Thread by @MidbellSoul

The “Problem” of Evil: if God is All-Good and All-Powerful, how could evil exist?

[Thread]

This is an atheist’s favorite. They conclude that since evil exists, God is not both Good and Powerful, as suffering should not exist. Since it does, there is no God. This argument
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is weak for many reasons.

Before going into the directly false assumptions it makes, I want to mention the 2 claimed sources for evil: evil caused by people and evil not caused by people (natural occurrences; God). It is argued neither should exist, so I’ll address both
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For the first part, why does God allow people to produce evil? Before getting into it, it’s important to realize that evil AND good are defined on each other. The lack of evil is the possession of good, and vice versa. One cannot be all good and all evil at the same time
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This is important because if we follow the logic, it concludes that if God disallows evil, He also disallows good.

Think of it like this: if everyone by default always did the right thing, are they actually morally good? No, because the potential to do evil didn’t exist in the
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first place. It’s like giving a test but highlighting the correct answer for each question. In this way, it isn’t truly a test, and a student who passes doesn’t necessarily have the knowledge.

In order to do actual good, there must be the potential to do evil
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With this in mind, the atheist’s *actual* question is: “Why does God allow for the dichotomy of good and evil to exist?” And from natural occurrences (God’s will), “why does suffering exist?”

In this new light, we can easily address the false premises in their argument
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The first false premise is that they assume God is *only* All-Good and All-Powerful. If this were the case, their logic is sound. However, God has other attributes they ignore—such as being All-Wise—which allow for exceptions.

For example, a 7 year old has been put in time-out
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and now hates his parents. He doesn’t understand that it’s to teach him good behavior, so he assumes evil of his parents, as he doesn’t possess the wisdoms they have.

Similarly, there is a divine wisdom as to why God allows good, evil, and suffering, and He also informs us why
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In the first situation (evil from people), God allows people to produce evil because it allows free will, which avoids injustice. As mentioned before, if all people were compelled to do only good, the good that they do is default, and not truly of their will. This means all
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people should be admitted to paradise, but not for any reason. God will know, had X and Y been given free will, X may have done good, and Y may have done evil. To have them both considered equal is unjust. Moreover, God—being All-Good—does not reward evil or compel actions
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This is one of the wisdoms, God allows free will so He can justly admit the inhabitants of paradise—people who truly do good.

Importantly, God allows free will, but He doesnt partake in the evil that individual’s cause. If a dictator murders people, this is not God being
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unjust. It’s the dictator being so. And God will bring justice between the people:

“And be conscious of the Day on which you shall be brought back unto God, whereupon every human being shall be repaid in full for what he has earned, and none shall be wronged.” [2:281]
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In summary, God allows us evil because it allows us free will, and the evil that we produce will be dealt with justly. There is no paradox in this, and it is supremely just.

As for the second part, why does God allow suffering at all? It stems from the same divine wisdom that
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was mentioned before. The atheist’s mistake here is they assume suffering is only evil and serves no wiser purpose.

This brings us to the 2nd assumption in the argument: that God doesn’t have a greater reason or wisdom to allow suffering. This is false
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In fact, it allows for a greater good, known as second-order good.

First-order good is simple pleasure, bodily happiness, etc. First-order evil is physical pain, sadness, stress, etc.

Second-order good, however, is the result of first-order evil. For example, benevolence,
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mercy, courage, generosity, etc. These forms of good come from suffering; you need the first-order evil of fear to be courageous, poverty to be patient/generous, suffering to be merciful, and so on. God allows suffering to allow us to alleviate it, for our and other’s growth
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A person who is grateful while also suffering from a life-long disease/disability is held in higher regard than a person who is grateful but has no difficulty. And a person born into struggle, but overcomes it, will learn second-order goods such as strength and patience
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Without suffering, there is no real test to be made, and this worldly life would be pointless. In addition to second-order good, suffering allows us to grow, rely on God, understand our purpose, detach from the world, and so on. Imagine reading an adventure book where the
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protagonist had no struggle to overcome nor any greater purpose. It wouldnt even be written. Thus the 2nd assumption in the argument is false. God has a greater reason to allow suffering

All in all, the atheist’s argument has stated an All-Good and All-Powerful God cant exist
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This is true, but God is not only those 2 qualities. They’ve disproved an isolated, unattributed version of God which is not found in scripture nor in theist philosophy.

It’s the same as taking the true equation below, cropping out the “-1,” and then claiming the original
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equation is untrue. Thus the argument isn’t only weak, it’s completely false.

There is more to delve into on the topic, but this should serve as a good summary as to why the “problem” of evil isn’t really a problem at all.
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JzkAllah Khair