The Problem of Evil: If God Exists, Why Is There Suffering?

If God is good, why is there so much suffering? Most of us have probably sought explanations for suffering in light of our faith in God, or else evil may have contributed to our doubts about God’s existence. If you have spent any extended amount of time thinking about these questions, you are exploring the problem of evil, a term that refers to analyzing challenges that the existence of evil causes for various religions. What is the problem of evil? Technically, we would do well to speak of multiple problems of evil. Each religion may face unique challenges (is karmic suffering really just, as Hinduism suggests? Is evil an illusion, as some Buddhists claim?), but this article will consider the problem of evil in Christianity in three forms. The logical problem of evil is a philosophical attempt to argue that a theistic God cannot exist if evil exists. The evidential problem of evil argues that a specific kind or example of evil makes God’s existence improbable. The existential problem of evil names the experiences that a sufferer wrestles with which might undermine faith in God. This article will briefly consider how Christians respond to these problems and will evaluate responses ...