Articles - God

The problem of evil in the philosophy of religion can be stated briefly: “[T]here are undesirable states of affairs that provide the basis for an argument that makes it unreasonable for anyone to believe in the existence of God.”[i] The problem of evil is significant because it is, as Thomas B. Warren has noted, “the basic tool of the atheist” in arguing that the biblical doctrine of God involves a logical contradiction.[ii] (For the purposes of this article, “God” refers to the Judeo-Christian God.) “Theodicy” refers to “a defense of the justice or goodness of God in the face of doubts or objections arising from the phenomena of evil in the world.”[iii] Thus, a theodicy is an apologetical attempt to resolve the problem of evil.