Description
The Problem of Evil
Thomas Aquinas wrote his great Summa Theologica that he could find only two objections to the existence of God. One of the two objections is the apparent ability of natural science to explain everything in our experience without God, and the other is the Problem of Evil. It is the underlying question for the biblical Book of Job: why does God allow bad things happen to good people? That question, more than any other, has caused religious people to abandon their faith.
In a well-developed, argumentative essay, address the following issues:
- In your own words, explain the “Problem of Evil.” In other words, regardless of what you personally believe, if there is a God who is all-powerful, all-knowing, and concerned with justice and the well-being of humanity, explain how there can be so much evil and suffering in the world.
- Next, pursue as far as you can the responses and objections to one of the various attempts in the textbook to resolve the problem of evil. Explain in what ways it resolves the problem of evil AND in what ways it does not. (If you can’t figure out how to start, a good way of doing this is to have a friend act as devil’s advocate and try to refute your efforts to defend a solution to the problem.)
Note: Be careful not to commit a formal fallacy like the one in this example. This argument has an undistributed middle term.
E→F The origin of evil is free will.
G→F God created free will.
___________________________________
∴G→E Therefore, God is the origin of evil.
Please ensure that your essay addresses each component of the assigned questions and that your answer is well-organized, uses excellent, college-level prose, and makes judicious use of textual evidence. Your essay must follow APA formatting and should be 500-750 words long.
If you quote, paraphrase, or summarize from the textbook or any other source, you must include in-text citations and a References page.
Grading Criteria Assignments
Maximum Points
Meets or exceeds established assignment criteria
40
Demonstrates an understanding of lesson concepts
20
Clearly presents well-reasoned ideas and concepts
30
Mechanics, punctuation, sentence structure, spelling, APA formatting.
10
Total
100

Explanation & Answer

Attached.
Running head: THE PROBLEM OF EVIL
Why Does God Allow Bad Things to Happen to Good People
Student’s Name
Professor’s Name
Course
Date
2
THE PROBLEM OF EVIL
Why Does God Allow Bad Things to Happen to Good People
The reality of the world is that, good things and bad things happen at the same measure
between both the good people and the bad people. According to the bible and Christianity, God
is all knowing, omnipresent and is concerned with the well being of all people and justice in the
world. However, the good people continue to experience bad things. Throughout the history,
many people have endeavored to understand the problem of evil. This paper explicates the
problem of evil and much suffering among the people of God despite God being a God of
Justice.
Outline
I.
II.
The problem of evil
God’s glory
III.
Equality among all
IV.
Inadequate power of evil
V.
Abunda...
