A Neoplatonic Pagan Philosophical introduction on The Problem of Evil
Hello everyone, Salvete Omnes The famous problem of Evil often attributed by Ancient Greek Philosopher Epicurus follows as this "God, he says, either wishes to take away evils, and is unable; or He is able, and is unwilling; or He is neither willing nor able, or He is both willing and able. If He is willing and is unable, He is feeble, which is not in accordance with the character of God; if He is able and unwilling, He is envious, which is equally at variance with God; if He is neither willing nor able, He is both envious and feeble, and therefore not God; if He is both willing and able, which alone is suitable to God, from what source then are evils? Or why does He not remove them" This exact formulation is actually from De ira Dei , a treatise by the Early Christian writer Lactantius, who definitely heard of Epicurus being from the Eastern Roman Empire who sought to make a philosophical tradition contrast with what he (presumably) saw as pagan hogwash and he was