Example Of Essay On The Problem Of Evil

Major theistic religions such as Islamic, Judaism and Christianity acknowledge the existence of God, and as their supreme being. The religions believe that God is the responsible for creation of the world as well as its conservation. Moreover, God knows creature’s innermost thoughts, sorrows, joys, and their desire for flourishing (Pereboom, 1). Therefore, He is a caring God about his creatures and creations. Theists acknowledge God as a “deity” a status of meaning that God is unlike humans. Theists claim that God is perfectly good, omnipotent (all-powerful), and omniscient (all-knowing) (Pereboom, 3). However, in philosophy the problem of evil is a weighty argument against God’s existence. This is an atheistic argument that draws the most attention and diverse responses from theist religions.
Concisely, atheists argue that if God is all-knowing, all-present and all-powerful he should be responsible for evil things in the world. This implies that if God exists he should be in a position of controlling and prevent all suffering. Atheists understand that suffering has become a familiar part of the world since it has not been prevented. Therefore, they conclude by saying there is no omnipresent, omnipotent and omniscient God (Pereboom, 5). On the other hand, theists understand that there are many different responses to the problem of evil. None of the responses entirely satisfactory alone, but together they do cast doubt on whether the presence of evil refutes the claim of God’s existence.
Free-will defence is the first response to the problem of evil. Much of the suffering occurs because we choose to create it. It is crystal clear that the greatest problems are those imposed by human upon a human. During creation, God created a man by his choice, and he decided that man will be an agent of free-will (Van Inwagen, 197). He had the option of creating man to be like an automata, a something without the ability to make choices of their own. But God made the right choice of creating free-will agents that are valuable than a world of automata. However, the free-will agents sometimes choose to exploit their freedom hence creating a problem of evil (Van Inwagen, 199). Though, God could have prevented evil by choosing automata instead of free agents, but is good thing that he did not.
The presence of evil is an essential condition for the presence of particular kinds of good. In free agents, there are several character traits that are valuable only if problems exist. For instance, compassion is a great virtue, but can only be present if there is suffering. Bravery, too, is a value that can only be when free agents face the vulnerable situation. Self-sacrifice is another massive virtue but can only be when there is inter-dependence. God created humans in such a way of depending on one another so that we can form a community that creates a self-sufficient and safety for the people. If God does not exist the great things that come from the societies would not be possible. The problem of evil, therefore, must be reorganized as the problem of unjustified evil (Van Inwagen, 210). We, humans we are the source of evil but not God.
Taking the argument home as well as persuading the atheist, it is incredible to prove that unfair evil exists. Therefore, it is unlawful to use the presence of unfair evil to prove argument against God’s existence. Theists know that suffering serves a purpose, but it makes it impossible to measure the mind of God (Van Inwagen, 216). But, our Lord God works all things to the perfectly wonderful.

Work cited

Pereboom, Derk. "The problem of evil." The Blackwell Guide to the (2005): 148. Web. 8 Apr.2015 http://sociology.sunimc.net/htmledit/uploadfile/system/20100512/20100512222838709.pdf
Tooley, Michael. "The Problem of Evil (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy/Summer 2008 Edition)." Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. drs, n.d. Web. 8 Apr. 2015. <http://seop.illc.uva.nl/archives/sum2008/entries/evil/>.
Van Inwagen, Peter. The problem of evil. Oxford University Press, 2008. Web. 8 Apr. 2015 http://faculty.piercecollege.edu/johnsomc/classes/Critical%20Thinking%20and%20Composition/Course%20Readings/van%20Inwagen%20-%20The%20Problem%20of%20Evil.pdf