[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-detail-117694-en":3,"doc-seo-117694-105":30,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":83},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",{"doc_id":7,"user_id":8,"nickname":9,"user_avatar":10,"doc_module":4,"category_id":11,"category_name":12,"doc_title":13,"doc_description":14,"doc_content":15,"file_id":16,"file_url":17,"file_type":18,"file_size":19,"view_count":4,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":20,"is_downloadable":20,"audit_status":20,"page_count":21,"language":22,"language_code":23,"site_id":24,"html_lang":23,"table_of_contents":25,"faqs":26,"seo_title":27,"seo_description":14,"update_tm":28,"read_time":29},117694,1099514068365,"Aurelia","https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/avatar/10000253d8d9f28188e?_k=1776742907772140068",9,"Religion & Spirituality","Natural Theology and the Problem of Evil - Problem of Evil","Natural theology and the problem of evil addresses the central tension between classical theism and the reality of evil in the world. It explains how the logical problem of evil argues that an omnipotent, omniscient, and perfectly good God cannot coexist with evil, then contrasts this with the evidential problem that treats evil as inductive evidence favoring non-theism. The discussion critiques the assumption that divine goodness entails moral obligations in a way analogous to human duty, arguing that such an inference involves a category mistake that weakens the evidential force of gratuitous evil.","Natural Feology and the Problem of Evil  \nSTEVEN R. LEWIS  \nNATURAL THEOLOGY AND THE PROBLEM OF EVIL  \nCopyright © Ù×ÙÝ Steven R. Lewis. All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in critical publications or reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without prior written permission from the publisher. Write: Permissions, Wipf and Stock Publishers, Øàà W. ßth Ave., Suite Ú, Eugene, OR àÞÛ×Ø .  \nWipf & Stock  \nAn Imprint ofWipfand Stock Publishers Øàà W. ßth Ave., Suite Ú  \nEugene, OR àÞÛ×Ø  \n[www.wipfandstock.com](www.wipfandstock.com)  \n®􀂟®£° 􀂟¡© §± ¬: àÞà-ß-ÚßÜÙ-ÝÙßÙ-Ú¦􀂟°¢¡ ´£° §± ¬: àÞà-ß-ÚßÜÙ-ÝÙßÚ-×£ © §± ¬: àÞà-ß-ÚßÜÙ-ÝÙßÛ-Þ  \n´£°±§ ¬ ¬³« £° ×à/×à/ÙØ  \nTable of Contents  \nTitle Page  \nIntroduction  \n1. The Problem of Evil  \n2. The Existence and Nature of God  \n3. God’s Omniscience  \n4. God’s Omnipotence  \n5. God’s Perfect Goodness  \n6. The Nature of Evil  \n7. God and Gratuitous Evil  \n8. The Problem That Persists  \n9. The End of Evil  \n10. Conclusion  \nBibliography  \nTo Rachel, my wife.  \nIntroduction  \nA« ¬¥ ®¦§ª ± ®¦§¡􀂟ª 􀂟°¥³«£¬²± ® ±£¢ against the existence of God, the problem of evil is perhaps the most prominent. In its logical form, the argument poses a set of facts (given theism) that appear to contain a contradiction—speci􀂍cally that the God of classical theism (if he exists) is necessarily omnipotent, omniscient, and perfectly good—and yet evil exists. Put simply, the problem of evil means to show that God (given the sort of divine nature and attributes he is said to possess) cannot exist in a universe that contains evil. Such an argument is not new to theistic philosophy.  \n􀁿omas Aquinas, for example, describes a similar argument, writing from the thirteenth century, “It seems that God does not exist; because if one of two contraries be in􀂍nite, the other would be altogether destroyed. But the word ‘God’ means that he is in􀂍nite goodness. If, therefore, God existed, there would be no evil discoverable; but there is evil in the world. 􀁿erefore God does not exist”1 Such an argument holds that God’s in􀂍nite goodness simply precludes the possibility of evil in the world.  \n􀁿eists have o􀂄ered a range of responses to the logical problem of evil—including a slate of what are known as theodicies and defenses—in order to demonstrate how God could in fact exist in a world 􀂍lled with evil. As such, the argument from evil has evolved to acknowledge and incorporate these theistic criticisms into a new approach known as the evidential problem of evil. 