The Problem of Heaven

Rank these possible ways to exist in order of preference:

1. People have free will and no evil exists
2. People have free will and some evil exists
3. People do not have free will and no evil exists

 

There is some debate about whether the second or third option is better, but clearly the vast majority of people would prefer the first option. It’s not even close, right? You have your cake (free will) and eat it too (eliminate evil). So, it seems fair to say that option (1) is objectively better than options (2) or (3).

According to most forms of Christianity, our world is best described by (2), but option (1) actually exists too—it’s called Heaven. Ironically, we’ll see that the existence of Heaven actually entails some serious problems for traditional Christian theism. Let’s explore these problems by asking a question.

 

What would the greatest possible being do?

God is often called the greatest possible being, dating back to St. Anselm of Canterbury. Whatever we take this to mean, I think one assumption is clearly justified: When given two or more options, the greatest possible being will necessarily take the best option available. Imagine a being that has two options. She can either cure every form of cancer or put a band-aid on a child’s skinned knee, but not both. Which action will be taken by the greatest possible being? Obviously she would cure cancer. This is a no brainer, right? Even though both actions would result in some amount of good, there is a clear candidate for which is the better action.

Now let’s consider the choices God had when creating the world. Does our own world represent the best choice among available options? If you’ve ever suggested to a theist that God could have eliminated evil when creating the world, you’ve probably heard something like, “Evil is a necessary byproduct of freedom.” This is a contrast between (2) and (3) and saying (2) is morally preferable. Notice the problem? They are ignoring (1), which they cannot deny is a realistic option because they actually believe it exists. So, the problem that God could have created a world with both free will and the absence of evil still stands. This means God did not perform the best action available.

 

Conclusion

If Heaven exists (or is a realistic option), then that means God is not the greatest possible being. We have reached a classic reductio ad absurdum where two commonly held Christian beliefs actually contradict each other, showing that either one or both is false.