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Edward Herbert, even though he is considered the father of Deism, had thoughts that differ from what we now consider as "Deism" in popular style. For example, he did not deny the existence of revelation. He believed in the existence of heaven and hell after death, and he also believed that God is omnipotent and good.

Do any of Edward Herbert's works shed any light on what he believed about why there is evil in the world (including natural disasters and other forms of suffering) given God is omnipotent and good?

Futilitarian
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Vito
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    I think Frank Herbert's works are helpful. – Scott Rowe Apr 05 '23 at 22:04
  • It is important that you differentiated the Deism of old and the modern misconception rampant in modern universities which make it a near kin to atheism. The poster boy for skepticism, Thos. Paine, and our beloved Benj. Franklin, were hardly atheists or anything resembling such. They advocated teaching Divine design in schools, the importance of good works and character, and a Judgment Day where all are held accountable for earthly deeds. Paine was dismayed at the atheism of the French Rev. that he started a Theophilanthropic Society to bring balance! –  Apr 20 '23 at 22:45
  • @vito-Also note that the old patriots who were Deists strongly believed in Providence: that God interacts with humanity at important juncture...and that God could be compelled to act providentially by Prayer. When the U.S. Constitutional Convention came to an impasse, Benj. Franklin stopped the proceedings and exhorted the delegates to pray, just as they has during the Revolution, asking for Divine aid. There was no idea of an absentee God there. (However, Thos.Paine did not accept the interaction of God revealed in the Bible accounts.) Modern renditions of Deism are a foreign concept . –  Apr 23 '23 at 00:06
  • I'm only surprised that, assuming God's compatible with evil, He's limited in the same way as humans are. I've ignored some complexities of the issue in saying this though. – Agent Smith May 08 '23 at 03:49

1 Answers1

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To start, Herbert seems to propose that evil has divine origin:

That what so universal are, must come
From causes great and far.

Furthermore, in his view, evil is not that different form God: "This Ill having some Attributes of God."

Perhaps what Herbert suggests, ever so carefully, that this could have been God's plan all along... How so? Well, God could end all evil by taking away our free will. By turning us unto automatons, like the animals are.* But God already has animals. He wants us to become good by our own choice. In other words, God, save for taking away our humanity, must leave it to us to end our evil ways.

And to achieve the latter, according to Herbert, all humans must develop their God-given capacity for reason, which would make them only will good: "Exalted Spirit that's sure a free Soul", in Herbert's words. As it stands, however, most people are yet to fully develop their humanity -- and that's why evil persists:

The World, as in the Ark of Noah, rests,
Compos'd as then, few Men, and many Beasts.

* Or angels, by some accounts.

This answer borrows heavily from "The Unsteady Crown: The State of the Monarchy in Edward Herbert's Poetry of Politics" by Anne B. Mangum.

Yuri Zavorotny
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