Philosophy of religion evil

Student’s Name
Professor’s Name
Course
Date
Philosophy of religion “evil”
In the philosophy of religion, there exists a challenge of reconciling the reality of evil in the world with the existence of a good God who is perfect, all-powerful and all-knowing. The philosophy of religion explains that since there is the existence of God who is perfect and all- powerful yet evil still exists in the world, then there must be a reason why He allows it (Jackson 13). However, atheists argue that since the presence of evil cannot be reconciled with the existence of God as described in other religions, then God does not exist. The atheists believe that if God existed, the world would have attained a standard where there is no evil (Sias 116). Although religion attempts to explain why and how evil exists, there are still many questions that are yet to get satisfactory answers.
One explanation for evil was crafted in the fifth century by Augustine. He explained that God is perfect and everything he created is good and has a purpose for its existence. According to Augustine, although God’s creation is good, there is a possibility of something going wrong with what God created as inherently good, and that is how evil arises (Palshikar 59). In Augustine’s view, evil occurs as a result of the wrong use of free will. Those opposed to this explanation, however, argue that some evil is caused by natural events and creations which have no will to choose.
In conclusion, the existence of evil is a reality even though there is no single conventional explanation for it.

It causes suffering to human beings, and there is no single solution to evil. However, human beings who have the will to choose can strive to eliminate the evil that is humanly possible to eliminate. Lesser evil would make the world a better place where people can live.

Works Cited
Jackson, Roy. The God of Philosophy: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Religion. 3rd ed., Acumen Publishing, Limited, 2014.
Palshikar, Sanjay. Evil and the Philosophy of Retribution: Modern Commentaries on the Bhagavad-Gita. 2nd ed., Routledge, 2017.
Sias, James. The Meaning of Evil. Springer, 2016.