Discuss the statement 'the classical form of the problem of evil is a problem.'

One way in which the classical form of the problem of evil could be seen as a problem is because surely an omnibenevolent and omnipotent God would not allow for His creation to experience evil and suffering. Augustinian theodicy states that we created evil ourselves and since we were all "seminally present in Adam", we all deserve to be punished. However, an omnibenevolent God would not want to punish individuals for sins which they themselves did not commit, and since it is not biologically possible to be 'seminally present' nor for guilt to be inherited, God is not just in allowing evil to stay. Therefore the classical problem of evil is a problem for religious believers as God cannot be omnibenevolent and omnipotent whilst allowing evil to exist, as if He is omnibenevolent He would want to get rid of evil, and if He is omnipotent He would be able to.However, some would argue that the classical form of the problem of evil is not a problem because evil is a necessary part of the worlds existence. Both Augustine and Aquinas believe that evil is a necessary part of the world as the world is a contingent thing, and so therefore has the capability to be less than perfect, meaning that evil was inevitable. Aquinas said "contingent meaning temporal and dependent", so the universe and humanity are contingent, and are therefore unable to pick what is good and right all of the time, making evil inevitable. However, it could be argued that this means God is to blame for evil, as He designed us and the universe, and whether or not He intended for evil to exist does not matter, as He could have removed it. He also could have made humans in a way that we would not choose evil.