Dear Karen,



The question of why there is evil in the world is not asked by scientists and reasonable people who do not believe in a reality of Divine supervision and do not believe that Man is the glory of creation; they believe that the world goes on as it goes on, for good and for bad. Questioning the existence of evil and pain in the world is the province of people of faith alone, of those who think there is guidance, purpose, and supervision of man and that man is the goal and will of the Lord. Therefore they make a sort of complaint to G-d: If you created the world for man, why is man in a state of pain, illness, and despair? To them Maimonides answers that the purpose of creation is not man. Man is part of the general creation, and as such, as a material creation, he is lacking and deficient. In the chapter you mentioned Maimonides writes: “[Man] should not be mistaken and think that reality is for him alone. Reality, in our opinion, is according to the will of G-d.”

In other words: Maimonides’ opinion is not far from that of the atheists. The natural world follows its own rules, for good and for bad. The difference is that Maimonides would say that this is the will of G-d.



Sincerely,



Daat Emet