What is the 'Problem of Evil'?

The 'Problem of Evil' refers to the inconsistency between the traditional notion of the Judaeo-Christo God and the fact that suffering exists in the world. The problem has its roots in the Greek philosopher Epiucurus who questioned the existence of God in the face of suffering. It is not necessarily an argument from atheism, rather it questions the traditional Judaeo-Christo notion of God as omnibenevolent (all-loving) and omnipotent (all-powerful) in the face of suffering. The problem is often explained in terms of the 'Inconsistent Triad'. This refers to the idea of a 3 sided triangle with one side representing God as omnibenevolent, one side representing that God is omnipotent, and the other side represents the fact that suffering exists within the world. The argument from Evil suggests that these three sides cannot go together harmoniously.. For instance, if God is omnibenevolent then surely he would prevent suffering, but due to the existence of suffering God must not be Omnipotent, and therefore he must not have the power to prevent suffering. Similarly, if God is Omnipotent, he must not be loving enough to prevent suffering because he does not do so even though he has the power to do so, therefore God must not be omnibenevolent. Likewise, according to the argument, if God was both omnibenevolent and Omnipotent then it should follow that there is no suffering in the world. However, as one can clearly see, suffering does exist within the world. One of the thinkers who took up this position was David Hume who argued that “Either God is not omnipotent or God is not omnibenevolent or Evil does not exist in the world”. His conclusion was that the Judaeo-Christo version of a God who is both omnibenevolent and omnipotent cannot exist; thus, for Hume, God must either be malicious or impotent, respectively. This argument thus provides a huge obstacle to the traditional Judaeo-Christo notion of God.