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- There is, in fact, not one problem of evil, but there are multiple problems of evil, including the logical problem that argues that God and evil are mutually exclusive. The probabilistic problem argues that given the kinds and amount of evil in the world, it is unlikely that God exists.
whychristianity.org.au/2023/11/11/an-overview-of-the-christian-perspective-on-the-problem-of-evil/An Overview of the Christian Perspective on the Problem of Evil
Feb 11, 2024 · This article addresses one form of that problem that is prominent in recent philosophical discussions–that the conflict that exists between the claims of orthodox theism and the facts about evil and suffering in our world is a logical one.
The logical problem makes a large claim, that evil and God cannot possibly co-exist. Defeating the logical problem requires conceiving of some logically possible scenario or reason God could have for allowing evil.
- Introduction
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- Definition
- Criticism
- Properties
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- Analysis
- Significance
- Themes
- Philosophy
The existence of evil and suffering in our world seems to pose a serious challenge to belief in the existence of a perfect God. If God were all-knowing, it seems that God would know about all of the horrible things that happen in our world. If God were all-powerful, God would be able to do something about all of the evil and suffering. Furthermore,...
Peterson (1998, p. 9) claims that the problem of evil is a kind of \"moral protest.\" In asking How could God let this happen? people are often claiming \"It's not fair that God has let this happen.\" Many atheists try to turn the existence of evil and suffering into an argument against the existence of God. They claim that, since there is somethin...
Since evil and suffering obviously do exist, we get: If God were to have a morally sufficient reason for allowing evil, would it be possible for God to be omnipotent, omniscient, perfectly good, and yet for there to be evil and suffering? Many theists answer \"Yes.\" If (17) were true, (9) through (12) would have to be modified to read: Is (18) cor...
Statement (14) is simply the conjunction of (1) through (3) and expresses the central belief of classical theism. However, atheologians claim that statement ( 13) can also be derived from (1) through (3). [Statements (6) through (12) purport to show how this is done.] (13) and (14), however, are logically contradictory. Because a contradiction can ...
Can the believer in God escape from this dilemma? In his best-selling book When Bad Things Happen to Good People, Rabbi Harold Kushner (1981) offers the following escape route for the theist: deny the truth of (1). According to this proposal, God is not ignoring your suffering when he doesn't act to prevent it becauseas an all-knowing Godhe knows a...
Notice that (15) does not say that consistent statements must actually be true at the same time. They may all be false or some may be true and others false. Consistency only requires that it be possible for all of the statements to be true (even if that possibility is never actualized). (15) also doesn't say anything about plausibility. It does not...
The logical problem of evil claims that God's omnipotence, omniscience and supreme goodness would completely rule out the possibility of evil and that the existence of evil would do the same for the existence of a supreme being.
Consider the following statement. If (19) and (20) are true, then the God of orthodox theism does not exist. What would it look like for God to have a morally sufficient reason for allowing evil? Let's first consider a down-to-earth example of a morally sufficient reason a human being might have before moving on to the case of God. Suppose a gossip...
From (9') through (12'), it is not possible to conclude that God does not exist. The most that can be concluded is that either God does not exist or God has a morally sufficient reason for allowing evil. So, some theists suggest that the real question behind the logical problem of evil is whether (17) is true.
The fact that W3 is impossible is centrally important to Plantinga's Free Will Defense. Atheologians, as we saw above, claim that God is doing something morally blameworthy by allowing evil and suffering to exist in our world. They charge that a good God would and should eliminate all evil and suffering. The assumption behind this charge is that, i...
It is important to note certain similarities between W1 and W4. Both worlds are populated by creatures with free will and in neither world does God causally determine people to always choose what is right and to avoid what is wrong. The only difference is that, in W1, the free creatures choose to do wrong at least some of the time, and in W4, the f...
Atheist philosophers such as Anthony Flew and J. L. Mackie have argued that an omnipotent God should be able to create a world containing moral good but no moral evil. As Flew (1955, p. 149) put it, \"If there is no contradiction here then Omnipotence might have made a world inhabited by perfectly virtuous people.\" Mackie (1955, p. 209) writes,
Jun 10, 2009 · Stated in its most powerful way, the logical problem of evil is this: a God that would create a world that would contain evil cannot be the omnipotent, omniscient, omnibenevolent God of the Bible; but the God (if any) that created this world is a God that created a world that contains evil; therefore the God that created this world cannot be ...
Nov 11, 2023 · There is, in fact, not one problem of evil, but there are multiple problems of evil, including the logical problem that argues that God and evil are mutually exclusive. The probabilistic problem argues that given the kinds and amount of evil in the world, it is unlikely that God exists.
What Is the Problem of Evil? The so-called “problem of evil” is an argument against the existence of God that reasons along these lines: A perfectly powerful being can prevent any evil.
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The problem of evil is formulated as either a logic problem that highlights an inconsistency between some characteristic of God and evil, or as an evidential problem which attempts to show that evidence of evil outweighs evidence of an omnipotent, omniscient, and wholly good God. [1][7][2] Evil in most theological discussions is defined in a bro...
