John Stuart Mill Problem Of Evil

The text centers around the “problem of evil” and attempts to address the problem by explaining “specific evils and the amount of evil” (311). Several theories centered around this problem are described, such as the privation theory of evil, the therapy theory of evil, and the free-will defense. In the text it is explicitly stated that theists, and believers in God will not deny God’s omnipotence or omnibenevolence (311). Still, some solutions to the problem include the claims that God’s power may actually be limited and His plan for the world cannot be understood, that evil actually promotes goodness and is produced in nature, and most importantly, that “a perfect world is a logical impossibility” (314). The main purpose of these solutions …show more content…
After each section of the discussion, the author provides a short, paraphrased version of the subject of that section, emphasizing the main idea of each section. The headings are entitled “The Simplest Statement on the Problem of Evil,” “Some Solutions,” “Evil as a Privation of Goodness,” “The Free-Will Defense,” and “What Even God Cannot Do.” The section entitled “Some Solutions” includes an excerpt from Three Essays on Religion by John Stuart Mill, which asserts that even if God is the creator of the universe, His power may actually be limited (311). This section confronts the issue of any contradictions in the problem of evil. Although an omnibenevolent God and the existence of evil seems contradictory, the concept of there being an omnibenevolent God does not actually exclude evil in the world. (312). A passage from the book of Job in the Holy Bible is provided to demonstrate that God’s plan for this world cannot be easily understood; therefore, if God is allowing evil to exist, we will never know what His purpose for this truly is (312). The text explores “impossibilities” such as having a world without evil, and God creating perfect beings (314). Tennant’s conclusion that deplorable events are inevitable and produced by nature is noted. The privation theory of evil, greatly influenced by St. Augustine, makes the distinction of moral evil and natural evil. Moral evil, defined as sin, is derived from the absence of goodness, and natural evil refers to natural disasters that serve as a punishment for sins, such as famines, diseases, and plagues (315). This theory concludes that God is responsible for goodness and not evil (316). The free-will defense theory considers if free-will is actually predetermined, and questions why God gave humans free will if it could be misused, and whether or not God could have made humans free with the inability to sin