Problem Of Evil Argument Analysis

The meaning of the word evil takes on many different forms, the most common is the concept of being morally wrong -negative behaviors-, bringing harm unto others and marked by bad events-such as a natural disaster- (Simple). The Problem of Evil consists of the idea that if there is a theistic God, then evil would not exist in the world. This is due to the fact that God is thought to be Omnipotent(all-powerful), Omniscient(all-knowing), and Omnibenevolent(all-good), which would mean that God would not have created a world in which evil lies. According to this idea, it would appear that a God with these traits would have eliminated evil on Earth, or would have made it so Evil did not exist at all. However, evil remains in the world, which causes …show more content…
“Part of the definition of libertarian free will that an action that is free in that sense cannot be caused by anything outside of the agent, not even God can cause a person to freely do what is right” (Tooley). If humans are thought to have free will, then God would have no ability to control their actions. This could result in evil being brought into the world due to negative actions being executed. This objection claims that premise 2 of the Problem of Evil argument could be false since it claims that God would have the ability to eliminate all evil which would not necessarily be true because God can only do what is logically possible. To eliminate all evil in the world God would have to take away free will from God’s creations and guide them in a positive direction. As far as human knowledge understands, humans do have free will, which means that God has no control over what their actions may be, evil or good. Therefore, a God that is Omnipotent or all-powerful would not be able to control God’s creations without taking away their ability to freely do as they …show more content…
Soul-building evils are evils in the world that help one build character and enhance their soul (Meister). This would mean that premise 4 of the Problem of Evil argument would be considered false, since even if God is all-good, God would allow evil into the world if it supported a greater good than the evil itself. “According to Hick, the divine intention in relation to humankind is to bring forth perfect finite personal beings by means of a "vale of soul-making" in which humans may transcend their natural self-centeredness by freely developing the most desirable qualities of moral character and entering into a personal relationship with their Maker” (Trakakis). Meaning that soul-making or soul-building helps humans grow as people and develop positive characteristics that give them a personal relationship with God. Mistakes are how people learn and without mistakes there would be no knowledge between right and wrong. An example of this would be a small child learning that if they hit someone there will be negative consequences, such as going to their room. This teaches the child not to hit others. Therefore, evil is needed in the world to help people grow as a person and be able to identify negative actions and how to avoid