􀁿e evidential argument rejects a position of strong logical certainty in favor of a more inductive approach that takes the evil in the world as evidence that appears to favor non-theism over theism—thus, God’s existence is said to be unlikely, given the sheer quantity and severity of evil found in the world. Of particular interest to this approach is what is o􀂑en referred to as gratuitous evil—evil with no apparent greater good associated with it that may justify its existence in a theistic universe. 􀁿ough theists have critiqued the evidential form of the problem of evil in various ways, some philosophers of religion have argued that “the evidential argument from gratuitous evil is now widely considered the most formidable objection to theistic belief”2  \nHowever, despite the prevalence of the evidential argument in the recent philosophical literature, it seems to me that the argument contains an illicit category mistake that undermines its potency as an argument against the existence of God. Put simply, the evidential problem of evil holds that God’s existence is unlikely given the evidence of evil in the universe, and this is argued on the basis that God—given his in􀂍nite power and perfect goodness—should and would always prevent evil from occurring whenever it would be possible for him to do so. 􀁿e critical factor here for evidential arguments is speci􀂍cally the nature of God’s goodness and what this goodness necessarily entails in terms of divine act","cbCaigFbLySyVNOx","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaigFbLySyVNOx","pdf",2703218,1,300,"English","en",105,"# Introduction\n## The Problem of Evil\n## The Existence and Nature of God\n## God’s Omniscience\n## God’s Omnipotence\n## God’s Perfect Goodness\n## The Nature of Evil\n## God and Gratuitous Evil\n## The Problem That Persists\n## The End of Evil\n## Conclusion\n# Bibliography","[{\"question\":\"What is the book’s main critique of the evidential argument?\",\"answer\":\"It argues that the evidential approach depends on an illicit category mistake: treating divine goodness as entailing moral obligations analogous to duties of created moral agents. Natural theology, the author argues, does not support that move.\"}]","Natural Theology and the Problem of Evil - Problem of Evil | PDF",1785678396,756,{"code":4,"msg":31,"data":32},"ok",{"site_id":24,"language":23,"slug":33,"title":13,"keywords":34,"description":14,"schema_data":35,"social_meta":78,"head_meta":80,"extra_data":82,"updated_unix":28},"natural-theology-and-the-problem-of-evil-problem-of-evil","",{"@graph":36,"@context":77},[37,54,68],{"@type":38,"itemListElement":39},"BreadcrumbList",[40,44,48,51],{"item":41,"name":42,"@type":43,"position":20},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":45,"name":46,"@type":43,"position":47},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":49,"name":12,"@type":43,"position":50},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/religion-spirituality/",3,{"item":52,"name":13,"@type":43,"position":53},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/natural-theology-and-the-problem-of-evil-problem-of-evil/117694/",4,{"url":52,"name":13,"@type":55,"author":56,"headline":13,"publisher":58,"fileFormat":61,"inLanguage":23,"description":14,"dateModified":62,"datePublished":62,"encodingFormat":61,"isAccessibleForFree":63,"interactionStatistic":64},"DigitalDocument",{"name":9,"@type":57},"Person",{"url":41,"name":59,"@type":60},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-08-02",true,{"@type":65,"interactionType":66,"userInteractionCount":4},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":67},"ViewAction",{"@type":69,"mainEntity":70},"FAQPage",[71],{"name":72,"@type":73,"acceptedAnswer":74},"What is the book’s main critique of the evidential argument?","Question",{"text":75,"@type":76},"It argues that the evidential approach depends on an illicit category mistake: treating divine goodness as entailing moral obligations analogous to duties of created moral agents. 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