Can evil exist if the theory of an All-knowing, All-powerful and benevolent God holds true? The presence of evil in our society the thought to be existence of an omnipotent god is known as Theodicy. John Hick appeals to a particular type of Theodicy developed by a Greek philosopher named Ireneaus. In order for us to debate this theory further, we must first determine what types of evil exist. This Theodicy first divides evil into two different categories: Moral evil and Non-Moral evil. .
Moral evil includes all evils that human beings cause, either to themselves or to others. The existence of Moral evil is explained by claiming that God allows the existence of Moral evil because human beings have free wills. This idea is held by many other Theodicies. This actuality of free will is necessary for the proper worship of god, and to avoid the metaphysical pitfalls of religious fatalism. Predestination, which is the notion that God foreordains the fate of the blessed and the damned, has always thought to of as a pivotal form of religious fatalism. Otherwise all evils would be able to be traced back to one source, a source that we would never be able to truly place the occurrence of evil on. For if free will doesn't withstand, and there is an omnipotent, All-knowing God, they he/she holds all the blames of evil. Therefore the existence of evil is placed solely on the world itself. If we wanted the evil to stop, we would have to make it stop, after all we have the ability to control our actions and therefore our futures. .
The second type of evil that exists is much less subjective and even less manageable if manageable at all, Non-Moral Evil. The occurrence of Non-Moral Evil is perhaps the largest problem for any Theodicy. Hick identifies four categories of this evil: Disasters and catastrophes, hostile environments, dangerous animals, and sickness, disease and death. The key to fully understanding these forms of evil, or human sufferings lies within the examination of the latter two categories.
