Theodicy according to ZERA Yacob and Simone Weil (Essay Sample)

Theodicy according to Zera Yacob and Simone Weil Much evil prevails on the face of the earth today. However, such evil is not an emergent behavior as humanity has been rational beings from the beginning of time. How one understands or questions the presence of suffering and evil in the world depends on what account of existence theory they align with. Someone might say that evil is human nature and part of their interactions with fellow beings. An atheist might perhaps consider evil to be part of the whole system. However, for a person of faith, a believer in the existence of a Supreme Being, the trail of thought takes an entirely different route. Every one among us has experienced some form of pain or suffering. Furthermore, we all struggle with why bad things befall on someone. It can be on us, family, friends, or the entire nation. We wake up to some disturbing news from the media about a terrorist attack, dictators orchestrating genocides on innocent people, a student reporting to school with a firearm, and proceeding to kill innocent children. We all ask ourselves why such evil had to befall the victims. From a religious context, such problems of evil lead us to question the existence of God and His role in the spreading of evil. God is good, and everything He desires for humanity is noble. How then does He, the source of everything good, let evil roam the world? Theodicy, according to Zera Yacob and Simone Weil, attempts to justify or defend God in the face of afflictions. Problems of theodicy comprise of three assumptions in the attempt to examine the cause of evil in the world; * God is almighty, good, and all-knowing * All creation and the universe were made by God and therefore existed in a contingent relationship * Evil exists in the World. Why? Several suggestions emerge from the problems of theodicy. First, the assumption is that since God is all good, He would not allow evil in the world. God might be all-knowing and good but not powerful enough to intervene in every situation. Again, perhaps the good Lord is almighty and all-knowing but not necessarily all good, and therefore He is mean. Another assumption might be that perhaps God is almighty, all-knowing, and good, but His creations do not exist in a contingent relationship, and thus, God has nothing to do with the evil in the world. Even so, His creation is at fault. However, if God is powerful and good, then why does evil exist in the world? The problem makes several assumptions, one being that God is a physical being, which is arguable from a theological context. The second problem assumes that at some point in time, God interacts or has maintained communication with humanity. The third is by our recognition of evil. We know evil exists in the world because we assume that it is intelligible and hence can be subject to discussion. In his Treatise, Zera Yacob accounts for affliction in the world by stating that God created man as a master of his destiny. Thus, humanity has the free will to choose to either act noble or evil. A person who chooses evil has the power to continue down that road until they receive their punishment. However, as humanity is made from flesh, we love matters of the flesh. Therefore, we strive to fulfill our bodily desires, whether they are good or bad. Nevertheless, Yacob (Chap 4) states that “God did not create man to be evil, but to choose what he would like to be, so that he may receive his reward if he is good or his condemnation if he is bad.” Similarly, Weil states that the sole purpose of creation was love. God created the universe because of love and for the reason of love. Weil continues to state further that there was nothing else created by God except love and the means to show affection. God created love unconditionally because no one else could do it except Him. Thus, creating such love took God to an extreme distance that Weil calls the “infinite distance.” According to Panichas (444), “This infinite distance, between God and God, this supreme tearing apart, this incomparable agony, this marvel of love, is the crucifixion.” A soul in affliction is far from God. The cross and the crucifixion present the agony that Jesus endured for the sake of humanity. The cross represents suffering, considering the agony that Jesus endured at the cross before he died. Here was a man who had been whipped, made to wear a crown made of thorns, had his side pierced, and scolded for crimes he did not commit. At that moment, Jesus wished for the presence and comfort of his heavenly father to rescue him from the affliction. However, for the sake of His love for the world, the cross was the infinite distance. A person in affliction is at the bottom of the cross, according to Weil. They are at the highest possible distance away from the Lord. Still, one should not consider sin an infinite distance. The bottom of the cross or the heart of an affliction is not the most considerable distance from God, but instead, it is looking in the wrong direction. God is not far from us. He is omnipresent means that He dwells among us. However, at moments of suffering, we tend to focus on answers from the physical realm. If the most considerable distance away from God is expressed through love, then He dwells among us. The physical realm is a turn in the wrong direction for help that is beyond its understanding. On the question of the perception of evil in the world, Yacob (Chap. 5) states that “God indeed has illuminated the heart of man with understanding by which he can see the good and evil, recognize the licit and the illicit, distinguish truth from error.” Further, Yacob (Chap. 7) states that it is God who permits terror and evil on earth because our souls exist in a land full of temptations. By allowing the presence of evil among men, the ones whom the Lord has chosen are tested to prove our worthiness to Him. However, God is all good and has provided us with solutions to our afflictions. To deliver us from temptations, He has provided us with a conscious to differentiate the good from the evil. Everyone knows from deep within them that killing is wrong. You do not need someone to tell you that shooting fellow students in school is immoral. That information is embedded in your essence. Thus, if we need to seek the truth or the noble, we cannot search it among the doctrines provided by men. Instead, we can only find our answers from the reasoning that God has given us. Evil, according to Yacob (Chap 8), emanates from searching among the doctrines of men that are based on falsehood and treachery. Thus our afflictions result from our weak judgment. By rejecting the natural order as designed by God, we prefer falsehood from the tongues of men. There must be another life from this; therefore, where we return to God and see how perfect He intended things to be. The certainty of life after death is evidence of our unquenchable desires. There is no justice in the world as the righteous suffer while the wicked rejoice. Therefore, there must be a life where everyone receives their reward. God created us in His image, and therefore, we can conceive Him in our essence. In the same way, we have the power to conceive immorality. Nevertheless, God did not grant us such power without purpose; He also blessed us with reality. Thus, we know the rules of our creator between good and evil through our essence. If we need to expound on it, we only have to summon reasoning. Instead, we turn away from making such enquires and trusting on the words of fellow beings. When we fail to investigate the will of God through our reasoning, then we can conceive evil. We know from reason that it is wrong to steal, kill, commit adultery, and lie. Also, it is in our essence that we sho...