It is believed that God is all-powerful and all-loving, yet evil exists. The problem of evil, pain and suffering is considered by some philosophers to be the most telling philosophical objection to theistic belief. Several years ago, one of my students died in a car accident, and I Hick rejects the traditional view of the Fall, which pictures humans as being created in a finitely perfect and finished state from which they disastrously fell away. Why is any evil…, …creation and the existence of evil in history (i.e., the problem of theodicy). 19 The Problem of Evil David Hume 29. Attempts to show the contrary have traditionally been discussed under the heading of theodicy. 4. An omnipotent being, who knows every way in which an evil can come into existence, has the power to prevent that evil from coming into existence. Professor Emeritus of Religion, Lancaster University, Lancaster, UK. Perhaps the most difficult issue concerning the relation between morality and belief in God is the problem of evil. If a perfectly good god exists, then evil does not. There are smart people who have offered lengthy defenses of God against the problem of evil. Note our first response to the knowledge of good and evil (the problem of opposites) is shame. God's omnibenevolence is one of the most appropriate reasons for worshiping him. Understanding evil as a problem is not an easy task, however. The so-called problem of evil is a topic of much debate in theology and the philosophy of religion.It was first proposed by the ancient Greek philosopher Epicurus.Many atheists base their views to some degree on their assessment of this argument's strength, and this problem has been investigated by many theologians, such as Thomas Aquinas: Other solutions to the problem include John Hick’s (1977) soul-making theodicy. then is he malevolent. If there exists an omnipotent, omniscient, and perfectly good being, then no evil exists. In these religions, the question to answer is how an all-loving and all-powerful god could allow evil to exist. Start studying The Problem of Evil. The problem of evil refers to the question of how to reconcile the existence of evil with an omnibenevolent, omniscient and omnipotent God (see theism). The Problem of Evil ...The problem of evil is no problem at all In religious texts the world over the Abrahamic God possesses three inherent traits. Critics claim that the existence of evil is proof that the omnipotent, omnibenevolent God of the Bible cannot exist. The second part in a series on the Problem of Evil designed for people studying Philosophy of Religion at AS/A2 Level. Ring in the new year with a Britannica Membership. Since evil and/or suffering happen, these statements are contradictory. But if I did that, then my argument against God collapsed too--for the argument depended on saying the world was really unjust, not simply that it did not happen to please my fancies. Thus, Hume devotes much of the earlier parts of his Dialogues to attacking the argument from design, which was popular in the 18th century. Perhaps the most difficult issue concerning the relation between morality and … On theone hand, there are metaphysical interpretations of the term: God isa prime mover, or a first cause, or a necessary being that has itsnecessity of itself, or the ground of being, or a being whos… Natural evils, in other words, can help cultivate virtues such as courage and generosity by forcing humans to confront danger, hardship, and need. A God that is all powerfulwould be able to prevent evil and suffering. If evil exists then God cannot be all perfectly loving. If an omnipotent, omniscient, and omnibenevolent god exists, then evil does not. The “problem of evil” is better phrased as the “argument from evil” and the reason for the adjustment is simple. A perfectly good being would want to prevent all evils. A defense need not argue that this is a probable or plausible explanation, only that the defense is logically possible. An important statement of the problem of evil, attributed to Epicurus, was cited by the Scottish philosopher David Hume in his Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion (1779): “Is [God] willing to prevent evil, but not able? Atheists view the Problem of Evil as evidence that God does not exist. The Problem of Evil takes the following form: A God that is all powerful would be able to prevent evil and suffering. Generally, a defense attempts to show that there is no logical incompatibility between the existence of evil and the existence of God. ; A God that is all loving wouldn't want evil and suffering to happen and would take needed action to stop it. The Problem of Evil - Philosophy of Religion (The Logical Problem of Evil The problem of evil also gives way to the notion that if hell exists then God must be evil for sending anyone there.I believe hell exists in light of the idea that God is holy. The problem of evil refers to the question of how to reconcile the existence of evil with an omnibenevolent, omniscient and omnipotent God (see theism). It takes the following form: A God that is all powerful would be able to prevent evil and suffering. The problem simply stems from basic beliefs or assumptions pertaining to the attributes of God: God is perfectly good, omniscient, and omnipotent. Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. The evidential challenge (also known as the inductive argument) seeks to show that the existence of evil counts against the probability of the truth of theism (defined as the belief in at least one deity). This “problem” of evil has always demanded an explanation for the apparent tension. The existence of bad or evil things isn’t hard to explain for non-theists—human beings and the world are imperfect—but they are hard to explain for classical theists because of their belief in the perfect goodness of God. By signing up for this email, you are agreeing to news, offers, and information from Encyclopaedia Britannica. The Problem of evil is a term that refers to a set of atheological arguments that attempt to disprove theism by pitting the existenceof a omnipotent, omniscient, omnibenevolent Godand the existenceof evil in the world against each other. The Problem of Evil is a strong argument against the concept of God accepted by some Christians, Jews and Muslims.This is an argument against the classical definition of god. 4. But such a world would be one in which wrong actions were impossible, and in which, therefore, freedom of the will would be void; nay, if the principle were carried out to its logical conclusion, evil thoughts would be impossible, for the cerebral matter which we use in thinking would refuse its task when we attempted to frame them. [5] One version of this problem includes animal suffering from natural evil, such as the violence and fear faced by animals from predators, natural disasters, over the history of evolution. In addition, there are man-made evils: injustice, violence, rape, torture, all manner… The problem of evil can be simply reframed as "the problem of the absence of Good". The problem of evil has also been extended beyond human suffering, to include suffering of animals from cruelty, disease and evil. God cannot give beings free will and not allow them to use it wrongly (that’s as logical as it gets). 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