God is “all wise, all good, all powerful,” he posited…
““God is “all wise, all good, all powerful,” he posited. Therefore, everything that exists or happens is with his consent. “What He consents to must be good, because He is good; therefore evil doth not exist.” Furthermore, happiness existed only as a contrast to unhappiness, and one could not exist without the other. Therefore, they balanced out: “Since pain naturally and infallibly produces a pleasure in proportion to it, every individual creature must, in any state of life, have an equal quantity of each.””
About This Quote
This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.
The quote argues that if a deity is all‑wise, all‑good, and all‑powerful, then everything that occurs must be good, and that pain and pleasure are balanced opposites.
In simple terms: If God is perfect, all events are good and pain balances pleasure.
Key Takeaway
Question the assumption that all events are inherently good.
Themes
theology
philosophy
ethics
duality
theodicy
Mood
contemplative
skeptical
Type
philosophical
theological
When to use this quote
- personal belief
- moral reasoning
- theological debate
Key Concepts
Divine omniscience
moral realism
hedonistic balance
Questions to Reflect On
- Is every painful experience justified by a greater good?
- Can we accept that evil does not exist?
A Different Perspective
The argument overlooks suffering that appears unjust or gratuitous.