The Problem of Evil in the World
Introduction
Is the existence of as much evil as we see in the world about us consistent with the existence of an all-powerful, all-knowing, benevolent God? In discussing this question, we must distinguish between moral and physical evils.
In traditional Christian thought, moral evils refer to individual human acts of the will that are in opposition to moral principles or to God's dictates. Examples of the kinds of acts that constitute such evils are theft, murder, and rape. They derive from motives that are corrupt, wantonly destructive, selfish, and/or wicked. Such acts typically cause ruin, injury, or pain to others. They are said to result from man's exercise of free will.
Physical (or natural) evils refer to all kinds of natural disasters or calamities that can befall humans and all living creatures: earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, tornados, droughts, etc. A vast amount of suffering and misery (disease, famine, poverty, damage, etc.) occur as a result of such events. The free will explanation cannot account for the existence of physical evils.
A difficulty for theists is answering the following: if God knows in advance of the likelihood of evil (all-knowing) and can prevent it (all-powerful), but chooses not to, he cannot be all-loving. If this God does not know about the evil ahead of time, he is not all-knowing. If God knows there is evil but cannot prevent it, he is not all-powerful.(1)
Compatibility of Physical Evil with God
One attempt to explain physical evil is that its existence helps to increase peoples' virtue and goodness. Thus, war(2) is said to bring out the heroic side of men, and earthquakes, famines, and plagues to bring out the virtue in those people who provide relief to the victims. The implicit assumption is that the total evil of these natural calamities is outweighed by the occurrence of good and virtue brought about by their occurrence. Given the amount of death and misery that results, this assumption is flawed. Moreover,
There is a problem with the use of natural evils as a motivator for man to put things right and eliminate suffering. While the pain of a cancer sufferer no doubt helps to spur men and women to find a cure for the disease through their sympathy for the sufferer, it is inconsistent with the notion of a good God that he would use the mental and physiological pain of innocent people, especially children, to motivate others to do right action.
Another attempt to explain physical evils is the argument that natural calamities that befall men are a) punishment for their sins and/or b) serve to warn mankind to return to God. Some leading Christian fundamentalist leaders made such statements after the 9/11 attacks and, more recently, after hurricane Katrina. These arguments can easily be dismissed: in natural disasters, the victims are not distinguished according to their moral stature; people are harmed indiscriminately. In fact, there is a saying that the good seem to suffer the most. In addition, most people who suffer have no idea that their experience is part of a warning from God, as God does not do an effective job of communicating his purposes to sufferers. This could presumably have been accomplished through dreams, religious experiences, or holy texts. In any case, the suffering of very young children and of animals does not appear to warn anybody of anything. Moreover, the experiencing of natural disasters does not necessarily turn people to God. Often, such experiences lead people to harbor feelings of doubt about God's divine goodness.
<NEXT>
