One of the Biggest Challenges to Belief in an All-Loving, All-Powerful God
For many believers, God is described as all-loving, all-knowing, and all-powerful. He is said to care deeply for humanity, guide our lives, and bring justice to the world.
But if this is true, why does so much suffering exist?
📌 Why do innocent children die of starvation?
📌 Why do natural disasters wipe out thousands of lives?
📌 Why does God remain silent when people cry out in pain?
This question—known as the Problem of Evil—has troubled philosophers, theologians, and believers for centuries. Some have tried to defend God’s existence with explanations, but do any of these answers actually hold up?
Let’s examine the Problem of Evil, the most common defenses of God, and why this issue remains one of the strongest challenges to religious belief.
🔹 The Logical Problem of Evil: An Inescapable Contradiction?
If a god exists who is:
✔ All-Powerful (Omnipotent) – Able to stop suffering.
✔ All-Knowing (Omniscient) – Aware of all suffering.
✔ All-Loving (Omnibenevolent) – Wants to stop suffering.
Then why does so much unnecessary suffering exist?
This contradiction is the Logical Problem of Evil, famously stated by the philosopher Epicurus over 2,300 years ago:
“Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil? Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?”
If God is truly all-powerful and all-loving, then he should be able to eliminate suffering. If he doesn’t, either:
❌ He isn’t powerful enough to stop it (not omnipotent),
❌ He doesn’t know about it (not omniscient), or
❌ He doesn’t care enough to stop it (not benevolent).
For believers, this presents a serious theological problem—and many have attempted to answer it.
🔹 Common Defenses of God (And Why They Fail)
1️⃣ “God Allows Free Will, and Evil Comes From Humans”
Many argue that evil exists because humans have free will—we make bad choices, and suffering is a consequence of those choices.
📌 The problem?
✔ Free will doesn’t explain natural disasters like earthquakes, tsunamis, and diseases that kill innocent people.
✔ If God values free will so much, why does he intervene in the Bible (like flooding the earth or parting the Red Sea) but remains silent today?
✔ If heaven is a place where people have free will and don’t sin, why didn’t God create that world to begin with?
Free will doesn’t explain why an all-loving God allows suffering that isn’t caused by human choices.
2️⃣ “Suffering Builds Character and Strengthens Faith”
Some believers say pain is necessary for growth—suffering teaches people resilience, patience, and moral strength.
📌 The problem?
✔ Would we praise a parent who allows their child to suffer just to “build character”?
✔ Many people don’t grow stronger through suffering—many are permanently damaged (physically, mentally, or emotionally).
✔ Why does suffering seem so random? Many die before they have a chance to grow from it.
If suffering was truly necessary, then why does heaven supposedly exist without suffering?
3️⃣ “God Works in Mysterious Ways”
This argument says that God has a bigger plan, and we simply can’t understand it.
📌 The problem?
✔ This isn’t an answer—it’s a way to avoid answering the question.
✔ If moral rules apply to humans, why shouldn’t they apply to God? If we call human cruelty “evil,” why should we call God’s cruelty “mysterious”?
✔ If suffering is necessary, why do believers still pray for relief? Shouldn’t they accept suffering as part of God’s plan?
Saying “We don’t know why God allows evil” is admitting that we don’t know if God is truly good at all.
🔹 The Evidential Problem of Evil: The Scale of Suffering
Even if we assume that some suffering is necessary, why is there so much suffering—and why does it seem so random?
Consider:
📌 Natural disasters – Tsunamis, earthquakes, and hurricanes kill thousands.📌 Genetic diseases – Babies are born with painful, fatal conditions.
📌 Animal suffering – Billions of animals endure agony, completely unaware of any “greater purpose.”
📌 The Holocaust, genocide, and war – If God intervenes in human history, why not stop the worst atrocities?
The scale and seemingly random nature of suffering makes it even harder to reconcile with the idea of a loving, just God.
🔹 Why the Problem of Evil Matters
Many former believers say this was the biggest question that led them to leave religion. The Problem of Evil forces us to ask:
❓ Is suffering a natural part of the world, or does it require an explanation?❓ Would a truly loving, all-powerful God allow the level of suffering we see?❓ Are religious explanations for suffering convincing—or are they just excuses?
🔹 Final Thoughts: The Most Honest Answer?
When confronted with the Problem of Evil, some believers adjust their idea of God—perhaps he is not all-powerful, or perhaps he is not all-loving.
Others face the hardest conclusion—maybe the simplest explanation is that God doesn’t exist at all.
📌 If suffering exists because there is no divine intervention, then the world looks exactly as we would expect it to—with random disasters, illnesses, and cruelty that have no guiding hand behind them.
What to Read Next
📌 Why I Left Religion After 60 Years of Faith (My personal deconversion story and what led me to question my beliefs.)
📌 Does Prayer Really Work? (Analyzing whether prayer has real-world effects or is just confirmation bias.)
🚀 Join the Conversation
What do you think? Have you ever struggled with the Problem of Evil? Drop a comment below—I’d love to hear your thoughts.
God or Delusion? 