Good essay about johnson, "god and the problem of evil," pp. 137-142 hick, "the problem

The origins of God, angels, evil and world creation still remain a puzzle to many; there is logical evidence to it. There is no scientific proof which can be carried out to explain their nature of origin or to determine their ends. It still lies with a person’s believes on religious books and faith. Johnson’s example of a burning baby brings forward a lot of dilemmas on believing on all good and powerful deity. Many argue that God judges evil and punishes those who do evil but what wrong has the baby done to deserve such cruel punishment? The responsibility of saving the infant would have been placed upon any person who has the power to save the baby, and if he fails then he would be labelled a bad person. Then, one will ask if God was that good then why did he not save the baby in the first place?
If humans had been given free will do to what they wish to do, why do they suffer in the hands of evil? If an individual decides not to save the baby, they should not be judged since we were given free will. In addition, Johnson argues that if we grow independent and ask God not to intervene the immoral in the society will increase. Hence we need God in one way or another. Hicks did continue to say that God has put evil situation on the Earth. For example, like the burning of a baby so that we can overcome the temptations of doing evil and choose to do good. The will bestowed upon us, is to help us go through the test of life and do what is right. The evil deeds are there to show us the consequences of doing bad things and not using the free will in helping others. Hicks continues to argue that we must see the good in everything. Evil can be described as something good in disguise. We must go through hardship situations, to appreciate the good things in life. There is a reason to everything bad or good. Hicks also believes that we create ignorance due to one’s own acts of arrogance. If we were careful enough, the baby would not have been abandoned in the first place.