There is at least one other possibility: nothing that happens in this plane of existence is evil because this plane of existence ultimately doesn’t matter. Or maybe just individual suffering doesn’t matter because it’s all temporal while we are (or are a part of) something bigger.
Perhaps we are an eternal being that started all this into motion and watched it or caused it to develop life that we could enter and experience this creation through. That would be a scenario where there can exist a “God” that has omnipresence, omniscience, and maybe even omnipotence (depending on what exactly such a being would be capable of when not playing an avatar that limits all of that) without any more evil than what exists in a video game or movie.
No idea if that’s the case, though I do believe it’s a more plausible scenario than the one described in the Bible. I have yet to think up a reason as to why a being as powerful as the “God” character would be so jealous and wrathful other than humans wanting to use that character to cause fear that could be leveraged for control. The old testament reads just like an abusive relationship only the abuser was all-powerful (but still needs to rely on threats).
Oh, sure, there are all kinds of possibilities, but I’m just going by the god as described in the bible. He’s very clearly a fictional character invented by desert nomads thousands of years ago. If there is a higher power, it wouldn’t be anything like the Christian one.
There is at least one other possibility: nothing that happens in this plane of existence is evil because this plane of existence ultimately doesn’t matter. Or maybe just individual suffering doesn’t matter because it’s all temporal while we are (or are a part of) something bigger.
Perhaps we are an eternal being that started all this into motion and watched it or caused it to develop life that we could enter and experience this creation through. That would be a scenario where there can exist a “God” that has omnipresence, omniscience, and maybe even omnipotence (depending on what exactly such a being would be capable of when not playing an avatar that limits all of that) without any more evil than what exists in a video game or movie.
No idea if that’s the case, though I do believe it’s a more plausible scenario than the one described in the Bible. I have yet to think up a reason as to why a being as powerful as the “God” character would be so jealous and wrathful other than humans wanting to use that character to cause fear that could be leveraged for control. The old testament reads just like an abusive relationship only the abuser was all-powerful (but still needs to rely on threats).
Oh, sure, there are all kinds of possibilities, but I’m just going by the god as described in the bible. He’s very clearly a fictional character invented by desert nomads thousands of years ago. If there is a higher power, it wouldn’t be anything like the Christian one.