Truth HQ by Tom Wallace - HTML preview

T R U T H H Q

God could have created a perfect world, but chose not to, for reasons which – to say the least – are not obvious. (This is sometimes

referred to as the ‘theodicy problem’. Note here – according to the Christian faith, God may have made a perfect Heaven and may at some time make a perfect New Earth so this suggests perfection is possible.)

Or:

God had to create an imperfect world. (Or: Perhaps some other option we’re not aware of.)

In which case:

Either:

God does not intervene, but just leaves things to work out however they will. (Although God knows what will happen, this is not the same as making them happen. Foreknowledge is not

predestination.)

Or:

God chooses to intervene, in order to alleviate some of the consequences of an imperfect world. In which case we are back to the problems of intervention discussed earlier.

There are some side issues that arise from these alternatives.

One thing that may throw us is the question of whether or not the universe is deterministic in nature. In other words, there is only the illusion of free choice, but in fact the starting conditions of the universe determine everything that will happen throughout time. God, being responsible for the starting conditions, is therefore responsible for all the bad stuff that happens (and therefore there is predestination as well as foreknowledge). In a way this seems to make God even more culpable. It’s not easy…

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