Problem of evil facts for kids

The problem of evil is a big question that people have thought about for a long time. It asks: If there is a God who is all-loving, all-knowing, and all-powerful, then why does evil exist in the world?

Many religions believe in a God who has these amazing qualities. So, the puzzle is how such a good and powerful God could let bad things happen. People have come up with different ideas to answer this. Some say that evil has to exist for humans to have free will. Others believe that humans simply cannot understand God's reasons. Some think evil is just the absence of God, like darkness is the absence of light. Another idea is that evil exists because the world is somehow broken or "fallen."

The Logical Problem of Evil

One way to think about the problem of evil is through logic. An ancient thinker named Epicurus is often linked to this idea. It goes like this:

• If a perfectly good God exists, then evil should not exist.
• But, we can see that evil does exist in the world.
• Therefore, a perfectly good God might not exist.

Another way to look at this logical puzzle is with more steps:

• God exists.
• God is all-powerful (can do anything), all-knowing (knows everything), and perfectly good (only wants good).
• A perfectly good being would want to stop all evil.
• An all-knowing being would know every way evil could happen.
• An all-powerful being, who knows how evil can happen, can stop it.
• So, a being who knows, can prevent, and wants to prevent evil, would prevent it.
• If there is an all-powerful, all-knowing, and perfectly good being, then no evil should exist.
• But, evil does exist. This creates a contradiction in the logic.

These types of arguments are about the logical problem of evil. They try to show that if you accept certain ideas about God and evil, they seem to clash.

How People Respond to the Logical Problem

A common answer to these logical arguments is that God might allow evil to happen to achieve something even better. For example, some thinkers suggest that God allows evil to exist so that humans can have free will. If we didn't have the choice to do bad things, we wouldn't truly be free to choose good.

Philosophers often agree that ideas like "God allows evil for the greater good of free will" are logically possible. This means they can exist together without a direct contradiction. Even if it seems unlikely, just showing that it's possible for God and evil to exist together is enough to solve the logical problem of evil.

Some people also look at this problem using empiricism. This is the idea that knowledge comes from what we can observe and experience. For some, if you can't test or prove God's existence through observation, then the idea of "God exists" isn't something you can call true or false. It's just a statement that can't be checked.

Related Ideas

• Philosophy of religion: This is a field of study that looks at big questions about religion, including the nature of God and evil.

Images for kids

• 

  The earliest statement of the problem of evil is attributed to Epicurus, but this is uncertain.

• 

  Gottfried Leibniz, a philosopher who also thought about the problem of evil.

See also

In Spanish: Problema del mal para niños