Posted on by Abe Austin

The Problem of Evil- Removing the Constraints

The Problem)

In my last post I explained how the Problem of Evil, the common argument that the suffering of the world is incompatible with the existence of God, was dependent upon two presuppositions.

  1. That God is all-powerful, all-knowing, and all-benevolent.
  2. That our reality is created out of nothing.

When both of these are combined it means that God could have created our existence to operate by any system that He wanted, but He chose to specifically use one where suffering was necessary for growth and transcendence. And what is more, because we, ourselves, are created ex nihilo as well, we never had any agency in being added to this system, nor any say in the consequences that await us on the other side.

But I finished the last post by promising to show that not all Christian faiths, and not all non-Christian faiths, hold to these two presuppositions, and that this conundrum comes apart in these other contexts. I will show one example of both.

Eternal Souls)

The first example comes from my own Christian faith: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Our theology is unique among Christians in that we believe that we are co-eternal with God. Not only in the sense that we will live for eternity after death, but that we lived for eternity before birth. We believe that our souls, like God, are uncreated, and therefore their nature is not subject to His design.

This is important for two reasons. The first is because it suggests that the way suffering seems to be a necessary component for cultivating the fulness of our potential is baked into us from before the creation of this world. It is not a stipulation that God put upon us but a pre-existing quality that He had to account for. He designed this world to be suited to our nature, not the other way around. It is also likely that the pains of an afterlife torment are simply inherent to our pre-existing nature when we choose to live after the manner of rebellion, not an arbitrary consequence crafted by God.

The other important point is that our entering into this current state was voluntary. We believe that God proposed the creation of this world and mortal experience to us, with an understanding of all it would entail, including the hardships and dangers therein, and that we willfully chose it. We chose it because it was the right method to draw out our full potential, to develop us to be like Him.

From this perspective, the Problem of Evil is hardly a problem at all. The suffering of this world is essential to us. Not because God made it be so, but because of our inherent nature. Yes, God is all-powerful, and He could intervene in every tragedy and remove all suffering from us in the moment, but it would frustrate the entire purpose of our being here. If God prevented all pain, that would never teach us to stand forthright against the storm, only to cower behind God’s skirts. And God did not force any of this pain upon us, we chose it so that we might win the greater good on the other side.

Universal Consciousness)

Shifting gears now to a non-Christian perspective, Advaita Vedānta, one of Hinduism’s major philosophical schools, teaches a principle of universal consciousness, which states that all of us and all of creation are not separate beings at all. All of our perceived reality is but a part of one super-entity called Brahman. Thus, our perceptions of being separate beings that inflict pain upon one another, or being victims of a cruel and indifferent universe, are mere illusions. When people hurt one another, or when nature hurts humanity, it is actually just that universal consciousness hurting itself.

The Problem of Evil doesn’t make sense when our suffering is but the left hand injuring the right. No, the injury is not good, but there is no outer deity to get mad at for subjecting us to this experience. We only experience this pain because we are so insistent on our sense of individualism, trying to see ourselves as separate from the super-reality that binds us all together. All we have to do is to let go of the self, relax back into the universal consciousness, and we no longer become a subject of pain.

Thinking Outside the Box)

Obviously, I do not expect many of my readers to agree with either of these viewpoints, and therefore to not necessarily be freed from their anxiety about the Problem of Evil. But I think it is still important to see that the problem is one that arises because of presuppositional beliefs. This conundrum is not inevitable. It exists only because of context, and it evaporates in another context. It is, therefore, hardly a binding principle, and we do not have to be fettered to it.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Criticizing Another’s Faith- Making Up Beliefs

Defining My Faith)

I am in the middle of describing patterns of un-Christlike and ineffective evangelism. These are ways that people show that they are coming to the table in bad faith, more interested in owning their “opponent” than convincing a “brother.”

Today I will be highlighting the practice of defining another person’s beliefs for them. This is a theological strawman argument, where you assert beliefs that another church holds, and show why those beliefs are ridiculous. The only problem, though, is that the people in that faith doesn’t actually hold those beliefs!

