Will Green

February 7, 2016
GNED 1128
In his Meditations on First Philosophy, Rene Descartes argues that because God is
infinitely perfect, and humanity is imperfect, the idea of God must have come from a source like
God. He believed that because the idea of God could not have been made by man, there must be
a being who is infinitely perfect that originated the idea and thus God must exist (Descartes 13).
However, there is a problem. The problem of evil, as it is called, is that evil and suffering exist,
so an all-knowing, all-loving, and all-powerful God cannot exist because a perfect being would
be able to eliminate these problems or create the world in a way that these problems would not
exist.
I do not believe that this argument is valid because the terms evil and suffering are very
loosely defined. Although there is definitely injustice and inequality in the world, it cannot be
said there is not an all-knowing, all-loving, and all-powerful God. If humans are imperfect, as
Descartes claims, it could simply be that they cannot comprehend the fact that an all-perfect God
could have created suffering for many different reasons.
Firstly, suffering is not exclusive to humanity. It is a well-known fact that animals possess
intelligence and emotions and are capable of feeling pain. Though animals may not be on quite
the same level of logical or emotional intelligence of humans, they are still capable of suffering.
If all beings suffer there must be a logical reason for these creatures, who would have all been
created by God, to possess this ability.

Secondly, there are many forms of suffering that are manmade. Descartes argues that he
is a thinking being, and if he is a thinking being, all other humans must be thinking beings as
well. If humans are thinking beings, they are capable of free-thought as well as free will. If
humanity has free will, they have the will to inflict suffering on others as well as endure the
suffering themselves. Issues such as inequality, poverty, and injustice are created through laws
that are made by man. An all-knowing God would be aware of this, and if God is all-powerful, it
would be able to change it. However an all-knowing God would also know that suffering could
be a means-to-an-end. If God created humanity, there must be a purpose. I believe that if there
was an all-knowing, all-loving, and all-powerful God, it would take a passive role and see how
humanity progresses without interfering. In the same way that parents watch their children grow
and become independent, God could be doing the same thing through all of humanitys
generations.
Lastly, if God did indeed create the entire universe, there may be beings in the universe
that do not suffer. Although no human or any creature of Earth may know for sure, it is still very
possible there are other civilizations and beings created by God who do not know suffering.
Humanity knows that the universe exists and that it is incomprehensively big. Perhaps God could
have done that in order to see how these different beings will mature through generations and
chooses not to interfere because, as stated above, God does not wish to interfere because it
chooses to see how these creatures of God survive without using it as a provider.
Although there is evil and suffering in the world, that alone cannot refute the idea of an
all-powerful, all-loving, and all-powerful God. There can be a purpose in suffering, even if that
purpose may not be perceptible by humanity. Therefore, if an all-perfect God is all-knowing, all-

loving, and all-powerful, although it chooses to let suffering go on, it does not mean that it does
not exist, but rather due to its perfection, knows that humanity could ultimately benefit.
Despite these reasons, I do not believe that an all-knowing, all-loving and all-powerful
God can exist. Descartes claims that because there is a distinct and clear image of God that is
infinitely perfect, and because humans are imperfect, that there must be an explanation based in
reality. Due to Descartes principle of sufficient reason that there must be as much reality in the
case of an idea as in the idea itself, so the idea that God is perfect must have come from God
itself because he believes that the concept of God cannot come from humanity (Descartes 15-16).
However, there are many cultures on Earth that do not believe in God, and a concept of God does
not even exist to them. One example of a group like this is the Piraha tribe, located in the
Amazon Rainforest. In the book Dont Sleep There are Snakes: Life and Language in the
Amazonian Jungle by Daniel Everett, the author, a linguist and missionary attempts to convert
the recently discovered tribe to Christianity by learning their language in order to create a bible
in their language that they can listen to. The Piraha people do not accept the idea of God, nor do
they have a creation myth (Everett 9). Therefore if God is able to create a distinct image of itself
in humanity, why is it not shown in all cultures? Although many cultures, ancient and modern,
believe in different forms of God(s), I believe that if there is an all-perfect God, it should be
present in ALL human cultures, regardless of which form it takes. Therefore, an all-perfect God
does not exist, and is a consequence of human culture.

Works Cited
Descartes, Rene. "Meditations on First Philosophy." 1996. Internet Encyclopedia of
Philosophy. Web Page. February 2015.
Everett, Daniel. Don't Sleep There are Snakes: Life and Language in the Amazonian
Jungle. New York: Random House Publishing, 2008. Book.