Problem Of Evil Argument Analysis

849 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Problem of evil essay free

In this paper I will argue about how the problem of evil fails to establish the conclusion of God not existing. First I will discuss the problem of evil and also discuss how it came about. Secondly, I will give the strengths and weaknesses of the argument. Thirdly, I will give my rebuttal on the whole argument and critically appraise the argument and the central limitations and weaknesses.
The problem of evil is an argument based on reasoning from known facts or past events that God does not exist. The problem is that the Christians believe God is all-powerful, all knowing, and good, but God does not stop sorrow, pain, and/or hurt. If God exists, he knows how to, wants to, and is able to stop suffering. If God exists, He would stop suffering; therefore, there is suffering in the world because God does not exist. The problem of evil is a logical argument that concentrates on the concept that God cannot exist with evil, which is a logical contradiction. …show more content…

When an evil choice is not stopped by God’s will, the evil will answer to Him on Judgment Day. This argument justifies “good judgement” as God's disapproval of evil. The existence of evil in the world is necessary for the existence of good in the world. Compassion is only experienced if there is suffering in the world. The existence of evil in the world is necessary for there to be good in the world. Compassion is only experienced if there is suffering in the world. Christians justify suffering by the theory that the world would be eviler if people did not suffer because man would not be capable of compassion. When suffering does not serve a greater good in the world, the tragedies that effect lives appears to man that the world would be a “better place” if there was no suffering without a purpose. Each of us has tragedies in our lives, and it seems to us as though the world would have been a better place without those instances of

Show More
Related

  • Theodicy Analysis

    500 Words  | 1 Pages

    The need of theodicy in the ongoing face of suffering the world is ever apparent for Christians. The Christian faith being based on grace demands a response to evil in the world. However, the Christian response is that hope for the theist is based on the age to come. For that to happen God must be good and just. Theist must continue to deal with the difficult question of evil in the world to reach an understanding that address the attempts of atheist to dismiss God complete on this single issue. In the end, theodicy is the only path to possibly address the problem of evil from a theistic

    Read More

  • The Problem of Evil

    804 Words  | 2 Pages

    Many people say that God does exist even know there is unnecessary evil in the world. There are many reasons to why people believe God is real, for starters, they believe that without the bad, there is no good. In other words, if bad things didn’t happen in the world then we wouldn’t know that good things existed. Another way people justify evil in the world is by stating that if there was no evil and God prevented all bad things, there would be no virtues. In “Why doesn’t God intervene to prevent evil?” the author points out the fact that “without the suffering there would be no occasion for the production of such virtues as courage, sympathy, and the like” (Johnson 122). Take for example an alcoholic parent who throws their 5 year old child out on the street to fend for itself and the child ends up getting hit by a car. Some people would say that God didn’t help the child because he wanted someone to gain courage from the situatio...

    Read More

  • Bertrand Russell and Saint Thomas Aquinas’s Arguments on God's Existence

    595 Words  | 2 Pages

    In this paper I will be exploring two arguments on the topic of the existence of God. In particular, I will focus on Saint Thomas Aquinas’s efficient causation argument for God’s existence and an objection to it from Bertrand Russell. After an analysis of Aquinas’s argument and a presentation of Russell’s objection, I will show how Russell’s objection fails.

    Read More

  • J.L. Mackie's Evil and Omnipotence

    1664 Words  | 4 Pages

    The problem of evil is a deductive a priori argument who’s goal is to prove the non-existence of God. In addition to Mackie’s three main premises he also introduces some “quasi-logical” rules that give further evidence to his argument. First he presumes that a good thing will eliminate evil to the extent that it can and second, that omnipotence has no limits. From these two “additional premises,” it can be concluded that a completely good and omnipotent being will eliminate all possible evil. After establishing these added premises Mackie continues with his piece to list and negate several theistic responses to the argument.

    Read More

  • Griffin God Power And Evil Analysis

    782 Words  | 2 Pages

    The author suggests that an effort in attempting to figure out “why” evil exists will not provide substantial answers, but more focus on understanding the necessity of evil to allow

    Read More

  • Why Do Bad Things Happen To Good People?

    727 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Ecclesiastes 8:14 the bible states clearly, “there are just men unto whom it happens according to the work of the wicked; again there be wicked men unto whom it happens according to the work of the righteous.’ To paraphrase another verse in Ecclesiastes, very simply put, ‘it’s not the swiftness of a runner that wins him the race, or ones skills that gets him favor, nor riches to men of understanding but ‘Time and chance’ happens to them all.’ So, I don’t think the question is ‘why do bad things happen to good people?’ I think the questions are, ‘what do I do in this situation?’ or ‘How do I react or respond in this tragedy?’ ‘What is God using this situation to tell

    Read More

  • Conflict Between God And Evil Essay

    2051 Words  | 5 Pages

    “God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks to us in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: It is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world” (Lewis, 1994, p. 91). Throughout history man has had to struggle with the problem of evil. It is one of the greatest problems of the world. Unquestionably, there is no greater challenge to man’s faith then the existence of evil and a suffering world. The problem can be stated simply: If God is an all-knowing and all-loving God, how can He allow evil? If God is so good, how can He allow such bad things to happen?Why does He allow bad things to happen to good people? These are fundamental questions that many Christians and non-Christians set out to answer.

