J.L. Mackie was one of the major philosophical opponents of religion in the twentieth century. Here Mackie claims that theism is logically inconsistent (and thus irrational) in combining these three judgments:1. God is omnipotent.
If God were omnipotent, he could prevent every evil. If he were wholly good, he'd prevent every evil that he could prevent. So if God were omnipotent and wholly good, he'd prevent every evil -- so there'd be no evil.
2. God is wholly good.
3. Evil exists.This exercise deals with a reading from Mackie in our anthology (pages 263-73 of Philosophy of Religion: Selected Readings (second edition), edited by Peterson, Hasker, Reichenbach, and Basinger). These computerized exercise materials are copyrighted (c) 2002 by Harry J. Gensler; but they may be distributed freely.