Could God do better?

[Paul of Tarsus]

The philosopher Gottfried Leibniz argued that this is "the best of all possible worlds" to free God from blame for the world's troubles. In other words, this world, warts and all, is the best God could have done. I'm left wondering, though, why this world is the best possible. It seems likely to me that the world would be better off without cancer, for example, and therefore it's really not the best possible world. Wouldn't the world actually be better without cancer, and if it would be better without cancer, then why is God failing to do the best he presumably could do? If the world is the best possible world, then how does the presence of cancer make it better than a world without cancer?

[JehovahsWitness]

Jehovah's Witnesses think God has engineered cells and designed them to do what they do. That would include cancer cells that kill people.

Emphasis MINE

No that would not include cancer cells that kill people. You are wrong. A cancer cell is a malfunctioning "anormal" cell. Jehovah's Witnesses do not think God has engineered cells and designed cells to malfunction.

You may consider yourself duly corrected.



JEHOVAH'S WITNESS



Further reading
https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/und ... -is-cancer

Did God create deadly germs and diseased to threaten the lives of Adam and Eve?
http://debatingchristianity.com/forum/v ... 19#p951119

To learn more please go to other posts related to

SICKNESS , DEATH, and ...THE MIRACLES OF JESUS CHRIST

[nobspeople]

[Replying to Paul of Tarsus in post #37]

I'm glad you survived cancer and realize that the world would obviously be a better place without it.

Thank you. But allow me to clarify my statement. When I said that, I was referring to my experience. Some people see it differently. And if that works for them, that's great. Maybe I wouldn't be were I'd be today if I hadn't experienced cancer (for better or worse). So making a claim that humanity would be better off with or without this or that is outside our scope and mere individual opinion based on individual circumstances at this time.

I documented in the OP that the philosopher Gottfried Leibniz argued that this is "the best of all possible worlds" to free God from blame for the world's troubles. Voltaire ridiculed Leibniz and this philosophy in his famous spoof, Candide.

Again, to clarify, when I said 'no one I've seen' I was referring to people I know. Obviously I don't know those you cited and have zero proof of what they think and why they think that, though I could make an educated guess based on what I've seen in others.

Which is a slap in the face of all the hard-working medical professionals who actually helped save the sick/injured person and who deserve credit for doing so.

Perhaps. I've seen people claim 'God worked through the skilled hands of doctors'. Which I find hysterical. Why can't God do it himself? Then I remember why God can't pay the light bill, or pay to build his church, or print his word. God, it seems, is impotent.

[Paul of Tarsus]

Jehovah's Witnesses think God has engineered cells and designed them to do what they do. That would include cancer cells that kill people.

Emphasis MINE

No that would not include cancer cells that kill people. You are wrong. A cancer cell is a malfunctioning "anormal" cell. Jehovah's Witnesses do not think God has engineered cells and designed cells to malfunction.

You may consider yourself duly corrected.

I think you've painted yourself into a corner here. For one thing, it is incorrect to say that cancer cells malfunction as far as their being cells are concerned. Cancer cells function very well, and that's what makes them so deadly as they multiply into countless billions and interfere with noncancerous cells. So contrary to what you say, it is the body as a whole that malfunctions and not the individual cancer cells that malfunction.

But an even worse problem for your position is your denying that Jehovah's Witnesses are taught that God designed and created cancer cells. The article I linked to from the JW website very clearly implies that only the creative powers of all-mighty Jehovah can explain the design of the cell. Cancer cells are cells, of course, and if Jehovah designed and created cells, then he designed and created cancer cells!

But you obviously want to save your faith by making a special exception for cancer cells. Sure, God created good cells, but he didn't create those bad cancer cells! If that's correct, then I'm left wondering where cancer cells came from if not Jehovah. Could those cancer cells, which are every bit as amazing as any other cell, have evolved with no input from God? Apparently yes, if your denial is correct.

So congratulations, JW. You have refuted the argument that God is needed to explain the cell. Evolution works just fine as an explanation for the existence of cells.

[Paul of Tarsus]

Wouldn't the world actually be better without cancer, and if it would be better without cancer, then why is God failing to do the best he presumably could do?

A God would need to exist in order to "do the best he presumably could do." As it stands, there is no reason to assume God, like all gods, exists anywhere other than in the imaginations of those who imagine his existence.

