Problem Of Evil

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 Ð'- 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 11th, 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