Section D of our course deals with the "problem of evil" argument -- which says that the existence of evil shows that there can't be an all-good and all-powerful God.A Classic FormulationWe'll begin with a short introduction to the problem of evil from our main textbook (from pages 249-50 of Philosophy of Religion: Selected Readings (second edition), edited by Peterson, Hasker, Reichenbach, and Basinger).
These computerized exercise materials are copyrighted (c) 2002 by Harry J. Gensler; but they may be distributed freely.
One popular formulation of the "problem of evil" argument goes as follows:If God doesn't want to prevent evil, then he isn't all-good.
Believers generally dispute the first premise. They claim that God, even though he is all-good, has reasons for not wanting to prevent evil.
If God isn't able to prevent evil, then he isn't all-powerful.
Either God doesn't want to prevent evil, or he isn't able.
Therefore, either God isn't all-powerful, or he isn't all-good.