The Problem of Evil

Let's look at this argument that is made against the existence of God.

2 min read

The Problem of Evil is an argument posed against the existence of God. According to some philosophers, the coexistence of all evil, pain, and suffering in the world with a perfect God that allows it poses a threat to the existence of God. When we talk about God in a philosophical argument, we talk about an omnipotent (all-mighty), omniscient (all-knowing), and omnibenevolent (all-good) being by definition. It means that God is aware of all the evil, has all the power to eliminate it, or has the power to create a world not consist of evil in the first place, and is still an omnibenevolent being that wants to prevent all evil.

Can you spot the problem now: How can God be both omnibenevolent and still allow evil to happen then? The existence of a perfectly good God that cannot do evil, is aware of all evil, and has all the power to prevent the existence of evil in the world seems inconsistent.

We can sum up the argument like this:

  1. If God exists, then God is omnipotent, omniscient, and morally perfect.
  2. If God is omnipotent, then God has the power to eliminate all evil.
  3. If God is omniscient, then God knows when evil exists.
  4. If God is morally perfect, God desires to eliminate all evil.
  5. Evil exists.
  6. If evil exists and God exists, then either God doesn’t have the power to eliminate all evil, doesn’t know when evil exists, or doesn’t have the desire to eliminate all evil.
  7. Therefore, God doesn’t exist.

The argument suggests that the only possible way God and evil can coexist is if God isn't omniscient, omnipotent, and omnibenevolent at the same time. Maybe he is all-knowing and all-good but does not have the power to eliminate evil. Or maybe he is all-powerful and knowing but is not good. However; God has to consist of these properties by definition, if not; then he is not God. Therefore, this argument claims that the existence of evil suggests that God doesn't exist, or at least the type of God in the Abrahamic religions doesn't.


The Source:

Tooley, Michael, "The Problem of Evil", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter 2021 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), URL = <https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2021/entries/evil/>.