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Religious responses to the problem of evil

Religious responses to the problem of evil are concerned with reconciling the existence of evil and suffering with an omnipotent, omnibenevolent, and omniscient God.[1][2] An argument that attempts to resolve the problem of evil is known as a theodicy.[3][4][5]

The problem of evil is acute in monotheistic religions such as Christianity, Islam, and Judaism whose religion is based on such a God.[6][7] However, the question of "why does evil exist?" has also been studied in religions that are non-theistic or polytheistic, such as Buddhism, Hinduism, and Jainism.[8][9] In most theological discussions, evil is defined in a broad manner as any and all pain and suffering, but religion also uses a narrow definition that says evil involves only horrific acts committed by an independent moral agent and does not include all wrongs or harm, including that from nature.[10][11]

The problem of evil is formulated as either a logical problem that highlights an incompatibility between some characteristic of God and evil or as an evidential problem that attempts to show that evidence of evil outweighs the evidence of an omnipotent, omniscient, and wholly good God.[1][2][12]

  1. ^ a b Adams, Marilyn McCord; Adams, Robert Merrihew (1990). The Problem of Evil. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-824866-8.
  2. ^ a b Peterson, Michael L., ed. (2017). The problem of evil: selected readings. Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press. ISBN 978-0-268-03847-2.
  3. ^ Leibniz, Gottfried Wilhelm (1985). Theodicy : essays on the goodness of God, the freedom of man, and the origin of evil. Internet Archive. La Salle, Ill. : Open Court. ISBN 978-0-87548-437-2.
  4. ^ Losada-Sierra, Manuel (2019). "Memory and History: The Overcoming of Traditional Theodicy in Levinas and Metz". Religions. 10 (12): 657. doi:10.3390/rel10120657. ISSN 2077-1444.
  5. ^ Welker, Michael (2019), "Theodicy, Creation, and Suffering: Drawing on God's Spirit and Love", The Spirit Is Moving: New Pathways in Pneumatology, Brill, pp. 280–292, ISBN 978-90-04-39174-1
  6. ^ Brians, Paul (2016), Problem of Evil, Washington State University
  7. ^ O'Leary, Stephen (1998). Arguing the Apocalypse. Oxford University Press. pp. 34–35. ISBN 978-0-19-535296-2., Quote: "As Max Weber notes, however, it is in monotheistic religions that this problem becomes acute."
  8. ^ Harvey, Peter (2013). An Introduction to Buddhism: Teachings, History and Practices. Cambridge University Press. pp. 37, 141. ISBN 978-0-521-85942-4.
  9. ^ Herman, A. L. (1976). The Problem of Evil and Indian Thought. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass.
  10. ^ Singer, Marcus G. (2004). "The Concept of Evil". Philosophy. 79 (2): 185–214. doi:10.1017/S0031819104000233. ISSN 1469-817X. Archived from the original on 2020-03-26. Retrieved 2025-02-28.
  11. ^ Calder, Todd (2022), The Concept of Evil, Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University
  12. ^ Howard-Snyder, Daniel (1996). The Evidential Argument from Evil. Indiana University Press. ISBN 978-0-253-21028-9.

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