P.E.P. Chronicles, Part 3

We've been exploring different theodicies, or manners of explaining why God allows evil in the world, in class these past few weeks. Evaluating so many different choices forces one to realize that one has certain prejudices, or principles to which one is more strongly committed.

So basically, as the semester has progressed, I've grown progressively more committed to my original ideas. No, I'm not stubborn. Open minded? 'Course I'm open-minded!

Ha-ha. That was a joke. But seriously, looking at all these different options has forced me to think about what ideas I'll accept and which I won't. So I've boiled my ideas down into one basic principle. This principle is basically the bottom-line factor in whether or not I'll accept a theodicy as true:

Man, not God, is the source of evil.

But I'll take it further than, just be clear what I mean by source of evil:

Evil is fundamentally unneccessary for the achievement of God's purpose in creation.

Don't get me wrong; I believe that all evil can and will be redeemed in the end. But that doesn't mean evil is good.