Theologians have long struggled over the philosophical problem of evil. The existence of evil logically challenges the theistic conceptions of God and his assumed powers. The classical notion of God implies that he is all-powerful, all-knowing and perfectly good. Furthermore, theism maintains that God is a personal force who presently intervenes in the world. To be clear I take evil to mean anything harmful, malicious, or immoral.
Agnosticism is the purely epistemological stance that sufficient evidence does not exist for or against theism therefore the best stance on the argument is no stance at all. Combinations of these positions are possible due to their varying natures, but here only the argument between theism and atheism is examined more closely. The problem of evil is described and used to argue against the existence of God. Richard Swinburne’s solution to the problem of evil is explained and used to revise the original atheist’s argument from evil to its best, but still insufficient, form. Commonly, atheists hold the view that organized religions are corrupt and actually cause more harm than good.
An omnipotent God would be able to prevent evil if he wanted to. A God both omnipotent and omnibenevolent would both want to and be able to prevent evil. P2 states that evil and suffering do exist, making it apparent that an all-powerful, all-knowing, and all-good Gods existence would be almost impossible. If a tri-omni god existed, then evil would not be able to exist The biggest weakness of the argument will be P1 that if an all-knowing, all-powerful, and all-good God exists, then evil and suffering would not exist. If God is all knowing and all powerful and all good, therefore god would not want us to suffer and not put evil on earth.
Philosophy 2000 The Problem of Evil Epicurus, an ancient philosopher, was the first to argue the problem of evil, attempting to understand how evil exists if a morally perfect being also exists. To understand the complex problem of evil we have to understand what God is believed to be and how that plays into the evil in this world. God is a being of which no greater can be conceived. This God or deity would be morally perfect in everyway. This being would be omnipotent or all-powerful, he would be omniscient or all knowing, he would be omnibenevolent or all good, and finally he would be omnipresent or everywhere you could imagine.
He speaks of how a world with humans is better than a world without, and because of this it is just does not make sense to have a world without evil. But this could also just lead us back to the original problem, bringing to mind the thought that if God is able to do anything and everything, then he should be able to create a perfect world with no evil. The fifth premise states simply “But, there’s evil.” Laurence distinguishes between the two different kinds of evil when explaining this argument. He says that natural evil can
April 4th 2012 MW 10-11:15 Intro to Philosophy In On Free Will, Augustine claims that there are two types of evil: the evil men do and the evil men suffer. First, how does this relate to his argument concerning free will, and secondly, do you agree or disagree that the sins [of man] can be charged against God because of the existence of evil (the nature of the universe)? Explain. When Evodius speaks with Augustine, he picks at the thought of God being the author of evil (OFW, Book 1, I, section 1.). Augustine replies back to him which kind of evil is Ev talking about: the evil that men do and the evil that men suffer.
Why God Allows Evil I. Introduction: An approach to explain why an all-good God tolerates the existence of evils. A. Theodicy: A vindication of God’s goodness and justice in the face of the existence of evil. This is the basis Swinburne uses in justifying his reasoning on the possible co-existence of both God and Evil. B. Swinburne claims that if there is a God, the occurrence of evils is to be expected.
He is malevolent. Is God both able and willing? Then whence commeth the evil. If he is neither able nor willing then why call him god?” This is called the inconsistent triad; if God has all these Omni qualities then why does evil still remain on earth? Augustine’s soul deciding theodicy was the demonstration that God is not responsible for the existence of evil.
Explain the nature of the problem of evil The problem of evil was first formulated by the ancient Greek philosopher Epicurus who identified that the qualities of the God of classical theism (omnipotence, omniscience and omnibenevolence) cannot be reconciled with the undeniable fact that there are evil calamities striking all the time in the form of natural and moral evil, and metaphysical (as Leibniz also suggests, originating from the concept that the world although created by God is imperfect). Is God willing to prevent evil but not able? Then he is impotent. Is he able but not willing? Then he is malevolent.
Evil is something caused by living things with free will which is intended to cause harm or misery to something or someone else, though different people have different views on what evil is. One argument is the atheist argument, and that God can’t exist if he allows evil. John Mill, an atheist philosopher, says that God can’t be real because if he was then he would not allow this much suffering to happen, especially to innocent people. Another non-religious view is that sometimes bad things happen, not because a ‘God’ has made it, but just because not everything that happens in the world is good. For example, there was a mini-bus crash where 12 children and a teacher were killed, and an atheist would say the mini-bus and lorry were in the wrong place at the wrong time, and that it certainly did not have anything to do with God.