The problem of evil can be described a philosophical puzzle that is based on standard Western ideas about God (Morreall, Sonn 20). It attempts to answer the following question, how can there be evil in the world if God is all-powerful and all good (Morreall, Sonn 20). Virtually every monotheistic religion believes that there is a divine being that is all good, all knowing and powerful (Blackwell 156). In addition, one of the major challenges facing these religions is explaining the evils of this world (Blackwell 156). Accordingly, in order to answer this question, philosophers draw from various theodicies. For the purpose of this paper, I will be examining the punishment theodicy. This paper will look at the various ways in which the punishment …show more content…
The punishment theodicy explains that human suffering is God’s punishment for sin (Morreall, Sonn 20). According to the punishment theodicy, it is good for one or more of the following four things: rehabilitation, deterrence, societal protection, and retribution (Murray 170-171). The punishment theodicy expresses that evil was not part of God’s original plan for humanity, but came into existence when Adam and Eve disobeyed God in the Garden of Eden (Morreall, Sonn 20). Thus, human suffering is accordingly God’s punishment for the Original Sin of Adam and Eve (Morreall, Sonn 20). Due to the fact that the Abrahamic traditions believe in a god who is all-powerful, the punishment theodicy is one of the most popular ways in which these traditions attempt to explain the problem of evil. The punishment theodicy has proven to be a highly popular theodicy because it manages to answer the problem of evil, while still emphasizing God’s abundant power. However, in order to have a well-rounded understanding of any theodicy, we must also understand its issues. For instance, one issue facing the punishment theodicy is the fact that much of the suffering that occurs in the world, cannot reasonably be justified as punishment (Blackwell 156). For example, in no way does an innocent child deserve to be raped or beaten (Blackwell 156). Nor does