Do you believe in God? Do you believe, as billions do, that this god has absolute power, absolute goodness and absolute knowledge of everything, past, present and future? Then here’s the problem: why does God seem to cause us or allow us to suffer? View the Problem of Evil infographic below listing all possible solutions. Also read full explanation of the Problem of Evil here.
Download the above infographic in JPG or PDF.
To resolve the logical inconsistency, one of the two premises has to be undermined: Either evil does not exist (approach 4 above) or God of classical theism does not exist (approach 1 & 2). Theodicy tries to find a third route to vindicate God (approach 3).
Note that the followers of non-monotheistic religions, like Buddhism and Hinduism do not struggle with the same dilemma. It is a unique by-product of the belief in God in monotheistic religions like Christianity, Judaism and Islam. Hence, it has always been used as an argument against theism. In fact, this dilemma is the main reason why many people are driven away from these religions. However, as one of the best-known contemporary atheists said, it’s a”not a very persuasive argument against the existence of deities.” Because, he continues, “there is no obvious reason to presume that your God will be good.”1Richard Dawkins, Science in the Soul: Selected Writings of a Passionate Rationalist (New York: Random House, 2017), 239. He prefers other arguments for atheism over this one.
Read full explanation of the proposed solutions in the above Problem of Evil Infographic.
You might also like:
Candide: The shocking passages
Condemned by the French government and the Catholic Church: Read the controversial passages from Voltaire’s Candide (1759)
BOOK: CANDIDE
The Problem of Evil Simplified: Four approaches to explain human suffering
Understand the classic philosophical dilemma that haunted believers for thousands of years
BOOK: CANDIDE
Of Mice and Men: The shocking passages
What makes John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men controversial?
BOOK: OF MICE AND MEN
Endnotes
