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Argumentative Essay: The Problem Of Evil

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“The Problem of Evil” is simply the question, why does God allow evil to happen? God is omnipotent, omniscient, all-loving, and rational, therefore why does evil exist? There is either no God or he is not what we think he is, since evil could be prevented by him with no risk. Atheists and anti-theodicist see a problem with the idea that God could prevent evil. They believe that because God is so powerful and perfect, that he would not allow such immoral actions to be done. On the other hand, theists like Swinburne, believe that evil is necessary for important reasons such as that it helps us grow and improve. In this paper I will argue that the theist is right, because the good of the evil in this specific case on problems beyond one’s control, outweighs the bad that comes from it. I will begin by stating the objection the anti-theodicist gives for why it is wrong that there is a problem of evil. (<--fix) Regarding passive evil not caused by human action, the anti-theodicist claims that there is an issue with a creator, God, allowing a world to exist where evil things happen, which are not caused by human beings (180-181). Some examples of evil …show more content…

Swinburne states that humans were made by God with a predisposition to be moral and help out the natural world (181). Even though we have free-will, God persuades us to choose good more easily, as we can see the consequences of natural evils if we choose not to lend a hand. A theodicist thinks that we are influenced in that way because it would be wrong to be ignorant in occasions when the world needs as much aid as it can get (182). We would just be contributing to the wrongdoing, and would not be growing morally. This is one way God could be creating virtuous beings, while still these allowing these beings to have

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