The Problem Of Evil By Robert M. Adams

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.

This is a significant problem to the revealed religions because they believe in a wholly good and omnipotent God. Why then, would this God allow evil? In this paper, I will provide, explain, and evaluate St. Augustine of Hippo’s

John Hick discusses in his essay The Problem of Evil, the objections to the belief in the existence of God is the presence of evil in the world. He begins by posing the traditional challenge to theism in the form of the dilemma: That if God was perfectly loving, he must wish to abolish evil, and being all powerful, is able to perfectly do so as he will its. He then proceeds to present some views regarding this issue, giving insights from three point of views, that of contemporary Christian Science, the Boston Personalist school, and the theologian Augustine. The first opinion takes evil as an illusion, as a construct of the human mind. The second confers upon God finity, God as a struggling ruler,

In Module Five, Dr. Bryan Maier discusses “The Problem of Evil,” is the question of “How God can be all sovereign and all good at the same time?”. As a counselor, I can’t remember any client, who has experienced suffering, who doesn’t struggle with The Problem of Evil.” Maier reminds counselors that our role is not to provide a reason for the client’s suffering or God’s role in it because counselors cannot know the answer. The counselor’s proper response when the Problem of Evil is brought up by the client is to simply state, “I don’t know.” A caregiver’s role is not to give their opinion or to speculate what the answer may be.

In the book of Genesis in the Bible, God created the heavens and the Earth and all was good. God told Adam and Eve that they can eat from all the trees in the Garden of Eden except for one, The Tree of Knowledge and Good and Evil. God was and is compassionate enough to give the beings he created freedom of choice. Nobody wants someone who is forced into love. God also does not want us to be made to love Him but wants us to do so out of our own free will. That free will that God gives us is the source of evil. Just as Adam and Eve used the free will God gave them to be disobedient and sin, human beings evil because of their freedom to do so. In addition to free will God allows evil to exist because without it, the beings he created could not develop ethically. The Problem of Evil states that God cannot be all loving, all good, all powerful and everywhere because evil exists. Philosopher, John Hicks states that evil is necessary for soul and moral development. How would humans know that is good without it counterpart for comparison? In situations like the Charleston church shooting, where loved ones lives are violently taken by evil, the families of the victims are made to develop morally. When confronted with evil, violence, and grief, they either exhibit patience, love, courage, forgiveness, acceptance, and/or faith. Otherwise they conform or give into evil and become timid, weak, angry, or even become violent themselves. Without evil our world would be blissful.

It was once suggested that evil was simply the absence of good, and while this statement is not entirely false, it is a vast understatement to the reality that is an all-powerful, omnipotent, God, or good, and ever scheming, ever tormenting enemy of all things good, or evil. This false dichotomy is equivocal to the argument that black is simply the absence of white. It is correct to state that there is no white in black, but the reality is much more complicated than that. Black is an amalgamation of all colors on the color wheel, not just the subtraction of white. Likewise, evil includes the absence of good, but also includes many other elements such as, “people [just being] people; petty, self-absorbed, stupid, unadmirable, but not wicked” (Ryken, 307) in the words of Susan Wise Bauer. Or, as she later states, “this is how the evildoers of Scripture are portrayed, as ordinary men and women who, for whatever psychological reasons, open the door to transcendent evil—and willingly leave it cracked.” (Ryken, 310) There is good, there is evil, and there is a great deal of ambiguity in the middle. These ideas provide evidence that evil is much more then simple the absence of good. This knowledge, as well as addressing the modern world’s perception of good and evil will be further scrutinized through the course of this essay.

Jeremy A. Evans is an Associate Professor of Philosophy at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, North Carolina. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Texas A&M University, a M.Div. in Biblical Languages from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, and a Ph.D. from Texas A&M University. Dr. Evans has published two main works through B&H publishing company, The Problem of Evil: The Challenge to Essential Christian Beliefs, and The Legitimacy of Christian Moral Thought in the Marketplace of Ideas. Dr. Evans strives to accomplish two things in his teaching and writings; “one, to edify students by challenging them to engage their mind for Christ, and two, provide the necessary tools for independent research

Problem of Evil Throughout our lives, we experience and observe occurrences that seem to be good and others that seem to be evil. Some of us grew up in church and believed that God has a purpose or plan for all the circumstances that we experience, good or bad. Others don’t believe in a creator or God and instead live with the assumption that life is great at times and at other times is terrible, without rhyme or reason. The problem of evil seems to ultimately criticise God and christian beliefs.

“The Possibility of Evil Quick Write” In the short story “The Possibility of Evil” by Shirley Jackson uses several symbols to tell her story about Miss Strangeworth one symbol she uses is Pleasant street. For example, “My grandfather built the first house on Pleasant Street,” she would say, opening her blue eyes with the wonder of it. This house, right here. My family has lived here for better than a hundred years.”

The Problem of evil in the East and the West Although the problem of evil questions the existence of God in the West, it seems not to be a big problem in the East for the different definitions of God and evil in the Western and the Eastern religions. To know the different Eastern and Western attitudes towards the problem of evil, the essences of the problem of evil as well as the corresponding consequences caused by the problem of evil in the Western and the Eastern religions and the reasons behind consequences would be discussed. In essence, the problem of evil is caused by the perfect antagonism relationship of the God and evil – once evil exists, the existence of a perfect God would be doubted.

Many people think the definition of evil is doing something thing devious or sneaky.Like in the story the possibility of evil when Ms.Strangeworth acted all nice and kind to people in her town then goes behind and writes hurtful letters to people as anonymus.

The theological problem of evil is a problem that many philosophers have tried to solve. The problem is stated as, "if one believes that god is omnipotent and wholly good, why does evil still exist?" In this writing I will discuss the solutions/propositions of John L. Mackie in his work, "Evil and Omnipotence." I will do this in order to illustrate the concept of free will for understanding or resolving the problem, and to reveal how and why Mackie arrives at his conclusions.

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

Throughout our course, the Problem of Evil has sprung up again and again. The common saying goes, how can an omnibenevolent, omnipotent, omniscient God stand in the face of evil? Yet instead of pointing to a solution to eradicate of evil, we simply discussed various religion’s theodicies. It is here where the fault lies. Instead of looking to solve the problem of evil to begin with, we merely accepted as fact that evil was an innate part of this universe. Marxist atheism (as described by Murray) believes that evil, pain, and misery should not be in the world to begin with, and must be done with accordingly. To them, the fact that God condones this evil, is proof in it and enough that God does not exist. Moreover, the ultimate goal of man is to bring good out of this evil, and in the bible “this power is uniquely prerogative to God” (Murray 111). He continues, “The man of the Revolution is more than ever such in that it is he who assumes this prerogative” (Murray 111). To be a man is to alter nature; a power impossible when under the restrictive jurisdiction of God. According to Marxist Atheism, it is man who holds the reigns to our history’s future, not God. If man decides to believe in god, he is simply falling into the Freudian “illusion”; the illusion that God will be able to relieve man of his basic issues and bring him out of misery.