Faith and Knowledge

Doctrine of Theodicies: The Problem of Evil

Traditionally, the problem of evil is framed in a four step argument: 1) God is good. 2) A good God would not permit suffering or evil. 3) Yet suffering and evil are observed in the world. 4) Therefore a good God does not exist. (p. 224, McGrath)

Some approaches to theodicy rest on redefining the categories in which the dilemma is stated. Irenaeus of Lyons represents a major element within Greek patristic thought, which regards human nature as a potentiality, rather than a fully developed actuality.(John Hick developed this idea, he emphasized that human beings are created incomplete) But this approach seems merely to encourage acquiescence in the presence of evil in the world, without giving any moral direction or stimulus to resist and overcome it. (p. 224, McGrath)
For Augustine, creation and redemption were the work of on and the same God. God created the world good, meaning that it was free from the contamination of evil. Evil is a direct consequence of the misuse of human freedom. God created humanity with the freedom to choose god or evil. He located the origin of evil in satanic temptation. And the satan is a fallen angel, who was originally created good.
Karl Barth rejected a priori notions of omnipotence in favor of a belief in the triumph of God’s grace over unbelief, evil, and suffering. He describes evil as das Nichtige – a mysterious power of ”nothingness”, it is that which contradicts the will of God.
Alvin Plantinga, summarized that – free will is morally important. And if human beings were forced to do nothing but good, that would represent a denial of human free will. God must bring into being the best possible world that he is able to do. God must create a world with free will. It must therefore follow that God must create a world with free will. God is not responsible if human beings choose to do evil, since god is operating under self-imposed constraints that mean God will not compel human beings to do good. (p. 226, McGrath)