Evil: A Problem For The Traditional Conception Of God

The problem of evil is a significant and enduring philosophical and theological debate. A question is often raised and discussed: if God is both all-loving and all-powerful, then how can evils-including natural evil and moral evil---exist in our world? In response to the charge that the evils of the world are incompatible with God's omnipotence and perfect goodness, the word"theodicy" is coined to deal with the problem of evil. Usually it is an attempt to show that it is possible to affirm the omnipotence of God, the love of God, and the reality of evil without contradiction. Two of the most well-known and most frequently discussed theodicies are the Augustinian theodicy and the Irenaean theodicy.

In the course of this essay I will argue that evil is not compatible with the existence of god. This means that evil and God cannot coexist because if god were present, the existence of evil would contradict all that god is believed to be. Abrahamic religions insist that God both created the world and that he preserves and maintains it. Christianity claims that God is all knowing and is boundless in his abilities. Religions claim that God is benevolent, and only wants the best for humanity and the universe, as his creations. If all of the above statements be true, then it is hard to understand why god would allow evil to thrive right from the beginning of time.

One of the oldest dilemmas in philosophy is also one of the greatest threats to Christian theology. The problem of evil simultaneously perplexes the world’s greatest minds and yet remains palpably close to the hearts of the most common people. If God is good, then why is there evil? The following essay describes the problem of evil in relation to God, examines Christian responses to the problem, and concludes the existence of God and the existence of evil are fully compatible.

There is a lot of evil in the world, and much of it happens unexplainably. In the history of life on Earth bad things have happened and evil has caused problems. In relation to some world

Evil is something that exists in many forms. From big evils like Hitler’s Holocaust and slavery, to small evils like getting a papercut and getting stuck in the rain (perhaps to some this might be a big evil), evil is basically anything that is not good. For theologians, evil poses several problems, most notably when it comes to the existence of God.

An argument against the existence of God is based on the presence of evil in the world. This deductively valid argument is divided into two categories; human action and natural evil (Sober, 2005, p. 120). Human action discusses how experiences makes us better people, while natural evil are tragic events that are not under the control of humans. Each category is used as evidence to refute God as an all-powerful omniscient, omnibenevolent, or omnipotent being. In order to understand the strengths of this argument, it is important for an overall assessment of how the presence of evil questions if a Supreme Being actually exists, by arguing why a being of all-good would allow evil, importance of evil in a good world, and questioning God’s intervention in evil.

Ask a person from any culture around the planet and they will say that evil has always plagued humanity. However, when different people are asked to identify the source of evil found in their culture, the answers will differ from one another, maybe even drastically. This is most likely due to the varied experiences of their culture and faith traditions among other factors. Due to my lack of knowledge about other various perspectives of evil found around the world, I strive to articulate solely from my own Christian perspective.

Evil is in the eye of the beholder, sometimes a daily reality. To present the problem of evil you must first know that evil exists. Since God reveals himself as the all-powerful, all knowing and all good, how can the same God allow evil to exist and for bad things to happen to good people? Our suffering, as well as the suffering of others, vividly marks the presence of evil in our world. The majority of us struggle at one time or another in life with why evil happens to our family, friends, nation and ourselves. In recent news we also hear about particularly disturbing instances—a child raped, a school shooting, genocide in another country, a terrorist bombing. In this paper, I will review the literature from authors Robert M. Adams,

The Problem of Evil challenges all these beliefs of theism. This paper will defend the Problem of Evil by discussing the flaws in theism along with asking the question if an all-powerful, all knowing, all good God exists then why would God allow such evil in the world.

