1. Defenses of God (“Theodicies”): How Can an All-Good, All-Powerful God Exist and There Still Be Evil in the World? 1.Pain is useful as a warning of injury Objection: most pain does not warn and is useless 2.Evil is needed to help us appreciate the good Objection: so evil is ultimately good? And why so much evil? Why can’t God just give us such knowledge?

2. Problem of Evil (continued) 3.Evil is defined from our perspective Objection: this makes evil (& good) unreal 4.Evil is punishment for our wrong-doing Objection: evil is not tied to moral desert 5.Evil results from misuse of our free will Objections: (a) why couldn’t God create us to choose freely to do good always—like him or the blessed in heaven? (b) What about natural evil? Al Plantinga

3. Problem of Evil (continued) 6.Experience of evil is part of the process by which we develop into moral beings Objections: the horrific suffering necessary for such moral development is inconsistent with the existence of a loving God. What does a dying infant learn through suffering? And how does moral development justify the suffering of animals?

4. Evil is real, so is God: that situation is unintelligible and its acceptance relies on faith alone Suffering (especially in children and animals) is never made up and is unforgivable. It has no purpose or rationale: that is why faith is not rational and does not make sense The Existence of God and Evil Are Irreconcilable (Fyodor Dostoevsky) (1821-81)