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The problem of evil is an intellectual difficulty to cope with existence of evil and that of the God who is omnipotent and perfectly good. People using the problem of evil to criticize theism often claim that the following three premises:

There is a problem of evil because many believe that if God did exist there would not be evil present in the world because of his power and strength. The textbook presented two specific types of evil which include natural evil and moral evil. Natural evil is associated with natural disasters while moral disasters are associated with adversity cause by another individual purposely. These two types of evil negatively impact a number of people everyday, and it causes some of God’s supporters to question why God would allow it to happen. John Chaffee states that this causes individuals to believe that “God does not exist, at least as a personal Creator involved in human affairs. God is not all-powerful and so is unable to

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 essay features the discussion of the problem of evil in relation to the existence of god. Specifically outlining two sections where the problem of evil is discussed from atheist and theistic viewpoint.

If we humans are responsible for “human evil”, then surely, only God can be responsible for “natural evil”. Yet if we apply God’s benevolent feature, the fact that natural evil exist would be contradictory, unless we alter the meaning and definition of natural evil. Either natural evil is not really evil or there is a good purpose behind the natural evils. Though free will defense does not answer these two questions, or at least not directly. We can also assume God cannot create this world without including said natural evil, but then that would, per

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the Earth. After having created everything on Earth, He made man. “The Lord God said, ‘It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.’”(NIV Genesis 2:15). Thus, He made Eve from the rib of Adam. God told Adam and Eve not to eat from the tree of knowledge but the evil serpent, who was craftier than them, tricked Eve into eating the fruit. Eve later convinced Adam after having argued with him and he gave in. Both were punished by God for having gone against His word and would suffer the consequences of it. “So the Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. After He drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden a cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life” (Genesis 3:23-24).

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.

Now that I have discussed where evil originated, I want to provide a brief definition of evil. Most people will agree that evil is any cruel act, serious harm to another person mentally or physically. It can also be identified in a level of evil meaning people tend to feel that the more harm done to a person the greater the level of evil. Some examples of evil are acts of murder or abuse that harms another human being or animals. While I do agree with this definition of evil, I also think there is another crucial part of the definition. It is that evil itself is an act against the law of God. The Bible uses the word evil to define anything that is in violation of God’ law. In the connection between good and bad, evil is also seen as the absence of goodness. A simple way to understand the connection is that evil is a “fundamental and troubling departure from goodness” (Alcorn, 2009, p. 25). Alcorn’s view of evil is a complete absence and rejection of God’s goodness. I completely agree with this definition of evil, but I also understand that not all people believe in my God or any God for that matter. Atheists also identify evil in the world and they would agree with me on some acts that I think are evil. However, their definition does not include God. For example, Humanists believe there is good without God. They see the evil in the world and believe they must

Important point: Evil does not mean God does NOT exist, but only implies that God’s probably has a lesser chance of existing.

The presence of moral evil known as sin in God’s universe is one of the great questions that has puzzled the mind of man. More so, religious communities interpret the concept of sin diversely through its representation throughout diverse sacred texts. Christianity explicitly teaches that sin is bred into adherents through the original sin which has corrupted the world; however Islam takes the view that believers are born free of sin and taking part in sinful behaviour is an act rather than a state of mind. Sin is interpreted by followers through the way leading figures like Jesus are shown teaching about it in various sacred texts. Follower’s attitudes are influenced, and perhaps challenged by these implications. In addition, interpretations

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

There is evil, therefore there be no God. Since there is a God, it is necessary to try to solve this question. God has given us minds helping us discover the answers to complex problem therefore we should do what we can to solve mysteries about God, even though since he is God and we are not there are unknowable things. Different ways the problem of evil can be solved is to deny that evil exist, deny that God is omniscient, omnipotent,

This is the problem of evil. Augustine summed it up most effectively when he said, “Either God cannot abolish evil or he will not. If he cannot then he is not all-powerful. If he will not then he is not all good.” Augustine viewed evil as merely the absence of good just as dark is the absence of light, a non-being “a name for nothing but the want of good”. He looked to the Bible for an explanation for the existence of God and believed that the fall of humanity from grace, as shown in Genesis, showed the origin of evil. He believed that evil came into the world because human beings had deliberately turned away from God and his goodness. This suggests that both moral and natural evil is a result of original human sin.

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

Christians on the other hand, also struggle with the problem of evil, but the existence creates a metaphysical problem for them. Christians don’t