1. The 'Problem of Evil' arises out of the apparent incompatibility of these statements: 1. God is omnipotent (all-powerful). 2. God is totally good. 3. Evil exists (or there exists widespread and intense evil, such as the suffering of innocent people). It may also be necessary to add: 4. God is omniscient (all-knowing).

2. Two responses to the Problem of Evil: 1. The Free Will Defence. Human free will, which is supremely valuable, could not exist without at least the possibility of evil. 2. The 'Soul-making' Defence. The existence of evil is necessary for creating the kind of challenges needed for spiritual growth.

3. Objections to free will defence: 1. It does not account for 'natural' evil. 2. 'Compatibilist' free will would permit God to guarantee that good choices are made every time. 3. Free will could be exercised in a 'play pen'. 4. God knew all the evil that would be produced.

4. Objections to soul-making defence: 1. It does not account for the pain of animals. 2. It does not account for the pain of infants who do not live long enough for soul-making. 3. It does not account for painful deaths. 4. It seems to give soul-making disproportionate value.

5. “I will call no being good who is not what I mean when I apply that epithet to my fellow-creatures; and if such a being can sentence me to hell for not so calling him, to hell I will go.” John Stuart Mill