The Problem of Suffering: the Seven Supernatural Answers vs. the One Naturalistic (part 2 of 2)

Of the following eight explanations for suffering:

I. THE SUPERNATURAL EXPLANATIONS
I. A: In the “Big Picture,” everything is for the best because …
A.1 – suffering is punishment for wrong-doing
A.2 – suffering benefits us
A.3 – suffering must exist for the greater good of Free Will
A.4 – it’s beyond our understanding
A.5 – the perceived world is just an illusion, hence suffering, too, is just an illusion

I. B: The Divine is not All-Powerful

I. C: The Divine is not All-Good

II. THE NATURALISTIC EXPLANATION: the natural world is indifferent to creature suffering

—which explanation (or combination of explanations) can most accurately describe and predict a wide set of observations?

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The Problem of Suffering: the Seven Supernatural Answers vs. the One Naturalistic (part 1 of 2)

Of the following eight explanations for suffering:

I. THE SUPERNATURAL EXPLANATIONS
I. A: In the “Big Picture,” everything is for the best because …
A.1 – suffering is punishment for wrong-doing
A.2 – suffering benefits us
A.3 – suffering must exist for the greater good of Free Will
A.4 – it’s beyond our understanding
A.5 – the perceived world is just an illusion, hence suffering, too, is just an illusion

I. B: The Divine is not All-Powerful

I. C: The Divine is not All-Good

II. THE NATURALISTIC EXPLANATION: the natural world is indifferent to creature suffering

—which explanation (or combination of explanations) can most accurately describe and predict a wide set of observations?

Read Full Post »