The Problem Of Evil It is impossible to deny the existence of evil in the world as we as human beings experience pain and suffering every day. It is generally accepted that there are two different types of evil – natural (based on God) and moral (based on humans).
Moral evil is caused by human beings and occurs when humans inflict suffering on other people like September 11 th, world wars, the Holocaust and other human related travesties. We also inflict evil on animals with testing or hunting for game not using the animals as God intended for fur or food.
Humans also have obliterated the environment with pollution, destroying the rainforests and the way we litter and think nothing of it. Natural evil is not caused by humans but considered to be caused by God and occurs naturally in the world. Some natural evils could be Earthquakes, droughts and some forms of cancer. However, not all evils can be easily separated into these categories as humans can contribute to natural evils. Cancer is a naturally occurring disease; humans often do things which bring it about. Tobacco for example is the cause of eleven million deaths per year; do you think God believed that humans would actually be dumb enough to put such a harmful chemical into our bodies? No, there was an obvious better way to use tobacco but humans mostly use it in a negative way.
Some could look at the problem of evil and suggest that God put tobacco on earth for us to suffer. Everything on the earth has a meaning whither we use it for the good or not is up to us. For instance, I was stung by a wasp on my arm when I was a child and my mom poured tobacco on my arm and the swelling and pain went down. Some theologians suggest that the problem is not the evil itself but the fact that it exists in the first place. The problem of evil is caused by the nature of God.
From God created everything, then one could think he has total responsibility for the existence of evil as he must have created it. This provokes the question: why did God create evil or why does he allow evil to exist? God is all good and all-powerful. This suggests that God would want to remove all evil for the good of the human race and is able to do so, would it be good for the human race? If God is all good and all-powerful then there should be no evil in the world. However, there clearly is evil in the world.
This brings about the following possibilities and questions. God is not all good so is he a wicked God? If God is not all-powerful is he worthy of worship? God does not exist from the questions. But what if evil to us is good to God? When ever you think you know what God’s plan is more then likely you are terribly mistaken, anyone who has lived can attest to that. The problem of evil questions the nature of God and threatens his status as a figure worthy of worship for some people.
No human being would want to worship a God that is neither all good nor all-powerful. The problem of evil also questions God’s omniscience. If God is omniscient then he must know the harm that evil does and the suffering it will cause. The characteristics in question are the essence of the nature of God and without them he becomes more like a human than a God. If you took any of God’s characteristics away God then ceases to be a perfect being. From the two very different ideologies with many questions on both sides it is extremely hard to say that there is a God and also say there is not a God.
The problem of evil can discredit God but it says nothing about human faith. From faith is the thought that God does have a reason for everything happening is for good we may not see it now but in the after life. I am very appreciative in the fact I have the choice to go left or right. I believe if asked any philosopher if they would rather live life through a robot or have the freedom to choose the answer would come to be choice. Sin in many cases brings color to life and even though it would be great to live in a sin free world it would be terrible to go through life in black and white.