Multiple choice

All of the following, if true, would be arrows in the bow of the faithful except

Directions: Answer the question based on the following passage.

A simple theory in support of belief is the contention that the onus is on the believer to prove the existence of God, in the absence of which, the atheist is justified in disbelieving and advocating the same. The more forceful and choleric atheists not just hold back from assenting to the presence of God, but actively refute the claims made by theists about a supreme power responsible for creating and controlling the world, as indeed the entire universe. They cite logic to support their claims for the absence of God as evinced from the state of the world around us. While a theist talks of a heavenly kingdom, hell and the yet to come resurrection of the dead, the atheist scoffs at these abstract assertions and claims that the evil that we see around us negates the possibility of the existence of a omnipresent, omniscient, omnipotent and perfectly good God. When it is contended by the theists that God not only created the universe, but also supports life and wants only the best for his creations, the atheists take the present state of worldly affairs and hold it like a mirror in the face of theist rhetoric. Consolidating further, the atheists say that while evil is all around us, all pervasive and always in our face, the goodness of the supposedly perfect and perfectly good God is visible only in a few distant patches. Another line of reasoning for the atheist is that if God is perfect, his creations should reflect his perfection, to which the theists reply with the ‘choice of free will’ argument that even though God created humans in his own likeness, he left them with a free will to decide what they want to do and that the evil that we see is a result of our misuse of the freedom. To the charge of the presence of natural evil, the existence of natural calamities, disease et cetera, the theists counter with the explanation that evil must exist to quantify good, that the two are relative and one can’t exist without the other. A similar argument proposed by theists is that evil allows the existence of values and forces that oppose it to exist and opens up avenues for compassion, love, mutual dependence and human kindness. Without suffering and trials, the world will lack such higher planes of consciousness which would make it tawdry in comparison to the world as we know it today.

  1. The absence of a suitable elucidation on the alternatives to the theist theories of creation of life

  2. A lonely vigil by goodness in the midst of proliferation of evil

  3. People determining their moral leanings independent of external persuasions

  4. Total extermination of evil tendencies and behavior

  5. Discovery of a metaphysical scale that adjusts the ratio of good and evil

Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

(1) Incorrect; the absence of a suitable alternative only strengthens the claims of theist about the presence of God. (2) Incorrect; the lonely vigil by goodness would be taken as a deacon of godliness by the theist. (3) Incorrect; the fact that people use 'free will' to determine their moral values is a moot point for theist who believe that God created humans in his likeness but also gave them a free will. (4) Correct answer. The believers in God contend that evil and good are interdependent and the presence of one is necessary for the other to exist. Absence of evil will render good indefinable and by extension, challenge the source of goodness. (5) Incorrect; the proof of a cosmic scale balancing good and evil will lend weight to theist theory of both being interdependent.

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