THE PARTY LINE

By Dennis D. Gagnon

From the book:  “Maybe God is not the sort of thing you find at the end of an argument.”

This is a thought by the narrator occasioned by a deep discussion about arguments for and against God’s existence with a young female acquaintance while walking on the beach.  The two just finished discussing God’s existence and free will, when the narrator has this thought.

In particular, the acquaintance and the narrator have just completed a discussion of the traditional argument against the existence of God that usually goes by the name Argument From Evil.  That argument is quite simple: 1) If God exists, then He is All-Good, All-Knowing, and All-Powerful; 2) if something is A-G, A-K, and A-P, then there would be no evil (suffering) in the world; 3) there is evil (suffering) in the world; therefore, 4) God does not exist.

The traditional defense against this argument is called the Free Will Defense, and basically denies premise 2 (i.e., that if something is A-G, A-K, and A-P there still could be evil in the world).  According to this defense, the evil in the world arises due to the fact that God gave us free will, and it is us that creates the evil, not God.

Find out more about these characters and their discussion in this new philosophical science fiction novel.

I look forward to your comments on the book.