Mackie POE + Counters

Question 1

Mackie argument of evil

Answer 1

(1) God is omnipotent
(2) God is perfectly good
(3) Evil Exists
(4) there are no limits to what an omnipotent being can do (implication from 1)
(5) a good thing eliminates evil as far as it can (implication from 2)

Question 2

Discussion around ‘limits’

Answer 2

standard answer: there is no such thing as violating the law of logic. God can do anything, but saying God cannot do nonsense is not limiting gods power

Question 3

Discussion around ‘eliminates’

Answer 3

‘prevents occurrence of’

Question 4

Plantinga counter to Mackie POE

Answer 4

He assumes that Mackie holds it to be a necessary truth that a good thing must eliminate evil as far as it can

He then tries to disprove this

Question 5

Counter to platingas counter to Mackie POE

Answer 5

We do not need to ask if ‘it is a necessary truth that a good thing must eliminate evil as far as it can’ because this is not the belief that Mackie held. This is what he was trying to say theists believed in order to draw a contradiction

Question 6

Do theists believe that a good thing eliminates evil as far as it can?

Answer 6

Not necessarily, many theists believe ‘evil happens for a reason’

‘God allows for a purpose’

God creates good from bad, and allows bad to exist