Just as talk of ‘the problem of evil’ usually betrays the presence of marketplace theism, so talk of ‘the problem of the soul’ typically signals an encounter with marketplace atheism.
Problems, like crossword puzzles, have solutions; we know how to address them, and what a satisfying resolution of them might look like. But when a theist treats evil as a problem, you can put good money on her solution being far worse than the problem.
If, for example, she tells us that, for all we know, God has a plan for His universe within which evil plays an indispensable role in the achievement of a good that far outweighs the costs it exacts, you don't say it, but you silently wish for someone to get you out of here.
You lister to this 'reasoning' this 'grand design' that this believer has been proferred and has bought unquestioning, in his wisdwom her God deliberately inflicts evil on the innocent, like a supernatural Pol Pot or Stalin with a cosmic Plan?
Likewise, when an atheist treats the soul as a problem, to which he nevertheless has a solution, we would do well to consider the benefits of continuing to live with the ‘problem’.
Problems, like crossword puzzles, have solutions; we know how to address them, and what a satisfying resolution of them might look like. But when a theist treats evil as a problem, you can put good money on her solution being far worse than the problem.
If, for example, she tells us that, for all we know, God has a plan for His universe within which evil plays an indispensable role in the achievement of a good that far outweighs the costs it exacts, you don't say it, but you silently wish for someone to get you out of here.
You lister to this 'reasoning' this 'grand design' that this believer has been proferred and has bought unquestioning, in his wisdwom her God deliberately inflicts evil on the innocent, like a supernatural Pol Pot or Stalin with a cosmic Plan?
Likewise, when an atheist treats the soul as a problem, to which he nevertheless has a solution, we would do well to consider the benefits of continuing to live with the ‘problem’.
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