The Problem of Evil
A Critical Analysis on the Problem of Evil (Theistic Approach)
Thesis Statement: The problem of evil is inadequate to disprove the existence of God.
The Problem of Evil coined by Epicurus states that: “Either God wants to eradicate evil, and cannot; or he can, but does not want to. If he wants to, but cannot, he is impotent. If he can but does not want to he is wicked. If God can eradicate evil, and He wants to do it, why is there evil in the world?” This problem has long bothered many theologians and philosophers, even St. Thomas Aquinas stated that it is a major objection to the existence of God. Undoubtedly, evil exists and its mere existence is so evident that it would be preposterous to deny it and since we cannot deny its existence, we must then try to prove that its existence would not oppose the existence of God. In this paper, I will try to explain the problem of evil through our free will, and the causes and consequences that are brought by natural evil then I will also attempt to enumerate the root causes of evil and the possible purpose of its existence. On the first part of this paper, I will explain that moral evil is just a byproduct of our wrong choices and it will be followed by the relation of natural evil to the design of our world. Writings of post-modern philosophers were mainly my guide in conducting this research because their studies are applicable and relevant in our modern world, and the books that I referred to were compilations regarding the existence of God and not primary texts of ancient or medieval philosophers.
Moral Evil as an Outcome of our Wrong Choices
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Moral evils1 are evil that are caused by humans such as the holocaust, murder, rape, suicide
1 Moral evils are fruits of the wrong doings of man, and man came from God, but it does not necessarily mean that evil is from God also. We have our free will and whatever the consequences of our actions may bring, the
Thesis Statement: The problem of evil is inadequate to disprove the existence of God.
The Problem of Evil coined by Epicurus states that: “Either God wants to eradicate evil, and cannot; or he can, but does not want to. If he wants to, but cannot, he is impotent. If he can but does not want to he is wicked. If God can eradicate evil, and He wants to do it, why is there evil in the world?” This problem has long bothered many theologians and philosophers, even St. Thomas Aquinas stated that it is a major objection to the existence of God. Undoubtedly, evil exists and its mere existence is so evident that it would be preposterous to deny it and since we cannot deny its existence, we must then try to prove that its existence would not oppose the existence of God. In this paper, I will try to explain the problem of evil through our free will, and the causes and consequences that are brought by natural evil then I will also attempt to enumerate the root causes of evil and the possible purpose of its existence. On the first part of this paper, I will explain that moral evil is just a byproduct of our wrong choices and it will be followed by the relation of natural evil to the design of our world. Writings of post-modern philosophers were mainly my guide in conducting this research because their studies are applicable and relevant in our modern world, and the books that I referred to were compilations regarding the existence of God and not primary texts of ancient or medieval philosophers.
Moral Evil as an Outcome of our Wrong Choices
-------------------------------------------------
Moral evils1 are evil that are caused by humans such as the holocaust, murder, rape, suicide
1 Moral evils are fruits of the wrong doings of man, and man came from God, but it does not necessarily mean that evil is from God also. We have our free will and whatever the consequences of our actions may bring, the
Bibliography: Ferry, Luc. Man Made God. Translated by David Pellauer. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2002. Gale,Richard, and Alexander Pruss. The Existence of God England: Dartmouth Publishing Company, 2003. Holt, Tim. The Problem of Evil. http://www.philosophyofreligion.info/arguments-for- atheism/the-problem-of-evil/ (accessed February 23, 2013) Kreeft, Peter. The Problem of Evil. http://www.peterkreeft.com/topics/evil.htm (accessed February 23, 2013) Manson, Neil. God and Design: The Teleological Argument and Modern Science. London: Routledge, 2003. Tooley, Michael, "The Problem of Evil", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Spring 2013 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), forthcoming, http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2013/entries/evil/ (accessed February 23, 2013)