The Problem of Evil

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The problem of Evil
- Moral Evil
  - Murder, Wars, Terrorism, Drugs, Lying
- Natural Evil
  - Hurricanes, Natural Disasters, Floods
- "The Inconsistent Triad" - J.L. Mackie
  - A perfectly good being would want to prevent evil - JL Mackie
Natural Evil
- Hurricanes, Natural Disasters, Floods
St Augustine said "Either God cannot abolish Evil or he will not. If he cannot then he is not all powerful; if he will not then he is not all good."
If God was all powerful, things could have been different. He could have made a world with no evil & eliminate evil
- "God is Omnipotent, Evil Exists, God is all loving"
  - "The Inconsistent Triad" - J.L. Mackie
    - A perfectly good being would want to prevent evil - JL Mackie
- God is omniscient, therefore he knows about evil. No one can claim the God of classical theism does not know
  - Any all loving God would wish to eliminate evil, especially meaningless evil
The inconsistent triad is the existing triangle that is formed of the Attributes of God and evil existing. For many Philosophers, it only makes sense if 2/3 are true.
Evidential Problem of evil.
- The evidential problem of evil is evidence which counts against the likelihood of God's existence
William Rowe: The existence of intense suffering which an omnipotent, omniscient being could have been prevented without thereby losing some greater good or permitting some evil equally bad or worse
- e.g: A fawn trapped in a forest who burns and lies in a terrible agony for several days.

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