An assertion without supporting evidence or reason can be countered with an assertion without supporting evidence or reason: There is reason to assume God exists with no need to have anybody believe in that God.

So there--we are even with one assertion each.

If the world is the best possible world, then how does the presence of cancer make it better than a world without cancer?

It doesn't. If there were a God to do something about it, cancer wouldn't exist.

It surely seems that the world would be better off without cancer and that a God who really exists would not allow it. I suppose we really don't know what a world would be like without cancer, and so such a world might actually be worse than this one. And like I have pointed out, God and evils like cancer are not mutually exclusive. Both might be able to exist.

Either God doesn't care, or he took them to heaven. A third possibility that Christians often fail to entertain is that the person who dies was sent to hell. Maybe they don't want to think about that.

A fourth possibility is that God doesn't exist. Maybe they aren't alone in not wanting want to think about that.

I think about God not existing often enough. It's a definite possibility. However, I didn't really intend to discuss the existence of God on this thread but some of the riddles that follow the assumption of his existence.

[JehovahsWitness]

Jehovah's Witnesses think God has engineered cells and designed them to do what they do. That would include cancer cells that kill people.

Emphasis MINE


No, you are wrong. Jehovahs Witnesses do not believe that would not include any cells that kill people. May I respectfully remind you nobody has asked you about what you believe, we are discussing what JWs believe and your incorrect claim in this regard.

Jehovah's Witnesses do not believe that God designed anything in the body with the purpose that it kills them. There is nothing in said article that suggest that to be the case.

If you wish to try prove me wrong please provide a direct quote, as opposed to your impressions, which are irrelevant.

JW

[Paul of Tarsus]

Jehovah's Witnesses think God has engineered cells and designed them to do what they do. That would include cancer cells that kill people.

Emphasis MINE


Jehovah's Witnesses do not believe believe that God designed anything in the body with the purpose that it kills them. There is nothing in said article that suggest that to be the case.

If you wish to try prove me wrong please provide a direct quote.

Where did cancer cells come from?

[JehovahsWitness]

Jehovah's Witnesses think God has engineered cells and designed them to do what they do. That would include cancer cells that kill people.

Emphasis MINE


Jehovah's Witnesses do not believe believe that God designed anything in the body with the purpose that it kills them. There is nothing in said article that suggest that to be the case.

If you wish to try prove me wrong please provide a direct quote.

Where did cancer cells come from?

Irrelevant. Where I think cells come from is not the issue here. Was there a part of provide a quotation or a verifiable reference from the official Jehovah's Witnesses website you are having trouble understanding?

Jehovah's Witnesses do not believe that God designed anything in the body with the purpose that it kills them. There is nothing in said article that suggest that to be the case.

JW

[Paul of Tarsus]

Jehovah's Witnesses think God has engineered cells and designed them to do what they do. That would include cancer cells that kill people.

Emphasis MINE


Jehovah's Witnesses do not believe believe that God designed anything in the body with the purpose that it kills them. There is nothing in said article that suggest that to be the case.

If you wish to try prove me wrong please provide a direct quote.

Where did cancer cells come from?

Irrelevant. Where I think cells come from is not the issue here. Was there a part of provide a quotation or a verifiable reference from the official Jehovah's Witnesses website you are having trouble understanding?

Jehovah's Witnesses do not believe that God designed anything in the body with the purpose that it kills them. There is nothing in said article that suggest that to be the case.

JW

Where did cancer cells come from?

[JehovahsWitness]

Where did cancer cells come from?

Where did cancer cells come from?

I do not believe we are in kindergarden; I am here for serious debate not infantile chanting. I have already addressed this question, if you have any factual information to support your claim that JWs believe that God engineered cells and designed cancer cells that kill people feel free to present it but repetition does not a counterargument make.



JEHOVAH'S WITNESS

[Paul of Tarsus]

Where did cancer cells come from?

Where did cancer cells come from?

I do not believe we are in kindergarden; I am here for serious debate not infantile chanting. I have already addressed this question, if you have any factual information to support your claim that JWs believe that God engineered cells and designed cancer cells that kill people feel free to present it but repetition does not a counterargument make.



JEHOVAH'S WITNESS

Do you believe that God created cells?