A Catalogue of Gods who may or may not Exist

The Perfect GodIn Western religions, God is traditionally said to be infinite, personal, and perfect. He may be immutable or mutable, the greatest conceivable being or Being itself. But, He is omnipotent, morally perfect, and personal. This is the conception of God which is most popular in my culture, and it is certainly emotionally satisfying. By definition, this is the greatest God one could have. I was raised with this conception of God, and most of my coreligionists have always believed in Him. But, more and more often, I find myself having difficulty doing so. The most obvious wrinkle -- which spontaneously occurs to everyone who thinks about theology -- is the Problem of Evil. How could a perfect creator bring forth anything less than perfection? It almost seems like a proof:1 the best of all possible beings must produce the best of all possible worlds. How could it be otherwise? Could He will anything less than perfection? Of course not. If He did, there would be some defect in…