Explain What Is Meant by the Problem of Evil and Examine Any Two Solutions to the Problem.

In theism, God is perceived as the creator and sustainer of the universe and everything in it. Christians believe that God is omnipotent (all powerful), omniscient (all seeing and all knowing) and omnibenevolent (all loving). It is questioned if these three attributes of God are actually true by scholars among the ages. The existence of evil is one of the main reasons a large part of the world is atheist and doesn't believe in the existence of a higher power, such as a deity. There are two types of evil, natural and moral. Natural evil is caused by events that are out of humanity's control, such as earthquakes, famine, floods, droughts etc. This type of evil occurs when the world malfunctions and events occur that appear out of our control. Hick claimed that “Natural evil is the evil that originates independently of human actions through disease, storms, droughts, floods...”. Moral evil refers to suffering caused by human morality, mostly the choice of free will, examples of this are murder, rape, theft etc. If such evil exists why is it that God allows it to continue? J.L. Mackie argues that if God created the world from nothing, then he is responsible for it and everything that takes place inside of it. Following this theory, he can do anything that is logically possible, this means that God can get rid of all evil. If God cannot get rid of all evil that inhabits the world then he is not omnipotent, if God does not want to get rid of all evil then he is not omnibenevolent. If God is truly omniscient, then he knows how to stop evil and suffering, yet he does not do it? Evil and suffering however exist so therefore God is either not omnipotent or omnibenevolent. These contradictions support many atheist arguments as to the questioning of the existence of God. If a God exists that allows suffering to take place, then is he really worthy of worship? This is known as the inconsistent triad that was created by scholar J.L. Mackie. David Hume supported this as he...