The logic of Epicurus

Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able?     Then he is not omnipotent.

Is he able, but not willing?       Then he is malevolent.

Is he both able and willing?       Then whence cometh evil?

Is he neither able nor willing?     Then why call him God?

— Epicurus

3 Comments

  1. The idea of a single god was adopted by the Israelites for good political reasons. Baal, a very good and mighty god, was the favored ruler of the heavens at the time, and the Israelites, oppressed by their more powerful eastern neighbours, wanted to differentiate themselves with an even more powerful and more cruel god. This monotheism was taken up by the early Christians, and should have been investigated by a monopolies department of the governent, had someone had the brilliant idea of creating one. The new Christian priesthood couldn’t quite bring itself to shelve polytheism totally, and it engineered the clever idea of a polytheistic- monotheism in the form of the Trinity to attract the enlightened people who still wanted more than one god. We still don’t have a wholehearted monotheism.

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