The Problem of Evil, and Free Will as the Primary Source
             Some people view the problem of evil as the most serious challenge to the Christian tradition. "How can God exist when there is evil in the world?" This question arises due to the nature of God. God is understood to be benevolent, omniscient, and omnipotent. If God is all-knowing, all powerful and all good he would know that some evil would occur, he would have the power to prevent it and the desire to do so as well. Consequently, there should be no evil. When one observes society, numerous examples of moral evil abound. How can God allow this?
             Even more pressing is the question of: "Why doesn't God intervene to stop all the evil and injustice?" Because God does not appear to be doing anything about the problem of evil, many people have simply ceased to believe He exists, while others feel He cannot have all three characteristics previously ascribed to Him. There are other kinds of evils as well, such as earthquake, fire, and flood. For the purposes of this paper, however, I will focus on moral evils, the evil which one person does to another. Despite these arguments, there is a God who created the world, who is loving, all-powerful, and who knows what He is doing, but the reason that moral evil is in the world is because God, by giving man freedom of choice, allows it.
             Theists often state that moral evil is due to free will. If it is man's free will that accounts for moral evil then God cannot be blamed for it. If the possibility of choosing evil is a logical consequence of free will, then the occurrence of some such evils is virtually a logical necessity. Philosophers have many opposing arguments with which to counter this assumption. If it is not a logical impossibility for man to choose good on one or even several occasions, then there is no logical impossibility in man's freely choosing the good on every occasion. If there was open to a benevolent God the possibility o...