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Can the Argument from Evil be Decisive after all?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 October 2008

Dale Lugenbehl
Dale Lugenbehl
Affiliation:
Mira Costa College, Oceanside California
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Extract

The argument from evil is an argument which attempts to prove that God does not exist by arguing that the amount of evil (pain, suffering, injustice) in the world is incompatible with the existence ofan all-powerful, all-knowing, and morally perfect being. Theists have traditionally responded to this argument by saying that God is not morally responsible for failure to prevent evil because he cannot do so consistently with maintaining human free agency, because the evil is necessary to build our personal character and develop our talents, because it is necessary to provide a test of our faith, etc.

Type
Articles
Information
Religious Studies , Volume 18 , Issue 1 , March 1982 , pp. 29 - 35
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1982

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References

1 Of course sometimes, in desperation, a theist will say that it doesn't matter what happens in this life if it is all going to be made up to us later when we will have an infinitely long afterlife. But this will not do, for supppose I wish to leave my children behind while I go abroad for a month. And suppose I have a choice of leaving my children in the care of mean Uncle Joe or my Sister Clara who will take good care of them. If I decide to leave them with Uncle Joe (when I have the Clara option open to me) knowing that they will be beaten, starved, and sexually abused for a month, can I justify my choice by pointing out that it is only a month (or even a day) and that after that month they will be given the best parenting any child ever had? I think not.