“It seems that God does not exist;
because if one of two contraries be infinite, the other would be altogether
destroyed. But the word “God” means that
He is infinite goodness. If, therefore,
God existed, there would be no evil discoverable; but there is evil in the
world. Therefore God does not exist”
(Thomas Aquinas).
In this quote, St. Thomas Aquinas alludes
to a common counter-argument to God’s existence. The logic within this quote assumes that two
opposing entities could not exist concurrently if one of the entities were
infinite. Because God is infinite
goodness, it would not be possible for evil to exist because it would have been
prevented or destroyed by God’s goodness.
Because evil clearly does exist, it must not be the case that God exists. This logic is not entirely sound for a few
reasons. First, the Bible indicates that
God is wrathful. Wrath is not an aspect
of goodness by any means. Therefore, God
might not be infinitely and entirely good.
Additionally, the Bible also states that God gave everyone (including
Satan) free will, and free will includes the option to be evil. Additionally, being infinitely good does not
necessarily mean that something else cannot be infinitely bad at the same
time. Goodness does not necessarily require
engaging in a battle with badness or evil.
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