First, it should be noted that this argument only applies to
God
as described in the
New Testament. Second, the argument as
described by Saige is missing a part. In full, it is:
- God wants to save everyone from damnation.
- The only way for a person to be saved from damnation is by
believing in God/Jesus.
- God is omnipotent.
- Thus, God could make everyone believe.
- But not everyone believes.
- Therefore, God does not exist.
A solution to this is offered by
Calvinist theology,
although addressing this problem was not a motivation in the
formation of their theology. The solution is to give a different
interpretation to step #1. According to Calvinist theology, when
the New Testament says that God wants to save
everyone from
damnation, it doesn't mean
literally everyone, but rather
everyone that God has already decided that he's going to save, the
Elect that God chose for
salvation before the beginning of time;
God just doesn't care about saving anyone else from damnation.
Humans are by nature so
evil (see
original sin) that he'b be
perfectly justified in just letting everyone
go to hell, so it's
amazing that he's even saving the Elect.
Thus, the existence of people who don't believe in God is not a
contradiction.