cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/23770280
this post was submitted on 05 Jan 2025
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There are older texts that explore the same questions, even before Greek polytheism. The "dialogue between a man and his god" and the "poem of the righteous sufferer" are Mesopotamian texts from the second millennium BCE that basically say the same thing (why does my god permits my suffering when I pray so hard?), and yes, it was already a polytheistic world view, but the question still remained why a god could allow their devout followers to suffer. Even when only accounting for a God's specific domain, like sickness or nightmares, rather than total omnipotence.
There's no problem with Humes reframing the question for absolute omnipotence when that's the zealotry the people in his time or in our time are confronted with. You can't shift the blame of the Christian bias when this question is a response to those who claim that their god is superior and infallible.
Hume could have quoted Epicurus as saying "the gods" instead of "God". It would have been more honest. Hume misquoted Epicurus as though he was a Christian.