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Traditional theodicy argues that God is the 'Unconstrained Architect' who chose this specific world (including its capacity for horrific suffering) because it serves a higher purpose. However, if we look at the life of Jesus, we see a God who fights against sickness, weeps at death, and submits to injustice.
Does it not provide a more logically and morally coherent view of God's character to see Him not as the designer of these tragedies, but as the 'Master Craftsman' who inherited a reality governed by binding constraints and chose to enter it to lead us through it?
See some of my formulation below...
The Two Universes
Universe A (Non-Devastation Possibility)
A conceivable mode of reality where:
Growth, love, transformation, and “redemption-like” goods exist
Without requiring prior devastation or suffering
May involve:
Different perceptual structures
Non-conscious negative signaling
Alternative valence weighting
Status: Plausible, but not verifiable from within our world
Universe B (Actual Reality)
The world we inhabit:
Suffering, loss, and devastation are real
Meaningful goods are deeply intertwined with those conditions
Status: Empirically undeniable
Epistemic Constraint
We reason from within Universe B
Therefore:
Our ability to evaluate Universe A is limited
“Only imaginable” ≠ “impossible”
Principle:
Epistemic limitation does not equal metaphysical impossibility
The Fork (Control Question)
If Universe A is genuinely possible:
Either:
God chose or permitted Universe B instead of A
God did not have access to Universe A