Posted: Jun 26, 2011 9:53 pm
"Either God wants to abolish evil, and cannot; or he can, but does not want to. If he wants to, but cannot, he is impotent. If he can, but does not want to, he is wicked. If God can abolish evil, and God really wants to do it, why is there evil in the world?"
This statement is traditionally attributed to Epicurus, by Christian theologian Lactantius, who then goes on to criticize it (it's amazing how much of our knowledge of ancient religious skepticism comes from quotes by the faithful, as the original works are often lost). But did he really make that statement? The Epicureans did believe in the Greek gods, though they believed that the gods didn't infer in human affairs (or even created the world), making them polydeists.
If Epicurus didn't make that claim, then who really made it? I read somewhere that it might have originated from one of the Greek skeptics. Though from what I know, the Greek skeptics mostly criticized the philosophical certitudes of the Epicureans and (especially) the Stoics, and didn't bother too much with religion (but I could be wrong here).
This statement is traditionally attributed to Epicurus, by Christian theologian Lactantius, who then goes on to criticize it (it's amazing how much of our knowledge of ancient religious skepticism comes from quotes by the faithful, as the original works are often lost). But did he really make that statement? The Epicureans did believe in the Greek gods, though they believed that the gods didn't infer in human affairs (or even created the world), making them polydeists.
If Epicurus didn't make that claim, then who really made it? I read somewhere that it might have originated from one of the Greek skeptics. Though from what I know, the Greek skeptics mostly criticized the philosophical certitudes of the Epicureans and (especially) the Stoics, and didn't bother too much with religion (but I could be wrong here).