The Problem of Evil It would be safe to presume that evil and suffering has touched everyone who has ever lived; it is just as inevitable as death is due to the existence of sin (New International Version, Rom 5.12). Ever since the consumption from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil and the fall of Adam and Eve, the birth of evil and suffering has grievously been known. From natural to moral, evil’s shifty and adaptable nature comprises various forms and levels in and of itself; therefore, evil’s perplexing essence needs to be examined thoroughly so that a Christian can offer a logical, spiritual explanation and defense for God’s design. The element of evil can be defined as wickedness and immorality, the opposite of good. Greg Koukl can …show more content…
William Rowe, a philosopher and author of The Problem of Evil and Some Varieties of Atheism, is believed to have provided the most persuasive evidential argument for evil. Rowe’s published paper stated that: 1. There exist instances of intense suffering which an omnipotent, omniscient being could have prevented without thereby losing some greater good or permitting some evil equally bad or worse. 2. An omniscient, wholly good being would prevent the occurrence of any intense suffering it could, unless it could not do so without thereby losing some greater good or permitting some evil equally bad or worse. 3. There does not exist an omnipotent, omniscient, wholly good being. (Rowe 336) Altogether, the logical and evidential arguments for evil argues with emotional attitudes that expose logical fallacies within their reasons. While the problem of evil does provide eloquent arguments that certainly can leave Christians tongue-tied, however, Christians have theodicy defenses to withstand philosophers like Epicurus and William Rowe’s reprimands and produce plausible counter-arguments. While on the subject of the problem of evil and the theistic response, a theodicy is a philosophical defense to justify and defend God’s actions and reasons for the continuance and use of