In the early days of Christianity, religious leaders were

Question

In the early days of Christianity, religious leaders were questioned repeatedly by devotees to explain why God allowed natural disasters and the attendant human suffering to occur. Fire, famine, floods, and the destruction they caused were a mystery to followers who perceived the deity as all-powerful and all-good.

The playwright Archibald MacLeish wrote J.B. a modern-day rework of the Book of Job that contains these famous lines, the play’s central paradox:

“If God is God, He is not good.”
“If God is good, He is not God.”

To best understand this paradox, which of the following must be assumed?

A. A deity cannot be both all-powerful and all-good at the same time.
B. A deity must obey the laws of nature that the deity created.
C. A deity is a supreme being who has the gifts of total power.
D. Early religious leaders had a variety of explanations for the calamities that befall humankind.
E. Religious zealots throughout history have struggled with this paradox.

A just repeats the paradox so it doesn't need to be assumed.
B is out of scope.
C - Really only one that fits, you basically need to assume that he has total power in order to make a judgement on behavior.
D. - Is out of scope an doesn't really explain anything of the paradox.
E - same as above.

Hope this makes sense.

u0422811 · Answer

In the early days of Christianity, religious leaders were questioned repeatedly by devotees to explain why God allowed natural disasters and the attendant human suffering to occur. Fire, famine, floods, and the destruction they caused were a mystery to followers who perceived the deity as all-powerful and all-good.

The playwright Archibald MacLeish wrote J.B. a modern-day rework of the Book of Job that contains these famous lines, the play’s central paradox:

“If God is God, He is not good.” 
“If God is good, He is not God.”

To best understand this paradox, which of the following must be assumed?

A. A deity cannot be both all-powerful and all-good at the same time. 
B. A deity must obey the laws of nature that the deity created. 
C. A deity is a supreme being who has the gifts of total power. 
D. Early religious leaders had a variety of explanations for the calamities that befall humankind. 
E. Religious zealots throughout history have struggled with this paradox.

A just repeats the paradox so it doesn't need to be assumed.
B is out of scope.
C - Really only one that fits, you basically need to assume that he has total power in order to make a judgement on behavior.
D. - Is out of scope an doesn't really explain anything of the paradox.
E - same as above.

Hope this makes sense.

nitika231 · Answer

A. A deity cannot be both all-powerful and all-good at the same time.  According to me, there is no mention that if a deity is all powerful it HAS to be all bad, which is what this sentence states. This is out of scope.  
B. A deity must obey the laws of nature that the deity created.  Out of scope.  
C. A deity is a supreme being who has the gifts of total power.   This seems most appropriate. 
D. Early religious leaders had a variety of explanations for the calamities that befall humankind.   Out of scope  
E. Religious zealots throughout history have struggled with this paradox.   Not relevant to the question

mdacosta · Answer

i'm still not following exactly why C is the answer. I sorta follow that A isn't an assumption b/c it's stated and why the others are wrong, but can someone explain the logic of C in another way?

blueviper · Answer

Hi,

I didnt quite understand the reasoning behind this question. A little help please.

Thanks

pkm9995 · Answer

@manalq8,@blueviper.......Here are my 2 cents for finding the assumption.  A  is just a mere rephrasing o the statement mentioned n the argument. option  C  says that god is solely responsible for all happenings and that really fits into the context.Otherwise If some other entity is also responsible then god can be good even though he/she is god.

resilient369 · Answer

The goal is to understand the paradox without resolving it, then the focus should be on the nature of the paradox itself rather than on resolving it.

Given that, the assumption that helps to understand the paradox, without necessarily resolving it, is:

C. A deity is a supreme being who has the gifts of total power.

This assumption is necessary because it sets up the premise that the deity is both all-powerful and all-good. The paradox arises specifically because of the inherent tension between these two attributes when confronted with the reality of suffering and evil. Understanding that the deity is presumed to have total power helps to frame the paradox of reconciling this power with the existence of suffering.

ChatGPT can make mistakes. Chec

Posted from my mobile device

resilient369 · Answer

The goal is to understand the paradox without resolving it, then the focus should be on the nature of the paradox itself rather than on resolving it.

Given that, the assumption that helps to understand the paradox, without necessarily resolving it, is:

C. A deity is a supreme being who has the gifts of total power.

This assumption is necessary because it sets up the premise that the deity is both all-powerful and all-good. The paradox arises specifically because of the inherent tension between these two attributes when confronted with the reality of suffering and evil. Understanding that the deity is presumed to have total power helps to frame the paradox of reconciling this power with the existence of suffering.

resilient369 · Answer

The goal is to understand the paradox without resolving it, then the focus should be on the nature of the paradox itself rather than on resolving it.

Given that, the assumption that helps to understand the paradox, without necessarily resolving it, is:

C. A deity is a supreme being who has the gifts of total power.

This assumption is necessary because it sets up the premise that the deity is both all-powerful and all-good. The paradox arises specifically because of the inherent tension between these two attributes when confronted with the reality of suffering and evil. Understanding that the deity is presumed to have total power helps to frame the paradox of reconciling this power with the existence of suffering.

Posted from my mobile device

In the early days of Christianity, religious leaders were

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In the early days of Christianity, religious leaders were

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