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Problem Of Evil Essay

1060 Words5 Pages

Tripartite, Anselmian conception of God and logical consistency

For the purpose of this assignment and related question we are working with a particular definition of God, related to Christianity, namely, the omnipotent, omniscient and omnibenevolent God; while the crux of the discussion is about the consistency, inconsistency and the validity of the arguments presented and not the soundness of them.

An argument is consistent only if no two premises are contradictory or we can’t deduce a contradiction from one of the premises.

The Problem of Evil

The Problem of Evil is about reconciling the existence of evil with that of an omnipotent, omniscient and omnibenevolent God. An argument from evil, however, is focused on demonstrating an inconsistency in the definition of abovementioned God.
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The problem can be formulated in logical and evidential form. For the purpose of this assignment, we are concerned with the logical formulation of the problem.

This challenge says it is irrational and hence impossible to believe in the existence of a good and powerful God on the basis of the existence of evil in the world.

According to Marilyn McCord Adams, Horrendous Evils and the Goodness of God (Melbourne University Press, 1999), 26. :

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, then God has the desire to maximize moral goodness.
5. God is morally perfect by nature.
6. God has the desire to maximize moral goodness.
7. If maximal moral goodness (or perfect moral goodness) exists—in a logical reality—only good things exist (i.e., no morally undesirable things occur).
8. Morally undesirable things (such as evil) do exist.
9. Maximal moral goodness does not exist.
10. If God is omnipotent, then for every desire X that God has, He brings about the existence of

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