Post by Admin on Mar 2, 2022 5:05:06 GMT
Chapter 22 - An Unjust God is Illogical
Job's friends counter that it doesn't make sense that God would punish the righteous - what benefit does he get from that?
*Axiomatic Reasoning vs Backwards Induction*
This is an interesting argument in favor of a good God, but it seems to lack creativity. If a God exists, that fact alone doesn't give us information about his attributes. Job's friends start with an axiomatic assumption that they can anthropomorphize God and assume he is like us. With this axiom, at first glance we could assume that he would enact the type of justice typical to human sentimentality, where the righteous prosper rather than suffer. While it doesn't make immediate sense why an anthropomorphized God would punish the righteous, it is a fact that some of the righteous are being punished by the vicissitudes of life. The problem with Job's friend's argument is that reality refutes this axiom. Using the facts of reality to work backwards, we can deduce that God does like the punishment of the righteous, since he obviously allows it.
*Begging the Question Fallacy*
This type of reasoning begs the question by indirectly assuming God is good, and then indirectly concluding that God is good. He concludes that it wouldn't make sense that God would punish the righteous, because theoretically a good God wouldn't get a benefit from that. If you assume that 1) God is good, and 2) a good God wouldn't get a benefit from watching the righteous suffer, then you can conclude that 3) God isn't motivated to cause the righteous to suffer. This approach lacks creativity because it fails to imagine the possibility that a good God would want the righteous to suffer, nor the possibility that God is actually wicked -a God of epicaricacy would definitely benefit from watching the righteous suffer. But an obvious theist apologetic answer might be that God wants his children to learn and grow, therefore he likes suffering for its beneficial byproducts.
*Job Must be Evil*
Job's friends accuse him of taking money from relatives, robbing the poor of clothing, refusing to give food and water to those in need, turning away the widows and the fatherless.
NEXT: Chapter 23 - Refiner's Fire
Job's friends counter that it doesn't make sense that God would punish the righteous - what benefit does he get from that?
*Axiomatic Reasoning vs Backwards Induction*
This is an interesting argument in favor of a good God, but it seems to lack creativity. If a God exists, that fact alone doesn't give us information about his attributes. Job's friends start with an axiomatic assumption that they can anthropomorphize God and assume he is like us. With this axiom, at first glance we could assume that he would enact the type of justice typical to human sentimentality, where the righteous prosper rather than suffer. While it doesn't make immediate sense why an anthropomorphized God would punish the righteous, it is a fact that some of the righteous are being punished by the vicissitudes of life. The problem with Job's friend's argument is that reality refutes this axiom. Using the facts of reality to work backwards, we can deduce that God does like the punishment of the righteous, since he obviously allows it.
*Begging the Question Fallacy*
This type of reasoning begs the question by indirectly assuming God is good, and then indirectly concluding that God is good. He concludes that it wouldn't make sense that God would punish the righteous, because theoretically a good God wouldn't get a benefit from that. If you assume that 1) God is good, and 2) a good God wouldn't get a benefit from watching the righteous suffer, then you can conclude that 3) God isn't motivated to cause the righteous to suffer. This approach lacks creativity because it fails to imagine the possibility that a good God would want the righteous to suffer, nor the possibility that God is actually wicked -a God of epicaricacy would definitely benefit from watching the righteous suffer. But an obvious theist apologetic answer might be that God wants his children to learn and grow, therefore he likes suffering for its beneficial byproducts.
*Job Must be Evil*
Job's friends accuse him of taking money from relatives, robbing the poor of clothing, refusing to give food and water to those in need, turning away the widows and the fatherless.
NEXT: Chapter 23 - Refiner's Fire
