Patrick Gordon-Making Nature Sacred #1 Reflections on a Theodicy

If God is omnipresent and omniscient, why does he let bad things happen? A question that has plagued the human mind for centuries; a question that has haunted Author Herman Melville more than any one of his colleagues. Melvin shunned Calvinism ever since childhood, but he “could never quite banish it from his mind and soul”. Melville “feared that God might be hopelessly unlovable or dead indeed. Not only dead, but decimated and dispersed throughout the cosmos”. But I think he got it wrong. God is indeed alive; you can see the mask that covers his face in all nature. But, even though God is alive, it doesn’t explain why bad things still happen. In this chapter, the author uses the term theodicy. According to Dictionary.com it is a vindication of the divine attributes, particularly holiness and justice, in establishing or allowing the existence of physical and moral evil. So for good to exist, there has to be bad. I can understand what they mean here, if everything was good it would neither good nor bad; just the norm. IF you really think about it, without a theodicy, we would all become emotionless predictable robots; cold and calculating, pure machines. But thankfully, God gave us free will; the ability to decide what we wear, how we react, and ultimately control over our actions. We have the chance to choose between good and bad (After all, what is the fun in watching everybody on earth always doing the right thing. I’ll Its like watching the or the innards of a clock keep time… or watching paint dry). Although Melville fears that God may be dead, I rejoice, because I know he exists; and he gave us the most important gift of all, free will.