Mormon Stories #904: Dr. Bart Ehrman - New Testament Scholar
The problem with such arguments is the agnostic assumes too much in the argument which must be ignored for the argument to be sound. Some of the false assumptions included in the argument are -
1) The assumption of Man's Pure Nature - The suffering of mankind, and in particular, the suffering of babies and children is an injustice caused by God which assumes those men and children should not suffer. But to assume the men and babies should not suffer without injustice being incurred, infers men and babies have a pure nature that does not have any debt owing to justice. The assumption of pure nature included in the agnostic's argument is used to conclude that God is unjust and therefore the Christian God cannot exist. But because pure nature is assumed, but not proven, the unsound premise that an injustice occurred in suffering and death does not lead to the conclusion that God is unjust, and therefore God is not the Christian God.
2) The assumption of Suffering and Death as an Injustice - If the Christian God is the real God who controls the universe, suffering and death occur for several reasons. 1) Mankind is spiritually united in the universal problem of original sin. Men and babies are subject to the consequences of original sin caused by the first parents, which causes suffering and death. The evils of suffering and death are positively caused by sin and only permitted to exist by God as a consequence of sin. It is precisely because the Christian God does love men, that God does permit men to suffer and die. If God did not love men, then men would continue to sin without any just punishment for sin. 2) Suffering is redemptive and the suffering and death that appears to be unjust is permitted as a redemptive act to save men from the consequences of actual sin. 3) God knows all the causes within the universe and knows all of the consequences of sin, suffering, and death and we men do not know all of the causes. To reduce the problem of suffering and death down to an argument from injustice is to ignore the knowledge that only the transcendent God has of the way the universe operates.
By the agnostic ignoring the Christian revelation concerning the nature of suffering and death the agnostic has arrived at a false conclusion concerning the lack of evidence for the loving Christian God, when in fact that same God has told humanity of the reasons for suffering and death, which are ignored by the agnostic. For the agnostic to conclude that the Christian God does not exist, the agnostic must ignore the information given by the Christian God about suffering and death, and then conclude the Christian God does not exist.
3) The assumption of God's Acts Adjudged by the Agnostic only in Accord with what Occurs in this Life - The argument from suffering and death assumes suffering and death is the totality of the story, when in fact the totality of the story is a priori either rejected or ignored by the agnostic. The totality of the story, which includes the reality of suffering and death, also includes the reality of sin, atonement, heaven and hell and just payment for sin. If the agnostic included the totality of the story into account when forming an argument concerning the apparent injustice of suffering and death, the agnostic may have a case for the Christian to answer. But because the agnostic, such as Dr Bart Erhman has ignored the Christian revelation concerning the meaning and relevance of suffering and death in Christianity, the agnostic argument is irrelevant to the agnostic's conclusion that the Christian God does not exist.
4) The assumption of Suffering and Death is Only Measured by Reason without Reference to the Supernatural - The agnostic uses reason to arrive at his conclusion about the consequences of suffering and death. But the agnostic has failed to include into the argument the reality that the Christian God is transcendent and can permit and act beyond human reason, for divine reasons that are beyond human comprehension. By the agnostic assuming only reason is required to account for suffering and death, the agnostic has an a-priori commitment to a rationalistic god, which is not the Christian God. In short, the agnostic assumes a rationalistic god and arrives at the conclusion that the transcendent God of Christianity cannot exist. The assumption of the rationalistic god is unsound.
5) The assumption of Suffering and Death as the Ultimate Evil - The agnostic assumes suffering and death is the ultimate evil, when in fact such evil is not ultimate. The agnostic assumes suffering and death is a reality that exists that could be prevented by an infinitely powerful God who loves man. But the assumption of suffering and death is the ultimate evil, ignores the reality of sin as the ultimate evil, which has its resolution in the mystery of suffering, death and resurrection, final judgement and glory. The agnostic assumes an unsound premise that suffering and death are the greatest evils in the universe.
6) The assumption of Suffering and Death is Only Measured by Reason without Reference to Mystery - Christianity contains many mysteries and supernatural realities that must be ignored by the agnostic. According to Christianity, creation, sin, suffering, death, resurrection and the action of the divine in the universe are all secrets that are never fully understood. The agnostic must ignore the aspect of mystery associated with suffering and death as an assumption within the argument to arrive at the false conclusion, that the Christian God does not exist.
7) The assumption of Materialism associated with the Problem of Suffering and Death - If suffering and death is an injustice, then the agnostic argues, an injustice occurs in this life without reference to the next life. But to ignore the next life is to assume a materialist anthropology of man, which is false. For man is a composite of body and soul and will continue to exist after death.
8) The assumption of the false God who cannot make a Divine Judgement to Permit Suffering and Death - The agnostic assumes God does not have the authority to permit suffering and death, even if suffering and death appear to be very unjust to us mere humans. Yet if the Christian god is real, He is sovereign over creation and most certainly does have the authority and power to make judgments over creation. The agnostic assumes a false god when making the argument for the falsity of the Christian God.
Because of these and several other possible false assumptions, the agnostic argument proposed by Dr Bart Erhman is false. Dr Erhman is an agnostic, in part, based upon the false presupposition that suffering and death excludes the existence of the loving Chrisitan God. Contrarily, in fact, it is because the Christian God exists, acting within a fallen universe that suffering and death also exists. suffeirng and death are strong evidences for the existence of the Christian God, when Dr Erhman mistakenly argues against said evidence.
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