Evil poses a problem for classical theism on logical as well as evidential grounds. Classical theism states that God is omnipotent, omnibenevolent, as well as omniscient. However, if evil exists, can these attributes to God remain true? The coexistence of God and evil is a question that many philosophers have speculated and attempted to explain either through logic or evidence. Ancient Greek Philosopher, Epicurus, delineated the logical problem of evil in a clearly structured form in the third century BC. Epicurus’ breakdown of the logical problem of evil, which was sustained for almost two and a half millennia, suggests that there is no God who can be all powerful as well as all good . The basis of this argument proposed that, “the existence …show more content…
John Hick, a 20th century philosopher of religion, proposed a “Soul-Making Theodicy”, which examines why God would want a world in which free will is as good as the evil it generates. Hick questions the quality of the environment in which God crafts His children to become moral beings with varying free will . The existence of evil cultivates a moral soul that mirrors the image of God himself, argues Hick. The experiences of suffering and love creates a being that leans “…. towards that quality of personal existence that is the finite likeness of God” . Hick advances that that a soul must be rounded by sinful experiences and suffering, which manifests a growing-up process. Additionally, Hick views God through a parental lens, which promotes God as, “a parent who loves his children, and wants them to become the best human beings that they are capable of becoming, does not treat pleasure as the sole and supreme value” . To be the best human being and manifest a well-rounded soul, one must endure a love and suffering, thus becoming a child of God and in the likeness of God. Hick’s idea that a well-rounded soul encounters good and evil presents a model in which evil compliments …show more content…
Hick argues for God’s limitless goodness, but simultaneously he attempts to defend evil’s manifestations as components to crafting a soul. However, not all evil is moral evil. While Hick’s argument that God implants evil into the world for evolutionary moral purposes is plausible, Hick neglects other forms of evil that are present on Earth, such as natural evil. Natural evil poses great threats to human existence; it is critical to ask why would God advocate for natural evil if it has potential to legitimately hinder one’s soul or physical being. The fact that Hick overlooks natural evil leads into another flaw of Hick’s “Soul-Making Theodicy”; Hick’s belief that moral evil educates and develops our souls seems to derive solely from a paternal