The Idea of God’s Omnipotence and the Problem of Evil

Authors

  • Tadeusz Pabjan Uniwersytet Papieski Jana Pawła II w Krakowie

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15633/tst.2613

Keywords:

God’s omnipotence, problem of evil, physical evi, laws of nature

Abstract

This article deals with the relation between the theological idea of God’s omnipotence and the problem of evil which refers to the question of how to reconcile the existence of evil with God who is good. One of the main arguments of theodicy, which is a philosophical discipline dealing with this question, points to some important limitations of God’s omnipotence. According to this argument, God’s power is limited by different factors. One of them is human freedom: God can not prevent evil resulting from free decisions of people, because He himself decided them to be free. But this argument can be extended to the whole created world: God gives freedom not only to man, but to the whole universe as well, and this is why it can freely evolve in the boundaries of laws of nature. Physical evil is a simple consequence of such freedom of created world. The paper is composed of three parts. At first, the very idea of God’s omnipotence is discussed. Then the relation of God’s omnipotence and the laws of nature is expounded. In the end the so called non-interventionist model of God’s action in nature is presented.

Author Biography

  • Tadeusz Pabjan, Uniwersytet Papieski Jana Pawła II w Krakowie
    Ks. Tadeusz Pabjan – doktor habilitowany, wykładowca filozofii przyrody i filozofii nauki na Wydziale Teologicznym Sekcja w Tarnowie UPJPII.

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Published

2018-12-30

Issue

Vol. 36 No. 2 (2017)

Section

Artykuły

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