Next, Dr. Branden considers the Problem of Evil. But before proceeding to his main argument here, let us consider a related point which he raises. He says that belief in the goodness of God is the destruction of morality, since theists, confronted with an instance of evil, are bound to acquiesce in it, saying, “It must be the will of God, and therefore cannot be really evil after all.”

But I am not bound to acquiesce in any evil that I am able to prevent. There is an oft-quoted saying:

“God, give us grace to accept with serenity the things that cannot be changed, courage to change the things which should be changed, and the wisdom to distinguish the one from the other.” [01]

If I am in a canoe above Niagra Falls, I do not fling my paddle away, saying, “It is God’s will that I drown.” Rather I say, “It is God’s will that, given my own past choices and those of others, I now find myself in this situation. But I do not know whether it is a situation where I must drown, or one where whether I drown depends on how clearly I think and how hard I paddle in the next few minutes. I will assume the latter as a working hypothesis.”

Accordingly, I try to paddle for shore, or for a rock that I can leap out and cling to, or an overhanging branch, or whatever. If the shore is too far away, and there are no suitable rocks, no overhanging branches, and no paddle, then my religion advises me to relax and enjoy the ride. And as nearly as I can determine from his own statements and those of Miss Rand, Dr. Branden’s own response would be similar. [02] Perhaps the most conspicuous difference is that I expect to go over the lip of the falls saying, [03]

Deep calleth unto deep at the thunder of thy cataracts;
  All thy waves and thy billows have gone over me.

The waters have lifted up, O Lord,
  The waters have lifted up their voice;
    The waters have lifted up their thunder.
Mightier than the roaring of the waters,
  More than the surging of the sea,
    The Lord is mighty on high.

The voice of the Lord is upon the waters;
  The God of glory thunders,
    The Lord, upon many waters.
The Lord sits enthroned over the flood;
  The Lord will give strength to his people;
    The Lord will bless his people with peace.

Thus saith the Lord who created thee,
  “Fear not, for I have redeemed thee;
    When thou passest through the waters I will be with thee.”

But I expect to hear Dr. Branden in the adjoining canoe saying:

The Law of Causality is the Law of Identity in action.
  It is the nature of water to flow downhill,
    and the nature of bodies in free fall to accelerate
at about thirty-two feet per second per second,
  normally until stopped by a collision.
    often at considerable damage to themselves.

A rational man does not
  rebel against this fact —
    nor against any metaphysical fact of reality.

References
[Editor’s notes are in blue.]

* In the dot-matrix printout, this section begins with the unexplained notation “(p7) 8 May 81.” Since the discussion of disasters and pain occupies quite a large number of pages of the printout, and are listed as “Section 7” in James’s table of contents, it is entirely possible that this section was completed nearly a year later than the rest of the printout.]

† The title refers to Nathaniel Branden’s lecture “The Concept of God,” from his lecture series “The Basic Principles of Objectivism.” That lecture is fully transcribed in his book The Vision of Ayn Rand, chapter 4. Partial and perhaps complete audios seem to be available throughout the Internet. See also R.A. Childs, “The Epistemological Basis of Anarchism,” Note 19.

[01] Reinhold Niebuhr, 1943 (see Bartlett’s Quotations) [In some ways, this section appears to be the most “unfinished” of the Reply. Throughout there are incomplete references. I shall include them as James left them, but complete them when I can. In this case, Niebuhr’s “Serenity Prayer” first appeared in print in Howard Robbins, Book of Prayers and Services for the Armed Forces. Many accounts of its origin are available on-line.]

[02] COG 70 [“The Concept of God.” Throughout his transcription of Nathaniel Branden’s James insert sequential numbers (“<1>, <2>, etc.”) that permitted him to refer easily to the lecture. The passage James included for this note is to be found in N. Branden, The Vision of Ayn Rand, (Gilbert, Ariz.: Cobden Press, 2009), page 177.]
  When a man has done everything rationally possible to him, he can take with equanimity that which is outside his power. He does not expect to be omnipotent.

A. Rand, “The ‘Conflicts’ of Man’s Interests” 1/8/31ii [References of this form refer to The Objectivist Newsletter, so that volume 1, number 8 would be August 1962] & VOS [The Virtue of Selfishness (New York: Signet Books, 1964); page 52].
  ... a rational man never holds a desire or pursues a goal, which cannot be achieved directly or indirectly through his own effort.

[03] Psalm 43, 93, 29; Isaiah 43.