Classic Problem Of Evil

Improved Essays
The Classic Problem of Evil has been pondered by many great minds. Humans and other living things continue to be troubled by the many kinds of evils. If God is benevolent, He would not want people and other living things to suffer. If God is omniscient, He must know when they are suffering. If God is omnipotent, He must be able to prevent this suffering. Yet this evil suffering still exists. They come to the conclusion that: if God does not want to prevent suffering, then God seems to have evil intentions, this is certainly not consistent with the nature of a benevolent God.

David Hume argued that if a benevolent, omniscient, omnipotent God existed, there would be no evil. But there is evil. So this benevolent, omniscient, omnipotent

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Suffering does not equate to God being evil, and bad things happening does not mean God is not…

    • 485 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Bibl 104 Research Paper

    • 1181 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The purpose of this philosophical research paper is to attempt to develop an understanding on the concept of suffering while investigating the problem of evil from a theological perspective using scriptural references from the Holy Bible. Evil is the Absence of Good The Bible teaches that God is a powerful and almighty God. Many people wonder why there is so much pain, suffering, and corruption in the world if there is a presumably good God overseeing it. According to the Bible, God could not possibly cause evil since he is a righteous God.…

    • 1181 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Julian's Theory Of Evil

    • 1207 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The problem of evil is an atheistic argument, against the existence of God. It is a deductive argument that pits the existence of unjustified evil against the existence of any kind of divine being. Julian of Norwich presents a response to the problem of evil, but there are also some possible holes in Julian’s theory. This paper explores the problem of evil and how it is connected to human suffering, Julian’s theory in response to the problem, and a critique of Julian’s theory. One must assume that an omnipotent, omniscient, omnibenevolent God exists.…

    • 1207 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Augustine And Evil

    • 1966 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Epicurus was one of the first philosophers to consider the problem of evil and his question; “if He is both willing and able (to take away all evils), which alone is suitable to God, from what source then are evils? Or why does He not remove them?” , summarises concisely the issue which has been at the forefront of philosophical argument for thousands of years. To explore this question I will first consider what God is. In this essay I will refer to God in the orthodox monotheistic sense of the word as an omnipotent, omniscient and omnibenevolent being. Likewise, evil refers to all that is bad in the world.…

    • 1966 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    B.C. Johnson and John Hick continue their arguments to the idea that evil is beneficial since it makes people stronger and more virtuous. Without the suffering and evil, moral urgency would be completely eliminated and people would no longer be taught morals and virtues. This means that God is obliged and just in causing humans to suffer. For example, God would be justified in setting houses on fire with infants in them. Johnson responds with, “All of this is of course absurd” (Johnson 122).…

    • 246 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    As Professor Margolis explained in a lecture, in most monotheistic religions God is defined as an all-powerful, all-knowing being with perfect morals that loves humankind (Margolis, 2016). In this case, evil is used to describe anything negative in the world; for example, death, sickness, and natural disasters. These definitions create the Problem of Evil – if God is an all-powerful entity that is perfectly moral, then why hasn’t He prevented evil from existing in the world? As you can see, the Problem of Evil appears to present problems for theism. Nevertheless, I will argue why I believe the Problem of Evil does not create a problem for theism based on the suggestion made in the roundtable discussion that not all evils may have the same reason for existing (Newlands 2012, 22:06).…

    • 1221 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    The extent in which humans are capable of suffering may not be within the limits of the right of God. The benefits in the end may be questionable and the control in which God has over the suffering he has allowed may also…

    • 1023 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Great Essays

    Leibniz Vs Mackie

    • 1410 Words
    • 6 Pages

    The problem of evil arises in both of the philosophical arguments by Gottfried Leibniz and J. L. Mackie, as they attempt to argue for and against the existence of God. The title of Leibniz’s book, Theodicy, translates into “the vindication of God’s power and goodness despite the existence of evil,” and so Leibniz attempts to solve the problem of evil through his work (Martin 313). Mackie’s work, Evil and Omnipotence, sets forth a strong thesis in his argument challenging religious belief in God. Despite the problem of evil in the world, it is still rational to believe in the existence of God.…

    • 1410 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In his article “Evil and Omnipotence,” J.L. Mackie explores the various adequate and fallacious solutions to the “problem of evil,” a problem in which “God is omnipotent; God is wholly good; and yet evil exists” (p. 119). While Mackie discusses, analyzes, and criticizes many solutions, including “good cannot exist without evil” (p. 120) and “evil is necessary as a means to good” (p. 122), my paper will solely focus on Mackie’s response to the fallacious solution that “evil is due to human free will” (p. 123), which begins “first I must query” on p. 124. This paper will formally extract, justify, critically evaluate, and engage with Mackie’s argument that existence of evil due to free will is erroneous. Mackie describes the free will…

    • 1132 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Therefore, this benevolent God with stop any suffering that was not for the greater good or was in place of something worse, so God does…

    • 784 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    One of the most persistence questions we as thinking having often tends to challenge the existence of God. That question is, ‘if God is good and made us in His likeness, then why is there evil in the world?’ This question has plagued both theist and philosophers alike. I personally have encountered this very question in both Religious Quest, as well as Philosophy. While the latter concentrates on the logical problem of evil in order to argue that there can not be a perfect God who could then allow evil, the theist believes in an omniscient, omnipotent, and omnibenevolent God.…

    • 1336 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Evil exists because we chose it to. We, as free agents can choose between right and wrong. Through this we can justify our actions. What kind of world would we lead if everything was already decided for us and all we would have to do is perform it? God, although knows how we will choose, plays absolutely no role in our process of choosing.…

    • 550 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Brief bio: David Hume was an outstanding philosopher historian, economist, and essayist from Scotland. He was an important figure in the Scottish enlightenment, and, along with John Locke and George Berkeley, one of the three main figureheads of the influential British Empiricism movement. He was born on 26 April 1711 and died on the 25 August, 1776, at the age of 65 either due to bowel or liver cancer. Hume was a fierce opponent of the rationalism of Descartes, as well as an atheist and a skeptic.…

    • 933 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Possible explanations about evil and suffering: • Only God knows the answer to this problem.  God has a plan for people's lives that they may not always understand. This may include evil and suffering but Christians should trust and have faith in God's plan.  God wants people to follow the example of Jesus and help those who are suffering.  God must have a reason for allowing evil and suffering but the reason is beyond human understanding.…

    • 300 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Superior Essays

    The problem of evil has been a debated topic for many years. The question of, “why does God let bad things happen in the world” has intrigued many theologians and non-religious persons alike. To answer this question, I asked myself a few other questions. What are the assumptions, interpretation and inferences on the topic? How does point of view or perception effect this subject?…

    • 1179 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays