The Problem Of Evil Essays

God had to allow the possibility of evil, because if there were no such possibility man would not be free to choose good over evil. If there were no evil and suffering humans would always follow God's law because there would be no difficulties in doing so. The evils in this world are required by a God of love who seeks the development of his free creatures from their original innocence into fully mature spiritual beings. In other words, we human beings learn to be morally mature enough to grow closer to God. Evil can lead us to the final goodness and perfection. In this regard, God is partly responsible for the evil in the world.

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.

To begin, I will discuss what I believe evil to be. Conceptually speaking, there are two forms of evil, natural and moral. Natural evil consists of phenomena which occur due to natural sources within creation. This form of evil includes weather disasters, cosmic barriers such as asteroids or collapsing stars, planetary movements such as earthquakes and volcanoes, animal instincts such as viral outbreaks or bear attacks (i.e. anything that drives self-preservation in the animal world), and so on. Conceptually, natural evils are not affected by human involvement. In other words, these phenomena would occur regardless if humanity existed in creation or not. Once an otherwise naturally occurring phenomenon happens as a result of human behavior, i.e. global warming, it no longer fits this form of evil, conceptually speaking.

A possible solution to the problem of evil is the Augustinian theodicy which is based on Genesis. St Augustine argued that in genesis 1 God is seen as creating a world that is perfectly good and free from defect. He said that this was clearly outlined in G1:31 where it says “God saw what he had made and it was very good.” He believed that evil itself is not a thing or substance therefore God did not create it. Augustine argue that “evil was the going wrong of something good and as a result Augustine termed evil as a “privation of a good” that did not come from God but entities with free will such as angels and humans who were willing to give

The problem of evil is honestly one of the greatest obstacles to believe of the existence of God. Their are times I sit and think of all the suffering in the world, and wonder if whether it is caused by mans inhumanity to one another or natural disasters. Though I can honestly say I find it hard to believe in a God at times. Then again, I think there comes a time when some people feel the same way.

The "Problem of Evil" is a philosophical stumbling block for many people. There are various explanations for the evil and suffering in the world. Theodicy, which is the vindication of divine goodness and providence in view of the existence of evil explains this. Ultimate Questions by Nils Ch. Rauhut mentions eight different types of theodicy: Big-Plan, Punishment, Suffering-Builds-Character, Limits-of-Human-Knowledge, Contrast, Devil, Test, and Free Will. Many of these explanations have several similarities, although I believe that Limits-of-Human Knowledge Theodicy best fits my understanding of the world. This type has the basic idea that God is the perfect being, and therefore he has infinite knowledge as an infinite being. We simply are

The whole idea for the Problem of Evil revolves around the fact that unnecessary evils in the world exist in which could have been prevented. The deductive argument states that, “If God does exist then he’s all powerful, all knowing, and all good(PKG). If an all PKG god exists then there would be no evil. There is evil. Hence there is no God.” Thus, when referring to evil as a whole we

The problem of evil questions the nature of God and threatens his status as a figure worthy of worship. Surely human beings would not wish to worship a God that is neither all good nor all-powerful? The figure we call God is seen to be entirely perfect and flawless in every way. The problem of evil also questions God’s omniscience, in respects that he is all knowing. If God is omniscient then he must know the harm that evil does and the suffering it will cause. The attributes in question are the essence of the nature of God and without them he becomes more like a human than a God. If any of God’s characteristics are omitted, he

The whole reason of evils I feel come from Adam and Eve disobeying God's orders. Evils are meant for you to overcome and get stronger based off what you went through overcoming it. Some evils are meant to teach life lessons. The evils that don’t come from those reasons are from mankind deciding to go their own way instead of following the path that God laid out for us. No I don’t believe that this additional reason will solve the problem of evil because evil can’t solve evil. The only thing that can solve the problem of evil is God and eventually he will. No one will know when that time will come but you should always make sure you are repenting of your sins and living right for

Although there's good in the world there is also evil to accompany it. The dilemma of evil argues if God exists and God is good, and there is evil in the world then He doesn't want to stop it. If God sees others struggling and dying every day we should do something about it. He sees the people in Africa struggling to find food, He sees the disagreements that turn into wars, and He sees crimes occur infront of his eyes. Yet there's nothing visually done concluding that He doesn't want to fix the problems occurring. In the holocaust incident involving Hitler there's was no justice in the end. He shot himself to escape the consequences which isn't fair which shows that God didn't want to stop the evil from happening. With evil there is barley

First off, evilness falls under the word evolution. To understand that, you must understand evolution comes from the words of men who were not there

Explain the problem of evil. Do you think this presents a problem for belief in God? Why or why not?

Evil is a problem in the philosophy of religion because there is no real answer. According to eastern religions, “God is good, God is all-powerful and evil exists in the world” (Davies-Stofka,

In the Christian theological perspective “good and evil “are contentious terms. The story of creation in Genesis as well as the fall of Adam and Eve offer some insight into the nature of these terms. In the beginning, God created the world and all things to be

Its impossible to reflect on the origins of evil without bringing up the concept of free will. God created man with this idea of choice; the choice to believe and obey, or the choice to disobey. It was this free will that allowed Adam and Eve to fall from their initial glory and introduce evil and suffering into the world. We can justify a large amount of sustained suffering by acknowledging that it actually benefits us and is not incompatible with God's loving nature. We learn lessons both physically and spiritually that allows us to grow and mature according to God. Some suffering is used to spark revival or for a great advancement in his kingdom, cause after all we're