"Spiegel notes that the problem of evil, often considered the bedrock of atheism, “could never count as grounds for atheism”.
This objection is usually framed as a question like, “How could a theistic God allow evil, since by definition he doesn’t like it and is able to stop it?” Spiegel states that “one cannot—whether by appeals to evil or anything else—eliminate the need to explain the existence of the universe. Nor does the problem of evil eradicate the abundant physical and biological evidence for design”. He admits that while it is challenging, the problem of evil really has nothing much to do with explaining how this world got here.
Not only this, but New Atheists like Richard Dawkins who have used the problem of evil to argue against God’s existence actually “have no grounds to call anything evil”.
The New Atheists are ‘positivists’, which means they believe that all real or true knowledge must come from a science experiment.
Spiegel correctly points out that this faith claim is self-refuting, since, “the notion that all beliefs must be scientifically verifiable is, well, not scientifically verifiable”.
First, the link between right living and “cognitive function” is found in Ephesians 4:17–19, which the author exegeted. Verse 18 must be referring to people like atheists, “having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart.”
According to Spiegel, “the root of the problem, apparently, is not a lack of intelligence but rather a hardness of heart that is itself caused by immoral behavior”."
CMI
This objection is usually framed as a question like, “How could a theistic God allow evil, since by definition he doesn’t like it and is able to stop it?” Spiegel states that “one cannot—whether by appeals to evil or anything else—eliminate the need to explain the existence of the universe. Nor does the problem of evil eradicate the abundant physical and biological evidence for design”. He admits that while it is challenging, the problem of evil really has nothing much to do with explaining how this world got here.
Not only this, but New Atheists like Richard Dawkins who have used the problem of evil to argue against God’s existence actually “have no grounds to call anything evil”.
The New Atheists are ‘positivists’, which means they believe that all real or true knowledge must come from a science experiment.
Spiegel correctly points out that this faith claim is self-refuting, since, “the notion that all beliefs must be scientifically verifiable is, well, not scientifically verifiable”.
First, the link between right living and “cognitive function” is found in Ephesians 4:17–19, which the author exegeted. Verse 18 must be referring to people like atheists, “having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart.”
According to Spiegel, “the root of the problem, apparently, is not a lack of intelligence but rather a hardness of heart that is itself caused by immoral behavior”."
CMI