Concept of God (English Essay)
       “I want you to understand that it is not God that I refuse to accept, but the world that He has created – what I do not accept and cannot accept is the God-created world.”
-Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Ivan Karamazov
With all the suffering, corruption, and evil in the world, men throughout the ages have questioned whether there is a god. Many have dug deep into the origins of Christianity and have questioned the reasoning of God’s will and why God gave man the power of free will, giving man the choice to go against God and deal with eternal damnation. Men, like Ivan Karamazov, who have spent a great deal of time thinking about the matter. With his conversation with his brother Alyosha, Ivan brings up powerful points that could even make the most devote Christians question their moral beliefs and on life itself.
Ivan describes that man is crueler than beast in his artistic cruelty and how man takes pleasure in murdering men, women, and children. Ivan gives an example of how the Turks would set villages afire and nail the prisoners to the fences by the ears. Than, the Turks would throw the innocent babies up in the air and catch them with bayonets, killing them. The atrocity that man can commit to his fellow neighbor is quite incomprehensible to me. Mankind, as Ivan would put it, is low, despicable creature. It astounds both Ivan and I that man could conceive the idea of God, a holy and benevolent idea, because it does man too much honor.
Now, disregarding the question on whether God exist or not, and going with the assumption that He does exist, Ivan goes on to question God’s will and why he allows the suffering in the world. Now, it’s the belief that we suffer on Earth because we have gone against God’s will, sinning by eating the fruit of knowledge. Yet, even though that may explain to some extent the suffering of adults, Ivan and I have to question God on why He allows the suffering of small innocent children. These children, in my belief, are too naïve to know between right and wrong and can’t consciously make the choice to go against God’s will. Why than, would God allow these children to suffer?
 It’s been a long thought belief that man has to “suffer into truth”. There are examples all across literature that would support that claim; a prominent one would be Oedipus Rex. Could this concept be applied to man and God? The idea that man must suffer in order to attain the truth of God and with the universal truth, achieve harmony and salvation with God seems very plausible. Perhaps that’s what God wants out of us, to suffer for our sins in order to become closer with Him, but it doesn’t explain why innocent children have to suffer because they do not know that they commit sin. A typical Catholic response would be that since Adam and Eve were the first to go against God’s will and eat the fruit of knowledge, all human beings are born with Original Sin and must receive Baptism to wash it away. Basically, the reasoning behind innocent children suffering is because they paying for the sins of their fathers, Adam and Eve. I quote Ivan in saying that “it’s incomprehensible to the human heart here on earth. No innocent should be made to suffer for another man’s sins, especially innocents such as these!”
Ivan makes his point in saying that he does not wish to know the universal truth that God offers to humans if we follow his will and he does not wish to know about God’s idea of good and evil because the price is too much to him. Ivan does not think that an innocent child’s tears going unaccounted for is worth being in harmony with God and obtaining the universal truth. Is God a tyrant who just sees pleasure in seeing people suffer unnecessary, just like man?
           Another strong question that Ivan brings up is why Jesus gave man the power of free will when so many men fail to make the right choices in life. Ivan tries to say that most men are weak and cannot live up to the high expectations that Jesus lays down for us. Therefore, most men are doomed to end up in hell. Is that what Jesus wanted? Did he only come down to save just the strong few? In that case, how can Jesus say he loves all men? Ivan tries to say that if Jesus really loves all mankind, than he shouldn’t have given man the choice to follow him or not, but rather show mankind His mighty power through His miracles and own man’s conscience through miracles, mysteries, and power. So although mankind may not free will, at least they will have security in life and not have to bear with the burden of free will.            This comes to another moral dilemma to me and to many others. Should have God given mankind free will? Catholics say that He gave free will to us so that when we choose to follow His will, it will be out of love for Him. But look at how many people in our modern society who really choose God’s will. A small amount when compared to the whole population. I believe that man has abused God’s gift of free will and has decided to feed their own lustful desires, so in turn ensuring a ticket to hell. I believe that Ivan makes a good point on whether Jesus come to save only the few strong people who could live up to the high expectations He has bestowed upon us. If He did, than how could He love all of mankind if he knew that he was ensuring most of them to go to hell?
           In the end, great minds like Ivan Karamazov will question about the existence of God, ask whether He really loves mankind or is a tyrant, and attempt to rationalize His will for centuries to come. They will impose questions on the public that will really strike upon the core of their belief system and have the public begin to question life itself as well. Yet, men like Ivan Karamazov will know no peace in mind, always torn apart by life’s unanswerable questions.
While I may disagree with some of what Ivan Karamazov is saying, he speaks with a lot of insight and truth. He has triggered a movement within my soul as I begin to question the same things as Ivan does. I only hope that I have a peace of mind and not restless in spirit like Ivan. I leave you with a quote by the great Marcus Aurelius that sums up my feelings on the matter that Ivan so vigorously attempted to wrestle with.
“Live a good life. If there are gods and they are just, then they will not care how devout you have been, but will welcome you based on the virtues you have lived by. If there are goods, but unjust, then you should not want to worship them. If there are no gods, then you will be gone, but will have lived a noble life that will live on in the memories of your loved ones. I am not afraid.”
I am not afraid. Â
