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Evil is not just a problem for us, the mortal inhabitants of this small rock we call Earth; 

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it is also a problem for the omnipotent, omnipresent, infinitely good god that many of us worship.  

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The ideas I will present here date back centuries.  

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The war between philosophy and theism has had many battles, 

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but the problem of evil is one hurdle theism has yet to surmount.  

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First, we can all agree evil exists.  

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Though exactly what constitutes evil is open for debate,

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we should all be able to agree that a world which contains war,

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genocide,

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the crusades, 

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the inquisition, 

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the holocaust,

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murder,

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terror,

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disease,

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pandemics,

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and suffering, 

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must contain evil.

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The problem is WHY does evil exist.  

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If god is all powerful yet chooses not to eradicate evil, then god is malevolent.  

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If god wants to eradicate evil but cannot, then god is impotent.  

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And if god neither wants to eradicate evil, nor is able to, why call god god.  

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Essentially, it is logically impossible for an all good, all powerful god to exist.

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And while this doesn't disprove the existence of god, it does force us to rethink our definition of god.

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Either god must not be all good, or god must not be all powerful. 

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Now it doesn't matter if god created a perfect world or not.  

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It doesn't matter if evil is the result of some chick eating an apple 

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in a mystical garden 6000 years ago.  

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All that matters is that evil exists in the world, here and now. 

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So what are the theist's defenses to such a problem? 

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The first is that god could not have created a world without evil.

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Somehow good requires evil.

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And therefore without evil in the world there would also be no good.

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This argument fails for a number of reasons. 

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One: Good and Evil can be seen as distinct properties of objects and actions.  

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Removing all the evil from the world would not also remove the good.

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This is like saying if you made all murderers not exist, 

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you would also have to make all boy scouts that help old ladies cross the street not exist. 

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Two: Heaven is an example of a place with no evil, 

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therefore it is possible for god to create worlds without evil.  

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Three: One might argue that evil and good must be in balance in the universe.  

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Hell would therefore balance heaven, and the evil in the world would balance out the good.  

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This however doesn't explain why evil is unevenly distributed in the world, 

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which is in itself another evil.     

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The second argument theists make for why there may be evil in the world 

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is that a world with evil is somehow better than a world without.  

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The reasoning goes that without danger there is no heroism,

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without hardship there is no charity,

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and without suffering there is no salvation. 

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Again, this argument fails for a number of reasons.  

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One: Claiming that a world with evil is better than a world without 

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means that this world is better than heaven.

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If this is so, then isn't god punishing us by sending us to heaven 

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rather than reincarnating us?  

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Two: If god created us, then god created us with the need for suffering to achieve salvation.  

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Either he was evil to do as much, 

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or his powers do not extend to the natures of good and evil,

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meaning he is not omnipotent.  

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Three: There are many evils in the world that are without effects whatsoever 

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and therefore serve no greater good.  

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Such evils would not be explained by this reasoning. 

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The third argument theists make for why there may be evil in the world 

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is that evil is simply an absence of god, just as dark is an absence of light.  

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However, if evil is an absence of god, then god cannot be omnipresent.  

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Assuming god can be omnipotent but not omnipresent, 

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then evil can occur wherever god isn't around to stop it. 

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The obvious question then is why doesn't god go there.

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One can also assume that god is not omniscient,

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and therefore god doesn't know to go to where the evil is occurring.  

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But while god stays in one place he is being evil to those around him who he chooses to let suffer. 

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That being said, it seems ridiculous that one could be omnipotent

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and yet be unable to know everything or be everywhere. 

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The fourth and final argument theists make for why there may be evil in the world is "free will".  

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If god created us with the ability to choose for ourselves, 

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then any evil we cause is not of god's doing.

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God is off the hook.  

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I'm sure you see this coming but once again this argument fails miserably for many reasons.  

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One: If god is all knowing then god should have known what we would choose to do with our free will.

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Therefore, god must have known evil choices would be made,

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therefore god could be held in part responsible for the evil of the world.  

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For example, if I create a robot with the potential to destroy my lab, 

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when that robot does destroy the lab do we blame only the robot or do I share in the blame?  

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Two: One may argue that free will is itself such a great good 

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that it more than compensates for all the evil we choose to do with it.  

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This is similar to the failed argument presented earlier

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that a world with evil is better than a world without. 

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Three: There is no reason god could not have given us the ability to make choices, 

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but always ere on the side of good.  

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Consider heaven where everyone always does the good alternative.  

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Either we lose our free will in heaven 

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or free will can be had without ever doing evil.

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If we lose our free will in heaven, then again, heaven must be a worse place than earth. 

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Four: Free Will is itself a copout.  

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It postulates that our decisions are somehow detached from the causal chains of the universe 

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- that somehow our decisions are of supernatural origin.  

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However, modern cognitive neuroscience has shown that decisions 

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are purely the result of neural activity coursing through the circuitry of our brain.  

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Thus, if god created us, and god designed our brains, 

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then our choosing to do evil things is a result of god's design.   

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Five: Even if you believe free will does let god off the hook for being responsible for the evil in the world 

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(despite everything I've just said),

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it still doesn't explain why god doesn't intervene to prevent 

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(or, at least, limit) the evil we choose to commit. 

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So let's review:

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There is evil in the world.  

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If god is all powerful then god could intervene and prevent it.  

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If god is all good then god would want to intervene and prevent it.

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The idea that god could not have created a world without evil. 

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Fails.

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The idea that the world is better with evil.

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Fails.

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The idea that evil is a lack of god's presence. 

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Fails.

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And the idea that free will lets god off the hook. 

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Fails.  

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So in the end we are left with the logical fact

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that if an omnipotent god does exist,

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god must be responsible for the evil in the world.  

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And therefore god is either not all good or not all powerful. 

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Think about it.