The existence of evil in todays world can be seen everywhere, in small cases in everyday life and larger instances such as terrorist attacks. Human evil is not the only cause for suffering in our world though, natural evils such as earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanic eruptions are also the cause of much suffering and pain in our world. The big question that presents itself in relation to the existence of an all-powerful, all-knowing God is, why? In this essay I am going to explore the existence of evil in from a theist and atheist perspective in support and dispute of the claim there is an all-powerful, all-knowing perfectly good God. I will conclude my essay by stating my own personal opinion on whether I believe the existence of evil is compatible with the claim that there is an all-powerful, all-knowing and perfectly good God, or not compatible.
What is evil? There are two kinds of evil, human or moral evil and natural or metaphysical[1] evil. Human evil is the outcome of intentional malicious acts inflicted from one human unto another (or animal) who has the intention to cause suffering, such as torture. Natural evil is suffering that occurs as a result of events in the world that are beyond our control, such as earthquakes. Evil presents itself as a problem, Davies says, “The problem of evil is commonly seen as the problem of how the existence of God and the existence of evil are to be reconciled”[2]. The problem of evil concerns both moral and metaphysical evil, it is the theological conundrum thrown up by the mainstream concept of God. Atheists[3] would argue that because of the existence of evil, the existence of an omnipotent, omniscient, supremely benevolent God is preposterous, why would a God of this nature allow such suffering to happen to the people and world he has created? The theist response to this claim could go a number of ways to justify the compatibility of the existence evil and the existence of an all-knowing, all-powerful and perfectly good God. One of the defenses of God against the problem of evil is the idea that evil and suffering is punishment for our earthly sins. Another is that evil is the will of God so we must accept and trust his judgment because he is an omniscient, omnipotent, wholly good God whose reasoning is far beyond our human understanding. Also, there is the idea that evil is brought upon us by some other supernatural free agents[4], malicious power, such as Satan[5].