Nashiya Moosa Moosa 1
Philosophy Paper
Philosophy of Religion
May 1, 2014
Problems of Evil
In this country, according to CSN news, “74 percent of U.S. adults believe in god.” That is a pretty high number for such a complex, modernized society. But where does all the faith and belief come from? People believe that God is always looking out for us and that he would never do anything to hurt us intentionally. People believe that God is in control of our destiny and controls everything that happens to us in this world. But then, this brings me to my main question, if God is seen as such a good being, then why are there so many problems in this world? Epicurus, a Greek philosopher phrases the idea of God and evil by saying “Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then God is omnipotent. Is God able, but not willing? Then God is malevolent. Is God both able and willing? Then where does evil come from? Is God neither able nor willing? Then why call such a being God (Lecture 30)?” Why are there disease, natural disaster, animal suffrage, poverty, abuse, and so much more? In this research paper, I will talk about what evil is and a few problems of evil that are present in the world. Then, I will attempt to answer if there is so much evil present in this world, is it even likely that there is a God and should we blame him?
Moosa 2
So, what exactly is evil? When I think of the word evil, I think of something or someone that is bad. I think of “hell” or the “devil.” According to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, “Evil in the broad sense has been divided into two categories: natural evil and moral evil. Natural evils are bad states of affairs, which do not result from the intentions or negligence of mo...
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...ia of Philosophy (Winter 2013 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), URL = .
3. Gruen, Lori, "The Moral Status of Animals", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter 2012 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), URL = .
4. Murray, Michael and Greenberg, Sean, "Leibniz on the Problem of Evil", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Spring 2013 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), URL = .
5. "Poll: Americans' Belief in God Is Strong--But Declining." CNS News. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 May 2014.
6. Tooley, Michael, "The Problem of Evil", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Summer 2013 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), URL = .
In his essay, "The Magnitude, Duration, and Distribution of Evil: a Theodicy," Peter van Inwagen alleges a set of reasons that God may have for allowing evil to exist on earth. Inwagen proposes the following story – throughout which there is an implicit assumption that God is all-good (perfectly benevolent, omnipotent, and omniscient) and deserving of all our love. God created humans in his own likeness and fit for His love. In order to enable humans to return this love, He had to give them the ability to freely choose. That is, Inwagen holds that the ability to love implies free will. By giving humans free will, God was taking a risk. As Inwagen argues, not even an omnipotent being can ensure that "a creature who has a free choice between x and y choose x rather than y" (197)1. (X in Inwagen’s story is ‘to turn its love to God’ and y is ‘to turn its love away from God,’ towards itself or other things.) So it happened that humans did in fact rebel and turn away from God. The first instance of this turning away is referred to as "the Fall." The ruin of the Fall was inherited by all humans to follow and is the source of evil in the world. But God did not leave humans without hope. He has a plan "whose working will one day eventuate in the Atonement (at-one-ment) of His human creatures with Himself," or at least some of His human creatures (198). This plan somehow involves humans realizing the wretchedness of a world without God and turning to God for help.
Carus, Paul. "The Philosophical Problem of Good and Evil." The History of the Devil: With 350
In the excerpt from Philosophy of Religion, John Hicks outlines the problem of evil as such:
The problem of evil is inescapable in this fallen world. From worldwide terror like the Holocaust to individual evils like abuse, evil touches every life. However, evil is not a creation of God, nor was it in His perfect will. As Aleksandr
In this paper, I will use the writings of John Hick and Richard Swinburne to dispute the problem of evil argument. After I first elaborate on the P.O.E., I will give support for God’s existence with regards to the problem of evil. Then, I will address further counterarguments
The article I picked to show the evil in the world today was about a man named Abner Louima. This man was arrested in 1997 and is suing the state of New York for being beaten in a restroom in the station while being questioned. The sole witness Conelle Lugg, 19, he heard loud screaming and banging noises against the wall of the bathroom while he was in his cell, he then saw a police officer push Louima into a cell pants down and blood rushing out of his open wounds. The officer then proceeded to tell Louima to get on his knees. After all this Lugg said, that Louima fell to the floor and screamed in pain and begged to be taken to a hospital.
There are two kinds of evil, moral and natural. Moral evil is things like murder, rape, stealing, terrorism, etc. Natural evil is things like suffering and unpleasantness typically as a result of moral evil. Evil is that which has no power of its own. Evil is darkness, a negation of light. Its power is in us, in our fear of it, in that we consider it a "something" worth responding to.
In order to understand The Problem of Evil, we must first understand the concept of God. The God that this problem addresses is what we call a PKM god. This god is accepted in multiple religions, such as Christianity, Islam, and Judaism. Over half of the world population claims to be followers of any of
Myers, William Andrew. " The Banality of Evil in an Age of Terrorism. " Considering Evil and Human Wickedness (2004): 33.
Tooley, M. (2002). The Problem of Evil. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Retrieved (2009, October 16) from http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/evil/
The Value of the Quest in Malory and Gaiman In Malory’s “Sir Lancelot on the Grail Quest”, Sir Lancelot, who has accomplished many great things, is refused the Holy Grail. On the other hand, in Neil Gaiman’s “Chivalry” Sir Galaad accomplishes mundane tasks so that Ms. Whitaker will give him the Holy Grail. Indeed, in Malory, Lancelot falls asleep in the place where the Grail is to be found, and in a state of half-consciousness he sees a dying knight acquire the grail and be healed. Lancelot is then expelled from the place because he has sinned. Alternatively, in Gaiman, Galaad performs simple tasks such as moving boxes, and throwing away slugs, and he offers different items to Mrs. Whitaker in order to acquire the Grail.
The problem of evil has been a huge debate between atheists and theists. The problem of evil is how can evil occur in the world if God, a perfect being, created the world, and why do bad things happen to good people if God is in charge. Used to critique theism, the problem of evil questions God’s perfection and his existence. It questions God’s perfection by saying, “Whoever does not chose the best is lacking in power, or in knowledge, or in goodness” (Leibniz 89). This means that people do not think that God can be all powerful or perfect because they do not think that this world was the best possible choice. The problem of evil also critiques the question of God’s existence by saying, “If there is more evil than
The world is filled with many different words, some harder to define than other. One of these difficult words is considered by many to be evil. The definition of the word evil depends entirely upon the reader or writers perspective upon the word. The most innocent and simple ways that of would define evil is by simply saying that evil is the exact opposite of good, but what is good? In order to understand the true meaning of evil, we must first be able to describe what good is, what has goodness produced, and what has evil truly defied.
The Problem of Evil is an argument that highlights the contradiction between the existence of evil and the existence of God. The Problem of Evil basically states that if a perfect being like God existed, then existence of evil should not and is impossible to co-exist with, because such an almighty, all-power God would not allow it to. It is apparent to some people that the existence of evil and suffering itself in our world is the biggest challenge against the belief in the perfect being, higher power, known as God. I believe the Problem of Evil is the best and justifiable argument against the existence of God, because if God was truly all-powerful and omnipotent then he would not allow there to be any evil or suffering. It is the most apparent
Both John Hick and B.C. Johnson’s arguments aim to describe the problem of evil in relation to God by providing their responses to the problem. In the end I’ve concluded that the existence of God and the existence of evil are able to coincide together.