god. Horrendous suffering is therefore a good test case for the probability of theistic god belief. If believers cannot solve it except by punting to what might be possible rather than what’s probable (called a “defense”) or punting to ignorance rather than to that which is more probable (by saying “God’s ways are above ours”), then that god has allowed more suffering in the world than is reasonable for us to accept. Surely a god who created us as reasonable people should provide what reasonable people need if he wants us to believe. So if theistic believers cannot produce a reasonable
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