Perfect God, Imperfect Creation

Phoebe Yuan 

Professor Ekstrom Life and Death

In the Meditations on First Philosophy, Descartes concludes that, though humans were created by God, a perfect being, they are implicitly imperfect due to their ability to make mistakes. He offers two explanations to support this claim: first, he suggests that free will is the reason people make mistakes and second, he states that though God created people to be imperfect, His overall plan for the universe is perfect and incomprehensible by the human mind. These two explanations will be further analyzed and discussed so that I can clearly conve y my stance on the argument. I will argue that Descartes offers a compelling and logical argument for his belief that God created imperfect individua ls which is why humans, although created by a perfect being, make mistakes in life.

I will begin by discussing and analyzing Descartes’s first explanation, which centers around free will. God created people to be perfect; however, because free will is unlimited while intellect is limited, people often pass judgements on matters that are not fully understood and thus make mistakes. This explanation reasonably supports Descartes’s argument that humans make mistakes even though they are created by a perfect God. But to decide whether or not we should accept his explanation, we must determine whether all parts of it are true and acceptable. I will then state and critically analyze the other explanation that Descartes provides for why we make mistakes in life even on the assumption that we are created by God. This explanation supports Descartes’s belief that God, who is perfect and makes no mistakes, purposefully created people to be finite and make mistakes as that was a part of His ultimate plan. I will explain why I

believe that God purposefully created humans to be imperfect by discussing God’s purpose of suffering in the world and God’s motives of creating imperfect beings.

Descartes’s first explanation claims that free will is the only human trait that is equal to God’s because it is perfect and unlimited. However, God’s will is superior to our own because God has supreme knowledge and can always will what is good. Descartes claims that God purposefully created humans to be perfect and they do not make mistakes because of imperfections stemming from the will or the intellect alone, but from the fact that the will extends beyond one’s intellect. Descartes concludes that free will is unlimited while the intellect is limited, which is why the will often passes judgements on matters that are not fully understood causing one to make mistakes.

Although I believe that God created humans to have a free will in order to make decisions and learn from mistakes, the root of this explanation is faulty. While I agree with Descartes’s belief that God created people with the ability to exercise free will, I do not believe that God created us as perfect beings. God’s desire is for humans to realize they need Him and to make the choice to follow Him, because they are sinful people who are in need of the wisdom, guidance, and comfort they cannot provide for themselves because it can only be offered by a perfect God. Descartes explains that mistakes occur when humans make decisions because they do not fully understand the matter since their intellects are limited. However, I believe that even when humans make decisions within their intellect, they do not always will what is good. In some instances, humans purposefully choose what is evil, such as when the benefits of choosing evil outweigh the good. For example, people who commit investment fraud, deceptive practices to attract investors to make investing decisions, purposefully choose to deceive or harm others not because they lack the knowledge to make the ethical decision, but because they are knowledgeable of investment fraud benefits (“Investment Fraud”). If humans possess and exercise the ability to choose evil acts even when they make decisions within the bounds of their intellect, then they cannot be considered people who are born as perfect beings.

Descartes’s other explanation states that God, a perfect being, purposefully created humans to be imperfect as a part of His greater, perfect plan. He explains God’s motives for creating imperfect beings are incomprehensible because finite beings are not able to fully comprehend God’s plans for the universe. Descartes suggests that although he may appear to be an imperfect being when considered on his own, he may play a perfectly appropriate role in the universe because an individual is only a small part of a much larger creation. I believe God created humans to be imperfect and able to sin for the purpose of accomplishing His ultimate plan, “to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ” one day (“BibleGateway”). This allows people to freely choose to believe in Him and spend their eternal afterlife in Heaven with Him instead of in Hell.

Most people who believe in God and choose to have a relationship with Him not only make this choice in order to spend their afterlife in Heaven, but also for guidance, comfort, and purpose during their earthly life, which stems from their spirituality. If God created all people to be perfect, no one would see the need for guidance from a higher power since people would not experience hardships and suffering. God designed people to make mistakes and suffer to realize their desperate need for Him. It is in these times when humans cannot comprehend the reasoning behind their sufferings that they rely on the belief that it is all a part of God’s perfect plan. God’s sovereign plan is unstoppable. Yet humans have a sinful nature and cannot comprehend how imperfect people who make mistakes and suffer are a critical part of His ultimate, perfect plan.

Many atheists argue that it is impossible for a perfect God to create a flawed universe, because if something is perfect, nothing imperfect can come from it. Therefore, a perfect God who creates imperfect humans is impossible (Docterman). However, God can create anything, perfect or not, because He is all-powerful. If God can only make perfect things and thus cannot make imperfect things, He isn’t omnipotent and would be something less than perfect. Also, God created humans not to be perfect for themselves, but to serve His purpose perfectly. God’s plan was for His creation to be flawed as a prelude to His plan of Salvation and subsequent recreation, where ultimately, all would be perfect, once again perfectly executing His will.

Although I do not agree with Descartes’s first explanation that God purposefully created humans to be perfect, I do agree God designed humans to have free will to make choices, good or bad. Since humans are imperfect and have the ability to sin, God utilizes free will so people can make mistakes that lead to consequences to realize their desperate need for a perfect God. Free will was also created by God so humans can choose to believe God using their own limited knowledge, but unlimited will.

But why did an all-knowing, all-powerful God create humans to make mistakes and suffer in order to care about Him? Couldn’t God have created us to be in joyful communion with Him from the start? Many atheists argue that a completely good, omniscient, and all-powerful God must not exist. If God allows suffering to occur, then he must not be perfect, and therefore does not exist. However, God purposefully created suffering to serve several purposes aside from realizing a need for Him. Suffering strengthens human relationships by bringing people together and serves as messages of compassion, unity, and comfort. When suffering or tragedy occurs, people experience a greater sense of oneness and come together to compassionately offer comfort to one another. When the tragedy of 9/11 struck our country, courageous firefighters and

police sacrificed their own lives to save people that they did not even know. Hundreds of people stood patiently in lines to donate blood in hopes of helping those who were affected. God allows suffering not only for us to care about Him, but to truly care about one another. A tragedy like 9/11 could have torn our country apart, but instead it united us exemplifying the true compassion and care that people have for each other.

Descartes offers two reasonable explanations for why humans make mistakes in life even on the assumption that they are created by a perfect being. However, since I believe God purposefully created humans to be imperfect, I cannot accept Descartes’s explanation regarding free will because it states that God created people to be perfect at birth. God created imperfect people to make mistakes and suffer so they realize their need for guidance, comfort, and purpose that can only truly be offered by a perfect God. God also allowed imperfect people to have free will so individua ls can freely decide to believe in Him, which is a part of His ultimate plan.

Works Cited

“BibleGateway.” Ephesians1:9-10NIV--BibleGateway, www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ephesians%2B1%3A9-10&vers ion=NIV.

Descartes, René, 1596-1650. Meditations on First Philosophy. Indianapolis :Hackett Pub. Co., 1993. Print.

Docterman, Chad. “Why the Christian God Is Impossible.” Chad Docterman: Why the Christian God Is Impossible, 1996, www.update.uu.se/~fbendz/library/cd_impossible.html.

“Investment Fraud.” FBI, FBI, 15 June 2016, www.fbi.gov/scams-and-safety/common-fraud- schemes/investment-fraud.