    Read More

  • Briefly Summarize The Christian Worldview Analysis

    928 Words  | 2 Pages

    Briefly summarize the Christian worldview’s response to the problem of evil and suffering. Cite and reference the lecture and/or Chapter 9 in the textbook.

    Read More

  • William Lane Craig Does God Exist

    677 Words  | 2 Pages

    The existence of God is quite controversial issue. God has different names in the world, and a lot of people, strongly believe in his existence. While, on the other hand, there are also people who don’t believe in his existence. In their discussion entitled “Does God Exist?” William Lane Craig, who is the supporter of the idea of existence of God, debates with Austin Dacey, who is an atheist, on the idea of existence of God. They provide the strong arguments and their debates are quite interesting, and innovative (not similar to those arguments, we usually read about in book). These are the fresh views on the question of existence and non-existence of God.

    Read More

  • Leibniz: The Problem Of Evil

    708 Words  | 2 Pages

    The problem of evil has been a huge debate between atheists and theists. The problem of evil is how can evil occur in the world if God, a perfect being, created the world, and why do bad things happen to good people if God is in charge. Used to critique theism, the problem of evil questions God’s perfection and his existence. It questions God’s perfection by saying, “Whoever does not chose the best is lacking in power, or in knowledge, or in goodness” (Leibniz 89). This means that people do not think that God can be all powerful or perfect because they do not think that this world was the best possible choice. The problem of evil also critiques the question of God’s existence by saying, “If there is more evil than

    Read More

  • John Hick And Richard Swinburne: The Problem Of Evil Argument

    1651 Words  | 4 Pages

    Throughout the world, most people believe in some type of god or gods, and the majority of them understand God as all-good, all-knowing (omniscient), and all-powerful (omnipotent). However, there is a major objection to the latter belief: the “problem of evil” (P.O.E.) argument. According to this theory, God’s existence is unlikely, if not illogical, because a good, omniscient, and omnipotent being would not allow unnecessary suffering, of which there are enormous amounts.

    Read More

  • Does God Exist? ; Philosophical Positions on God’s Existence

    1730 Words  | 4 Pages

    This paper will try to discuss the three Philosophical Positions on the Existence of God namely, the Theism, Agnosticism, and Atheism. Why do they believe? Why don’t they believe? How do they believe? What made them believe? Who helped them believe? These are just some of the questions that this paper will try to give answers and supply both believers and non-believers the enough indication that whatever their position may be, the responsibility in their hands of whatever reason they have must be valid and intellectual.

    Read More

  • The Problem of Evil in the Judeo-Christian Tradition Depicted in Hicks' Philosophy of Religion

    979 Words  | 2 Pages

    The problem of evil is a difficult objection to contend with for theists. Indeed, major crises of faith can occur after observing or experiencing the wide variety and depths of suffering in the world. It also stands that these “evils” of suffering call into question the existence of an omnibenevolent and omnipotent God of the Judeo-Christian tradition. The “greater good defense” tries to account for some of the issues presented, but still has flaws of its own.

    Read More

  • Problem Of Evil Essay

    1753 Words  | 4 Pages

    This is the argument that some values presuppose pain; such as patience and fortitude requiring deprivation and difficulty to flourish (Blackburn, 2001: 174). However people believe they are better off when these virtues are not needed Blackburn, 2001: 170). I feel better off when patience is not needed to get my coffee and surely the coffee shop would not defend their queues by saying patience is a virtue. Moreover, to create suffering for the purposes of ‘teaching these lessons’ seems evil in and of itself. A rebuttal to this argument could be that the scope was too narrow. For example the existence of love and hate is possibly a harder example to refute. Firstly, these types of virtues don’t apply to most cases of suffering, a hurricane hardly creates hate. Moreover it would be difficult to argue that love is contingent on the existence of hate. The feeling of being in love is not caused by a comparison to hate nor is taught by any hard ‘life

    Read More

  • An Argument for the Existence of God

    2339 Words  | 5 Pages

    This paper's purpose is to prove the existence of God. There are ten main reasons that are presented in this paper that show the actuality of God. It also shows counter-arguments to the competing positions (the presence of evil). It also gives anticipatory responses to possible objections to the thesis.

    Read More

More about Problem Of Evil Argument Analysis

Open Document