Hume states that man has become master of the world by becoming stronger and smarter than all of the other animals. Our society is built where we are the greatest animal creations; the other animals are no longer any threat to us. However, man still has one last enemy: other men. We torment each other with oppression, injustice, contempt, cruelty, violence, war, treachery, and fraud.
Man, however, is also oppressed by himself. The disorders of the mind: remorse, shame, anguish, rage, disappointment, anxiety, fear, despair. All of these emotions can hurt a man as well, from the inside. Everyone in life faces them at some point. If all the good in life were thrust onto someone, they would not be happy for long, but if all the bad were added instead, one would be in constant anguish. Hume wonders what this means for an anthropomorphic God.
How can we assert anthropomorphism to God if us humans have such dismal emotions? God is supposed to be just, benevolent, merciful, and infinite. No man is ever truly happy for long; you can be on an extravagant vacation, yet after a few weeks, home may sound a lot better. This means that God does not will human happiness. God is infinitely wise and so is never mistaken in his means toward a goal, yet he does not will towards human happiness. So does God not act exactly as humans do in terms of maliciousness? He is either letting evil be in the world, making him like humans practicing evil, or unable to prevent the evil from occurring, so he is not all powerful.
What I view to be Hume’s argument:
P1: God is supposed to be all powerful, all just, all benevolent, all merciful, all infinite, all knowing, etc.
P2: God supposedly made humans in the image of himself. God is anthropomorphic.
P3: Humans cannot be truly happy for extended periods of time and will turn to oppression, injustice, contempt, cruelty, violence, war, treachery, fraud, etc. if they see fit.
P4: Since God is all powerful, he should be able to prevent this suffering, unless there is some reason against him doing so.
C: God is either letting there be evil in the world, matching humans in their malevolence, or is unable to prevent the evil from occurring, meaning he is not all powerful.
One point further that I would like to discuss is what is so wrong about God having traits of evil within him? There seems to be no benefit, in my opinion, of having God be this entity of all-everything and yet evil cannot be a part of that. I feel as if this gives some solace for when we make mistakes that hurt others in one way or another; God causes suffering every day and so it is okay if we have some evil in all of us because it is true that there is evil in some form in every person. It seems to me that the religions of the world want God to be perfect as to inspire others or to make them fear being imperfect themselves. This is impossible though, and can make one feel full of guilt, more than what they deserve.
Hume, David. “Evil and the Existence of God.” Sophia Project, http://www.sophia-project.org/uploads/1/3/9/5/13955288/hume_evil.pdf.