan/Lucifer/whoever.

[miser]

(Original post by Hylean)
Really? So the bombing of cities during a war is an evil act regardless of munition factories, etc. in them?

Killing a thousand people, so millions might live?

There are lots of examples where your statement does not hold true.

Sorry I edited my post a minute later to clarify (to say something towards your reasoning). The Problem of Evil supposes an omnipotent being - if God is omnipotent then he is not bound by situations such as 'killing a thousand so millions might live' - by definition he could have it both ways.