Many questions arise when attempts are made to explain the problem of evil and why it exists in our world when God is all-knowing, all-powerful, and all-good. The subject of evil and why it exists is a difficult topic to find an exact answer to, especially when evil is presented in the form of nature. Natural evil and moral evil are two different types of evil that take form and cause suffering to humans. Natural evil is “events and maladies in nature that bring suffering upon mankind and nature.” Natural evil can be difficult to explain because it does not seem likely that a tornado or hurricane is the result of a human acting in sinful ways. Moral evil has to do with the bad things people do to cause suffering. According to Reese, moral evil is “by the choice of human free will, an individual breaks a moral, ethical standard and causes suffering upon self, others or nature.” Many ways used to describe the problem of evil are in the form of a theodicy. A theodicy is an “attempt to offer different answers to the problem of evil.” Two of the theodicies discussed in this paper will be the Augustinian Theodicy and the Iranaean Theodicy. Both theodicies direct their explanations toward moral evil than natural evil. First, the Augustinian theodicy and the pros and cons associated with its attempt to explain the problem of evil will be discussed.

To what extent is the so-called ‘problem of evil’ a problem for anyone who believes in God? The problem of evil as suffering is a problem of what to do with the obstacle facing the believer and also this as a challenge to unbeliever for them to converge because they do not think it harmonising. Its contradict compatibility, an atheist often suggested that the present of evil entails the absence of God. Atheist argued that, if God exists, then he is an omnipotent, and able to prevent the evil occurrence. For omniscient, it implies that under any circumstances evil will occur if he does not act. Then, being perfectly good, he will prevent its occurrence and so evil will not exist. Based on this above proclamation, the existence of God does not compatible with the evil of whatever kind. However, theists response to this logical problem of evil by an atheist is that necessarily perfectly good being, foreseeing the occurrence of evil and able to prevent it, will prevent evil. The essay will first define what problem of evil according to Swinburne as one of the philosophers of religion. Second, Swinburne four categories of evil will be discussed (Physical evil, mental evil, state evil, moral evil). Third, Phillip logical and existential problem evil will be discussed, what impact do these have on the failure to distinguish the logical and the existential problem of evil for both theist and atheist. Fourth, how will all these above assertions (definition of evil, for categories of

In this universe, the creation can be freely chosen. By their degenerate nature, mankind chose to be far from God. Therefore, moral evil is everywhere, but all these are not contradictory to God's love and omnipotence. On the contrary, because of his lover's nature, he wanted man to live, be free and independent in his own style. The good news is that God is in charge of everything. He supervises the good and the evil movement and prevails. He uses such evil to bring about his good intentions and molds his purpose for

Evil has been a topic that has always been discussed with some amount of controversy—especially in the religious aspect. People who have the Judeo-Christian-Islamic perspective wrestle with the notion of how there can be an omniscient, omnipotent, and perfect God who allows such atrocities to happen in the world. It is also difficult to understand how God also allows natural evils — like hurricanes or cancer— to ruin people’s lives and harm people in any way. However, the discussion of evil expands far beyond the religious understanding. In the book, The Myth of Evil, by Phillip Cole, he explores the possibilities and possible theories of evil within the realm of religious belief and outside religious ideology. He recognizes there are four

There is no guarantee that a free moral agent will never choose wrongly. For a person to say that God should not have created people with the ability to choose sin, is saying he should not have created people at all. J.L. Mackie contends that God could have indeed created beings that would act freely (but always right). If this had happened we would not be free, but more like robots. If God had created creatures of superior moral character but lacking the ability to choose, these creatures would not be what we call human beings.

In other words, some people refer to evil as sin and suffering; others think of it as a separation from God while still more people personify it in the form of satan. My purpose here is not to discuss what form evil may take in an individual's life even though it may come up periodically. The central fact remains that evil, in one form or another, does exist and anyone not willing to believe in this reality quite frankly lives in a different dimension. Either that, or they simply live in a total state of denial! Keeping all this in mind, what I want to accomplish in this paper is to first explore the idea that evil is a relative term that exists within the context of each situation. Ah, yes! Even as I wrote that last sentence, I could see the wheels turning in your head. But not to worry. I will clarify soon. From this point, I will seek the wisdom of people who have tried to answer these tough questions proposed on the first page, come to some more conclusions through personal interviews and then end on a more personal note, using the help of my life experience as a Christian. This topic hits me hard at times. I often find myself in reflection, trying to formulate an answer to the evil that I see, and yes, the evil that I do. This evil will sometimes leave me feeling totally powerless and at its mercy. Yet I never give up hope for I know that just through the process of writing this paper, some new insights will be