Relation to the world· Philosophy of religion
A limited God
Axis: The problem of evil — Is evil compatible with a good and all-powerful God?
God's goodness is saved by limiting his power: a God who withdraws or limits himself so that the world may be, and who suffers with it more than he governs it. Evil is not willed by God: it is what he cannot prevent.
Philosophers 1
Jonasexplicit
After Auschwitz, where his mother was murdered, judges that God's omnipotence, goodness and intelligibility can no longer be held together. He gives up omnipotence: in a "myth" he presents as a hypothesis, God divested himself of his power in creating the world so as to let it be; he suffers with it and could not intervene, and it is now up to human beings to help him.
The Concept of God after Auschwitz (lecture 1984, publ. 1987)
- Descriptive QuestionEpicurus's riddle
Can God prevent evil but not want to, or want to but not be able? One of the three, his power, his goodness, or the reality of evil, must give way: which one?
evil and the attributes of God - DescriptiveEvil with no culprit
Free will excuses the evil humans do; but the earthquake, disease, the pain of animals are no one's fault: what then remains to absolve the creator?
a natural disaster - DescriptiveWhat if God could not do everything?
One can save God's goodness by taking away his omnipotence: a God who withdraws and limits himself, or before whom evil is a rival principle he does not create.
the nature of God