Is God Responsible for Evil?

Reality On Trial

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Is God Responsible for Evil?

A philosophical inquiry into the problem of evil and its compatibility with the traditional concept of an all-powerful, all-good God

Ken Pealock

May 18, 2025

Transcript

This podcast tackles the age-old philosophical and theological problem of evil: how can a traditional God, described as all-powerful, all-knowing, and all-good, coexist with the immense suffering and evil in the world?

Through discussions with different theologians and philosophers, we explore various perspectives on this problem. We examine arguments such as the necessity of struggle for creativity and development, the role of free will and human nature, and the concept of redemption and an afterlife as justification for suffering.

We also consider the challenging idea that God is directly responsible for evil as an unavoidable aspect of creating a universe like ours. All these discussions are based on the premise that a traditional God exists, as opposed to an impersonal creative force.

Traditional Theistic Explanations and Their Limitations:

Common attempts to absolve God of responsibility for evil, such as blaming free will, human nature, the devil, or bad luck:

Dean Zimmerman suggests that some evil (ignorance, weakness of will, pain, struggle) might be "necessary" for purposes like character building. However, he acknowledges that explaining the scale of evil, particularly egregious suffering like child torture, is "a different and much, much harder question."

The Necessity of an Afterlife:

A recurring theme is the difficulty in justifying the immense suffering and unredeemed evil in this life without postulating an afterlife.

Dean Zimmerman states, "Without an afterlife we can't even begin to make sense of bad things that seem to happen with no... no payoff, so to speak."

Jesse Couenhoven agrees, "I think you do [need an afterlife]. I think it's hard to see how you could make that all work out if you didn't have some kind of conception of an afterlife where God makes things right."

Robert Kuhn concludes that "for evil to exist alongside a real God, we need an afterlife... there's no getting around that."

The Problem of Animal Suffering and Evolution:

The suffering inherent in the natural world, particularly the "enormity of animal suffering" in the evolutionary process, presents a specific challenge for theism.

Holmes Rolston III proposes a "cruciform creation," viewing the "struggle" in evolutionary history as "creative and necessary for the genesis of life on Earth as we know it." He connects this to religious narratives of struggle. However, the host notes that "struggle and evil are not always linked."

The Concept of Redemption and "Higher Goods":

Jesse Couenhoven explores the possibility that God might consider evil "necessary somehow to the overall goodness of this creation."

He raises the question of whether "it's good to be redeemed from something," suggesting there might be "something superior about having been raised out of the muck and mire."

He argues that if "on the whole, at the end there's something sort of positive about the shape of that life," God isn't doing anything ultimately unfair, but acknowledges this requires an afterlife.

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Critique of Theodicy and the "End Justifies the Means" Problem:

John Bishop challenges the idea that even if God permits evil for a "higher good," this justifies God's actions from a moral perspective.

He questions whether "the end justifies the means" is a valid moral principle, especially for a perfectly good being. He notes that most theists are "very doubtful about utilitarian ethics."

Bishop discusses Marilyn McCord Adams' view that God "defeats" evil by bringing sufferers and perpetrators into "the joy of eternal relationship with Him."

However, Bishop and Ken Perszyk introduce a further difficulty: if God is the "ultimate cause of all the suffering from which He eventually wonderfully redeems the sufferers," it introduces a "flaw into His overall relationship with His creatures."

They argue that this suggests the traditional conception of God as a "supernatural person who is really in control of everything" might be problematic, leading to a "normatively relativized logical argument from evil" against this specific concept of God.

The Bold Claim: God Creates Evil

Keith Ward presents a controversial perspective, stating directly, "First of all, I've got to be blunt and say God does create evil as well as good."

He argues that God "couldn't create a universe like this with people, beings like us, in it without creating evil."

This is linked not just to free will but also to the "whole evolutionary process itself," which necessitates suffering, death, and extinction for the existence of beings like us.

Ward suggests that a "better world would not have us in it."

He distinguishes between what God wants (good) and what God makes possible (including the possibility of great evil).

Ward also emphasizes the necessity of an afterlife for this view to be coherent, as God "couldn't create a universe in which just evil triumphed" and must "compensate those who suffer evil by giving them endless good."

Three Possible Solutions:

Robert Kuhn summarizes the discussion into three potential solutions to the problem of evil:

Solution 1 (Atheist): The enormity of evil contradicts an all-powerful, all-good God; therefore, God cannot exist, and "evil just is."

Solution 2 (Traditional Theist): God exists and allows evil for reasons like struggle, soul-making, or God suffering with humanity. God does not cause or require evil.

Solution 3 (Ward's View): God exists and created evil, being "responsible for evil" as an inevitable part of actualizing this particular world.

Most Important Facts/Ideas:

The problem of evil is a fundamental challenge to the traditional concept of an all-powerful, all-knowing, and all-good God.
Common explanations for evil (free will, etc.) are often seen as insufficient to account for the magnitude and nature of suffering, particularly unredeemed suffering.
There is a strong consensus among some theists interviewed that an afterlife is essential to make sense of and potentially justify the existence of evil in a God-created world. Without it, the problem of evil becomes significantly harder, potentially impossible, for theism to overcome.
The suffering inherent in the natural world and the evolutionary process poses a distinct challenge, suggesting that struggle and death might be integral to creation itself.
A key ethical critique is raised against the idea of God permitting evil for a "higher good," questioning whether the "end justifies the means" from a perfectly moral perspective and arguing that God's role as the ultimate cause of suffering, even if leading to redemption, introduces a flaw in the relationship with creatures.
A radical view proposes that God is directly responsible for creating evil, not just allowing it, as evil is an inherent component necessary for the existence of beings like us in a universe like ours. This view also relies on an afterlife for ultimate justification and compensation.
The podcast concludes by presenting a stark choice between God not existing (and evil simply being) or God existing but being either flawed (Solution 2) or directly responsible for evil (Solution 3).
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