1. Looking for Answers to the Problem of Moral Evil

Epicurus' old questions are yet unanswered. Is he [God] willing to prevent evil, but not able? then is he impotent. Is he able, but not willing? then is he malevolent. Is he both able and willing? whence then this evil? ——David Hume, Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion [p 44] [p 45] The extent of the problem To grasp the extent of moral evil we need go back no further than the last century and think of the millions massacred in the two world wars; of the hundreds of thousands starved, tortured, gassed and eliminated in the concentration camps and gulags; of the killing fields of Cambodia; of American use of Agent Orange in Vietnam; of the genocide in Rwanda and Yugoslavia; and of religiously motivated riots, bloodshed and persecutions in various parts of the world. It is, then, this problem of moral evil that we must discuss in this present chapter. It raises two fundamental questions: Question 1. If there is a God in heaven who is all-powerful, all-wise and all-loving, and is supposed to care for justice, why does he allow such evil to continue? Why does he not intervene and suppress those who perpetrate these crimes and put an end to their monstrous behaviour? Indeed, why did h...