Problem of Evil

In philosophy, the problem of evil is a puzzle that has kept thinkers busy for centuries.  In short, it is the question of how to explain evil if an all-good, all-powerful, and all-knowing deity exists.  There have been many theological answers to this dilemma, and responses to the problem of evil have become known as theodicies.

Ancient philosopher Epicurus formulated the problem of evil in the following way:

1. If an all-powerful and perfectly good God exists, then evil does not exist.

2. There is evil in the world.

C. Therefore, an all-powerful and perfectly good God does not exist.  

One response to this worry is the argument of free will.  God gave us free will to choose between good and evil.  God could not eliminate evil and suffering without eliminating a person's freedom to make moral choices.  

However, I think the free will argument falls short in some respects.  For example, natural disasters are a form of evil yet we don't link earthquakes and epidemics with the evil actions of human beings.  Then there are evils where the free will of the victim is destroyed.  Think about murder or rape.  The victim of these horrible atrocities lost their free will because the criminal infringed upon that free will.  

Another worry about the free will argument is that there seems to be a tension between free will and an all-knowing God.  If God knows everything we are going to do, how can we truly be free to live out our actions?  

Furthermore, why is free will a greater good than being saved by God?  If God truly cared about his creations, he would save us all.  The thought of burning for an eternity in hell while also being loved by God seems inharmonious.  

St. Augustine of Hippo formulated a different theodicy that focuses on the Genesis story from the Bible. According to him, God created the world and the world was good.  Evil did not exist until the fall of man in the Garden of Eden.  Augustine argued that natural evil (earthquakes and diseases) is caused by fallen angels whereas moral evil (evil caused by human beings) is a result of man becoming alienated from God.  

However, I see a few problems with Augustine's theodicy.  First, according to the Catholic Church and many other denominations, God has a plan for each and every one of us.  God must know that at least some of us will choose evil over good.  In other words, some people are predisposed to choose evil over good.  If we accept this as true, then that means God's plan included a genetic disposition to do evil which is incompatible with an all-knowing, all-good, all-powerful God.    

To wrap this up, the problem of evil has perplexed philosophers and theologians for centuries.  I don't expect any new answers to arise.  There seems to be two camps on this issue.  First, there are the individuals who claim that the existence of an all-knowing, all-good, all-powerful God is incompatible with the evil we observe in the world.  Then, there are the people who attempt to solve the problem of evil by presenting various forms of defenses, which are known as theodicies.