If God Exists, Why Is There Evil? (Apologetics for Teens Part 5)

The problem of evil is something we probably all struggle with at one time in our lives. If there really is a good God out there, then why is there so much pain and suffering in this world? There are two ways to look at the problem of evil: the logical version and the probability version. The logical version argues that if evil exists, then an all-powerful and all-good God can’t exist. In response, the free-will defense says that God allows human beings to have free will, which means we are free to choose evil. But since all this evil exists anyway, isn’t it the case that God probably doesn’t exist? This is called the probability version of the problem of evil. Christians have offered various explanations, called “theodicies,” of why God would allow evil. Examples of these include the Greater Good Theodicy or Adam’s own Divine Love Theodicy, which says that God allowed evil because he wanted to create beings who could love like He does, but love requires free will or else it’s not truly love.

The video about Alvin Plantinga that Adam mentioned around 17:40: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZsHRb13-Yc

The video about the Logical Problem of Evil that Adam mentioned around 26:05: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k64YJYBUFLM

The video about the Probability Problem of Evil that Adam mentioned around 52:48: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxj8ag8Ntd4

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0:00 We Need to Wrestle With Hard Issues
6:10 Right and Wrong Times to Talk About the Problem of Evil
7:48 Two Versions of the Problem of Evil
13:10 The Logical Problem of Evil
17:55 The Free Will Defense
26:16 The Probability Problem of Evil
31:13 Responses to the Probability Version: Theodicies
40:42 Other Explanations Besides the Greater Good Theodicy
44:47 Divine Love Theodicy