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God soul and world
- 1. God Soul andWorld
- 2. St. Augustine • Atheist has to justify the ways of God to man. • God is Omnipotent, benevolent and Good. • Than how do you explain evil? • Evil is a fact of life. ( That is why you study Law) • One of the purpose of state is punishment to wrong doers.
- 3. Contd. • Physical evilcan be explained by the theory of Seminal Good. • The whole universe has been created that a good man may emerge by wrestling with the presence of physical evil. • All great man are great solely because they took on evil. • Ex. M. K. Gandhi was an ordinary lawyer, shy, lacking confidence, till he decided to fight for truth.
- 4. Contd. • And thatfight changed his battlefield from the comforts of Court room , to emancipation of 400 Million Indians. • Without the Physical evil of British empire M.K. Gandhi would never have become the Mahatma. • Physical evil could be understood but what about Moral evil? • Why people lie, cheat ? • Why can’t they be honest, helpful, disciplined.
- 5. Contd. • St. Augustinewas a great Christian Saint. Born in Africa, Son of a mid level official of the Roman empire. • He has three views about evil. • A) Evil is necessary for the advancement of greater good. In the same manner the shadow of moon enhances its beauty. • B) Evil is not a positive but privative good. ex. Simple deficiency of goodness. • C) Not God but man is responsible for his moral fall. •
- 6. Contd. • Augustine wasa Platonist. ( Follower of Plato) • Yet he could not understand the matter as the reason for evil. • Matter is something which predates God? • Matter was always their And God simply shaped it into this world. ( Platonic View) • God is omnipotent (All powerful) • Because matter is also created by God, Hence God is indirectly responsible for evil.
- 7. Contd. • How toexplain evil? • Evil is not Good but it is good that there is evil. • What appears as evil is not good but it is good that there is evil!! • Why? • Because it only enhances the excellence of Good.
- 8. Moral Evil • Thefirst man called Adam was given free will. • Free will is Man’s capacity to take and act on his decisions. • He misused free will by his disobedience. • He ate the forbidden fruit. • He became a fallen man. • A fallen man can produce only a fallen thing. • All the descendents of Adam have become fallen disobedient persons.
- 9. Contd. • They Lovethe world. • They have lost free will. • Hence for the sin of one man all have sinned. • This is known as the doctrine of original sin. • We have stopped listening to God. • All have earned eternal hell fire. • A sinner can do no real good for real good means free act.
- 10. Contd. • He restrictsthe free will to only one man, and denies this to n his all subsequent human beings. • Here comes GOD. • He by his grace can redeem some man. • He turns some man towards himself. • It is God’s doing and his doing alone. • Man can not earn his God ward tendency.
- 11. Contd. • God’s gracecan not be earned. • No person can question his grace. • For individual is absolutely corrupt and deserves no salvation but ultimate condemnation. • But how do we know a particular individual is saved by God. • By Baptism, Sacrament, Fasting and prayer.
- 12. Contd. • Anslem afollower of Augustine accepted the priority of faith over reason. • His slogan which was Augustinian was “ Let me believe that I may understand”. There is an idea of absolutely perfect being. i.e. idea of God than whom none greater can be thought. Absolute perfection is necessarily an idea of an Existent being.
- 13. Contd. • When aWorshipper worships a deity, than his deity is considered by him to be highest, most perfect and the most real.