tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27612445.post2173008051145296896..comments2024-03-23T12:05:23.537-05:00Comments on The Wild Reed: A Priest Reflects on God and the Problem of EvilMichael J. Baylyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03087458490602152648noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27612445.post-76045886617166298452008-07-25T09:26:00.000-05:002008-07-25T09:26:00.000-05:00Hi, Michael. Thanks for the humble homily. I would...Hi, Michael. <BR/><BR/>Thanks for the humble homily. I would like to see some discussion from an evolutionary point of view. <BR/><BR/>What do people mean by "evil"? We aren't talking about natural catastrophes like hurricanes, tsunamis, etc, and we aren't talkng about accidents like fires. We are talking about human cruelty and sociopathology, aren't we? Slavery, the Holocaust, genocide, killing and subjugation of people?<BR/><BR/>Can those failures of people to love and care for each other, even in mob or systematic manifestations, be accounted for in developmental terms? <BR/><BR/>Our cultures have not evolved very far from the self-interestedness of animals, and then we have the added complexities of mentality, including the twistedness that comes from unfilled emotional and spiritual human need. <BR/><BR/>The way I look at it, the creation, including humans, is in process toward fulfillment in the great mystery of goodness and love. <BR/><BR/>Classical Catholic teaching has it that humans are in the process of becoming divinized through participation in the Christ life. God could have created a Stepford universe, but the process of becoming is the creation we've got and it is up to us by loving kindness to each other to help it happen. <BR/><BR/>I'd like to hear what you and others think of this line of reasoning. I'd appreciate serious talk and no putting me down with superciliousness.<BR/><BR/>PaulaAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27612445.post-25247386233960924442008-07-25T04:27:00.000-05:002008-07-25T04:27:00.000-05:00Well, look whose worldview is threatened,,,,Appreh...Well, look whose worldview is threatened,,,,<BR/><BR/>Apprehend, not comprehend: read first, rant second.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27612445.post-78339728227650579122008-07-24T19:25:00.000-05:002008-07-24T19:25:00.000-05:00"distinction between God's deliberate and permissi..."distinction between God's deliberate and permissive wills"<BR/><BR/>What? Rhetorical nonsense aside, YOU know the distinction between God's DELIBERATE and PERMISSIVE wills?<BR/><BR/>Why of course you do. Only a god could. Only a god would speak as though such distinctions were a part of the human dynamic. So, now that YOU know the distinction between GOD'S different wills, please inform the rest of us so that WE too may know the will of god as YOU know it, so we don't have to endure all the crap that human ignorance suffers, or all the claptrap that know-it-alls insist is theirs to unburden us.<BR/><BR/>Please: UNBURDEN my ignorance. Tell me the Mind of God, the Problem of Evil, the Sin of Homophilia, the Idolatry of Judgment of Others, and all the wonderful KNOWLEDGE about the Mind of God YOU possess. Are you the Messiah, too? Incarnate? Alleviate my HUMANITY, so that I may join among your DIVINITY.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27612445.post-14954077288465812792008-07-24T11:48:00.000-05:002008-07-24T11:48:00.000-05:00Quite right Liam,in the examples of #2, and #3 abo...Quite right Liam,<BR/><BR/>in the examples of #2, and #3 above; the conclusions are non-sequiters.Christianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08626283172110400617noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27612445.post-57346615923224421322008-07-24T04:33:00.000-05:002008-07-24T04:33:00.000-05:00It is interesting that, while we commonly encounte...It is interesting that, while we commonly encounter how the "problem of evil" causes doubt in the existence of a personal Deity, it likewise is one of the more common reasons for transitioning from agnosticism/atheism to belief. Because "evil" makes no sense in a purely natural cosmological system, among many other things.<BR/><BR/>And the distinction between God's deliberate and permissive wills in the context of human free will - something many human beings can apprehend if not comprehend in their own relationships - gives lie to the classic formulation of "the problem of evil". Because without it, love does not really have a space to grow. <BR/><BR/>The classic Christian theological resolution of this problem is truly liberating and progressive, and the attempts to elide or reject it are deeply anti-progressive despite cosmetic appearances to the contrary.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27612445.post-12287375487322835102008-07-23T18:42:00.000-05:002008-07-23T18:42:00.000-05:00I notice the priest does not once mention anything...I notice the priest does not once mention anything about Christian revelation or the Bible.<BR/><BR/>Vatican II asserted that the study of Sacred Scripture is the soul of theology (<A HREF="http://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_const_19651118_dei-verbum_en.html" REL="nofollow">Dei Verbum</A>, 24). So if we really want to get beyond a merely human way of thinking about God, we would do well to use divine revelation as our primary source for doing theology.CDEhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01442791960391683444noreply@blogger.com