Multiple choice

The above passage is an attempt to:

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. put forth a strong argument for atheism by proving God to be an abstract, unseen concept which probably is a creation of human mind alone

  2. draw a comparison between inherent goodness of mankind and the balancing force provided by evil so essential in making the world more interesting to live in

  3. prove the existence of an omnipotent, perfect God

  4. elucidate upon a non-partisan, philosophical point of view on the arguments between believers and non-believers, for and against the presence of God

  5. prove that good and evil are co-existent and feed upon each other

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

(1) is incorrect as there is no conclusion drawn, for or against presence of God. (2) is incorrect as the passage is mainly concerned with the debate between theist and atheists (3) is incorrect as there is no such attempt, just presentation of divergent viewpoints. (4) is correct as the passage is objective in nature without taking sides. (5) Is incorrect as the passage does not draw any conclusions.