by Kevin J. Browne

Created on: November 04, 2008   Last Updated: November 13, 2008

The problem of evil is, perhaps, the most serious challenge leveled against the religious believer. While it does not constitute a "proof" of atheism, it does call into question the nature of God as most theists understand him. Simply put, the problem of evil asks how we can justify the existence of God, and belief in God, with all the evil there is in the world. In philosophical terms the problem arises for those who accept the following three propositions:

1. God is Omnipotent.

2. God is Omni-benevolent.

3. Evil exists.

It may not be obvious why accepting these three propositions entails a problem and so we should clarify what each one implies. In doing this, and outlining the possible solutions to the problem I will be following the lead of a philosopher named J. L. Mackie, who in 1971 published an important article on the subject titled "Evil and Omnipotence."

Proposition one, at the very least, entails that God has the ability to eliminate evil. While there are things that an omnipotent being is incapable of, such as violating the laws of logic, it doesn't seem to be too much of a leap to suppose that God could eliminate evil. Proposition two, at the very least, seems to entail that God is inclined to eliminate evil. This should clarify the problem at hand. If God is both capable of and inclined to eliminate evil, there should be no evil. But evil does exist which demands an explanation. In clarifying proposition three many philosophers make a distinction between natural and moral evil. Natural evil includes such things as floods, earthquakes, famines, pain, and disease. They are naturally occurring things which have negative effects on human beings. Moral evil includes actions caused by human beings which have negative effects on other human beings. This would include such acts as murder, rape, genocide, and torture. Some philosophers have suggested that we only deal with moral evils since naturally occurring things, such as floods and earthquakes, are not inherently evil. They are only interpreted as evil if human beings happen to be affected. Still, we are left with the problem of explaining moral evil. We will consider various solutions to the problem which are called "theodicies." Theodicy is from the Latin for justification since we are, in essence, trying to justify God's existence in the face of evil.

Mackie points out that there are three perfectly adequate solutions that completely solve the problem. The trouble with these solutions is that they create

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