Recently I saw this video of Jonathan Pageau expressing this exact experience in critics of his Eastern Orthodox faith, and it was interesting to see that his church is experiencing the same sort of misrepresentation that mine does. This is not a limited experience, rather it seems to be a common technique of spiritual bigotry.

One of the most common ways this is used against my faith, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, is to find an outlandish quote of a long-since past church leader and demanding that we defend the doctrinal views expressed there. It doesn’t matter that neither I, nor any members of my faith actually hold that position, we’re told that we are required to. A requirement that actually goes against our fundamental understanding of authority, as we explicitly claim to not view our leaders as infallible!

Another common critique is our worship of Joseph Smith. Something that we simply never have done and never will! He has only ever been held in the same esteem as any other prophet or leader of God’s people. The same that any other Christian would view Moses or Peter, that is how the Saints have viewed Joseph from 1820 until now. He is extremely important, an essential character in the history of the faith, deserving of our respect and study…but never worshipped. Worship is limited to our God and Jesus and no one else. But you cannot imagine the number of times I have told that to people, only to have them smile, shake their heads, and inform me that that’s not what I really believe.

Speak For Yourself)

One of my favorite experiences while serving as a missionary for my church was when we came across a Pandit of the Hindu faith. We sat down with him for probably about an hour and heard him explain his faith in his own terms. It was beautiful. I really learned a great deal in a short amount of time, saw parallels between our beliefs that I never expected, and left realizing that Hinduism was far less “weird” than I had been led to assume. Did I leave as a Hindu? No. But I left as a better person for having let a person define his own faith to me, rather than trying to force him into the box of my misconceptions.

So it should be in all of these conversations. Unless you have spent extensive time studying the beliefs of a faith from the actual practitioners, you do not understand their faith and cannot debate its merits with accuracy. And obviously, most critics of a faith will have instead only learned about it from its detractors, and there cannot be a worse method of education than that!

But even if you do learn the church’s theology in a genuine manner, that still tells you nothing about the idiosyncrasies in the faith of the individual within that system. Some people are orthodox and some people are lax. Some people put more emphasis on what the scripture says, some people prefer the teachings of their modern leaders, and some people are guided by their own conscience. Even when all the same doctrines are shared by a people, different lenses and perspectives will result in a broad array of diverse interpretations of those doctrines. Thus, after you have done the genuine work to understand the faith as a whole, then you still must learn the faith of the individual that you are actually speaking to.

Thus, if your first interaction with me is to speak against my faith, you are a fool. You don’t even know anything about what my faith even is, and if you don’t know anything about what it is, then what is your justification in speaking against it?

Posted on by Abe Austin

What Sort of Disciple Are You?- Personal Example

I spent two years of my life serving a mission in the Caribbean. It was a wonderful opportunity to see various countries and cultures, and be educated by the similarities and differences between them. One trend that stood out to me was how powerful of an influence one’s society could be.

For example, it was not uncommon to hear of individuals changing their religion after moving to another country. Hindus from Guyana might very well become Christians after moving out to the islands, to better fit in with those around them. Similarly, Christians from the islands might become Hindus after moving to Guyana.

I, myself, come from an environment where a single religion makes up the majority of the culture. Many that move here join the religion, and so long as one remains in this bubble it is far easier to maintain that faith. It is very easy to believe that we are the way that we are forever, that we would never embrace a different walk of life. But if you have never lived in a culture where you are a minority, then you do not realize how tempting it is to change yourself just to fit it in.

Our default tendency is to believe whatever we are surrounded by. It is possible to believe more deeply than this, but that requires conscious, intentional discipleship. Whatever your religion is, it may be helpful to ask yourself if you are that religion because it is convenient, or because you actually believe in it. For example, I am a Christian, but is that because I am surrounded by Christians, or do I really and truly believe that Christ is the only way to spiritual perfection. Do I really believe that his teachings will provide me peace and fulfillment that I cannot find in any other place? I do, but I had to do real work to obtain that belief.