Problem of evil

The problem of evil is the challenge of reconciling evil and suffering with a God who is all-powerful, all-knowing, and perfectly good.

Logical problem of evil: An argument that the existence of evil is logically incompatible with an omnipotent, omniscient, and perfectly good God. It states the strict incompatibility challenge at the heart of the problem.
Omnipotence: The attribute of having unlimited power, or power to do anything logically possible. The problem asks why a powerful God does not prevent evil.
Epicurus: An ancient Greek philosopher whose surviving writings question how divine power and goodness relate to evil. A famous dilemma associated with him frames the tension in the problem.
Atheism: The absence of belief in the existence of any god. Some arguments treat evil as evidence against theism, though not as a deductive disproof.
Religious skepticism: Doubt about the truth or justification of religious beliefs. The apparent scale of suffering can weaken confidence in a good creator.
Evidential problem of evil: An argument that the amount or kinds of evil make an all-good, all-powerful God unlikely, rather than logically impossible. It shifts the challenge from contradiction to the apparent improbability of God.
Omniscience: The attribute of knowing everything that can be known. The argument assumes God knows about every instance of suffering.
Augustine of Hippo: A Christian theologian who explained evil as a privation of good and linked moral evil to free will. His account shaped influential Christian responses to evil.
Theological noncognitivism: The view that religious claims lack sufficiently clear meaning to be assessed as true or false. It questions whether claims about God's attributes can form a coherent problem.
Pastoral care: Practical and emotional support offered within religious communities, especially during hardship. Abstract explanations of evil can affect how religious communities respond to sufferers.

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