Versions of the Problem of Evil
Intellectual Version
Logical
Emotional Version
Probabilistic
1. An all-powerful God exists
2. An all-loving God exists
3. Evil exists
Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then
he is not omnipotent.
Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent.
Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh
evil?
Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him
God?
-Epicurus
Four Unsatisfactory Solutions
1. Deny that God exists
2. Deny that an all-powerful God exists
3. Deny that an all-loving God exists
4. Deny that evil exists
The Basics of Logical Syllogisms
1. All humans have a soul
2. Bob is a human
3. Therefore, Bob has a soul
1. All dogs go to heaven
2. Rover is a dog
3. Therefore, Rover will go to heaven
1. All Ukrainians are good looking
2. All good looking people are proud
3. Therefore, all Ukrainians are proud people
Defining “Evil”
1. God created all things
2. Evil is a thing
3. Therefore, God created evil
Evil is the absence/ privation/ loss of good. It
is a hole in goodness.
The Origin of Evil
A. God did not create evil
1. God created all good things
2. Evil is not good
3. Therefore, God did not create evil
B. God allowed evil to actualize
“A world containing creatures who are
significantly free (and free to perform more
good than evil actions) is more valuable, all else
being equal, than a world containing no free
creatures at all”
C. God has a purpose for evil
1. An all-loving God has a purpose for everything
2. There is some evil for which we see no good purpose
3. Therefore, there is a good purpose for all evil, even if we don’t see it
Some possible purposes:
a. God’s attributes and human virtues can be exemplified
b. For achieving a greater good
c. For preventing a greater evil
d. God uses evil for judgment on mankind
1.
2.
3.
4.
God is all-good and desires to defeat evil
God is all-powerful and is able to defeat evil
Evil is not yet defeated
Therefore, evil will one day be defeated
The Logical Problem of Evil
1. An all-powerful, all-loving God exists
2. Evil exists
3. If God is all-powerful, he can create any world he wants
4. If God is all-loving, he prefers a world without evil
5. God could not have created another world with as much good as, but
not less suffering than, this world, and God has good reasons for
permitting the suffering that exists
The Probabilistic Problem of Evil
1. Relative to the full range of God’s perfect attributes and
human limitation, we are not in a position to judge
2. Relative to the full scope of evidence, God’s existence is
probable
3. Relative to the full Christian doctrine, suffering makes
sense
Existence of Evil as Evidence for God’s
Existence
1. If God does not exist, objective moral values do not exist
2. Objective moral values do exist
3. Therefore, God exists
1. Every law has a law giver
2. There is a Moral Law
3. Therefore, there is a Moral Law Giver