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The problem of evil refers to the challenge of reconciling the existence of evil and suffering with our view of the world, especially but not exclusively, with belief in an omnipotent, omnibenevolent, and omniscient God who acts in the world. [3] [36] [39] [40] [41] The problem of evil may be described either experientially or theoretically. [3]
The alleged contradictions of the problem of evil depend upon the meaning assigned to the terms involved, therefore "the most common way to resolve the problem of evil is by qualifying, redefining or supplementing one or more of the major terms." [44] Plantinga offers a free will defense instead of a theodicy. [41]
Theodicy is defined as a theological construct that attempts to vindicate God in response to the problem of evil that appears inconsistent with the existence of an omnipotent and omnibenevolent God. [4] Another definition of theodicy is the vindication of divine goodness and providence in view of the existence of evil.
Epicurus was not an atheist, although he rejected the idea of a god concerned with human affairs; followers of Epicureanism denied the idea that there was no god. While the conception of a supreme, happy and blessed god was the most popular during his time, Epicurus rejected such a notion, as he considered it too heavy a burden for a god to have to worry about all the problems in the world.
The last 50 years has seen an increase in academic philosophical arguments critical of the positions of atheism arguing that they are philosophically unsound. [13] Some of the more common of these arguments are the presumption of atheism, [14] the logical argument from evil, [15] the evidential argument from evil, [16] [17] [18] the argument from nonbelief [19] and absence of evidence arguments.
The problem of evil is the argument that the existence of evil is incompatible with the concept of an omnipotent and perfectly good God. A variation does not depend on the existence of evil. A truly omnipotent God could create all possible worlds. A "good" God can create only "good" worlds.
The problem of Hell is an ethical problem in the Abrahamic religions of Christianity and Islam, in which the existence of Hell or Jahannam for the punishment of souls in the afterlife is regarded as inconsistent with the notion of a just, moral, and omnipotent, omnibenevolent, omniscient supreme being.
Plantinga's argument is a defense against the logical problem of evil as formulated by the philosopher J. L. Mackie beginning in 1955. [2] [3] Mackie's formulation of the logical problem of evil argued that three attributes ascribed to God (omniscience, omnipotence, and omnibenevolence) are logically incompatible with the existence of evil.