Reconciling the existence of evil with an all-good and all-powerful God
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Part of a series on
Theodicy
Key concepts
Absence of good
Augustinian theodicy
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The problem of evil is the philosophical question of how to reconcile the existence of evil and suffering with an omnipotent, omnibenevolent, and omniscient God.[1][2][3] There are currently differing definitions of these concepts. The best known presentation of the problem is attributed to the Greek philosopher Epicurus. It was popularized by David Hume.
Besides the philosophy of religion, the problem of evil is also important to the fields of theology and ethics. There are also many discussions of evil and associated problems in other philosophical fields, such as secular ethics,[4][5][6] and evolutionary ethics.[7][8] But as usually understood, the problem of evil is posed in a theological context.[2][3]
Responses to the problem of evil have traditionally been in three types: refutations, defenses, and theodicies.
The problem of evil is generally formulated in two forms: the logical problem of evil and the evidential problem of evil. The logical form of the argument tries to show a logical impossibility in the coexistence of a god and evil,[2][9] while the evidential form tries to show that given the evil in the world, it is improbable that there is an omnipotent, omniscient, and a wholly good god.[3] The problem of evil has been extended to non-human life forms, to include suffering of non-human animal species from natural evils and human cruelty against them.[10]
^Tuling, Kari H. (2020). "Part 1: Is God the Creator and Source of All Being – Including Evil?". In Tuling, Kari H. (ed.). Thinking about God: Jewish Views. JPS Essential Judaism Series. Lincoln and Philadelphia: University of Nebraska Press/Jewish Publication Society. pp. 3–64. doi:10.2307/j.ctv13796z1.5. ISBN 978-0-8276-1848-0. LCCN 2019042781. S2CID 241611417.
^ abcThe Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, "The Problem of Evil", Michael Tooley
^ abcThe Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, "The Evidential Problem of Evil", Nick Trakakis
^Nicholas J. Rengger, Moral Evil and International Relations, in SAIS Review 25:1, Winter/Spring 2005, pp. 3–16
^Peter Kivy, Melville's Billy and the Secular Problem of Evil: the Worm in the Bud, in The Monist (1980), 63
^Kekes, John (1990). Facing Evil. Princeton: Princeton UP. ISBN 978-0-691-07370-5.
^Timothy Anders, The Evolution of Evil (2000)
^Becker, Lawrence C.; Becker, Charlotte B. (2013). Encyclopedia of Ethics. Routledge. pp. 147–149. ISBN 978-1-135-35096-3.
^Cite error: The named reference IepLogical was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Cite error: The named reference inwagenp120 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
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Religious responses to the problemofevil are concerned with reconciling the existence ofevil and suffering with an omnipotent, omnibenevolent, and omniscient...
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The Problemof Pain is a 1940 book on the problemofevil by C. S. Lewis, in which Lewis argues that human pain, animal pain, and hell are not sufficient...
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Ragland of Saint Louis University writes on the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy that the problemof hell is "a version of" the problemofevil. He defines...
logical dilemma about the problemofevil attributed to the Greek philosopher Epicurus, who argued against the existence of a god who is simultaneously...
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in deities include the lack of evidence, the problemofevil, the argument from inconsistent revelations, the rejection of concepts that cannot be falsified...
manifestation of evil. Theodicy attempts to resolve the evidential problemofevil by reconciling the traditional divine characteristics of omnibenevolence...
stated as that evil ought to be regarded as nothing, or as something non-existent. It is often associated with a version of the problemofevil: if some things...
Evolutionary theodicies are responses to the question of animal suffering as an aspect of the problemofevil. These theodicies assert that a universe which...
while being rejected by anti-realists or idealists. The problemofevil is often given in the form of an inconsistent triad. For example, J. L. Mackie gave...
and philosopher Augustine of Hippo, is a type of Christian theodicy that developed in response to the evidential problemofevil. As such, it attempts to...
to refute the logical problemofevil, the argument that the existence ofevil is logically incompatible with the existence of an omnipotent, omniscient...
the theological problemofevil. The argument goes that the free will defense can only justify the presence of moral evil in light of an omnibenevolent...
variety of views interpreting biblical texts on violence theologically and sociologically. The problemofevil, violence against women, the absence of violence...
types ofevil in the world: evil caused by nature, evil that people bring upon others, and evil man brings upon himself (Guide 3:12). The first type of evil...
"Dogmaticists". The Epicurean paradox or riddle of Epicurus or Epicurus' trilemma is a version of the problemofevil. Lactantius attributes this trilemma to...
object was to solve the problemofevil, that is, to reconcile the existence ofevil and suffering in the world with the existence of a perfectly good, all-powerful...
approach the so-called problemofevil and why, in particular, even atheistic philosophers came to abandon the claim that evil is logically inconsistent...