Explain the problem of evil (25 marks). Are the theodicies attempts to deal with moral and natural evil and suffering doomed, in the face of so much evil and suffering?

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The problem of evil

A) Explain the problem of evil (25 marks)

The fact that there is evil in the world is a problem for theists as they claim to worship a god who is all-knowing, all- powerful and completely good, the problem arises because surely such a being would be aware of evil and suffering in the world as they are all-knowing , would have the power to prevent it from happening as he is all-powerful and as he is supposedly completely good ,and he would not allow for such evil to ever even occur, as Christians believe him to bear all three of these divine attributes , the allowance of evil to persist on a daily basis throughout the world surely disproves the existence of God.

There are two separate types of evil that affect the world, firstly there is moral evil. Moral evil defines the bad actions of us as humans such as: rape, theft and murder, where as Natural evil makes reference to the natural processes of the world such as:

volcanoes, earthquakes and forest fires, it is said that as humans commit such atrocities as murder through moral evil