If God is all knowing, all-powerful and benevolent, how is it that evil exists? The presence of evil in our society and the thought of the existence of an omnipotent God is known as Theodicy. According to Donald Musser and Joseph Price, the theory of Theodicy can be broken down in to three separate statements: 1) God is omnipotent; 2) God is benevolent; 3) evil exists. Now, the quandary lies in the truth of these statements. If God is omnipotent and is able to prevent evil but does not then He must not be a benevolent God. Moreover, if God tries to prevent evil but cannot than He is not omnipotent. In addition, if God is capable and well disposed of preventing evil and does then evil cannot exist. For us to debate this assumption further, we must first determine what types of evil exist. The concept of Theodicy divides evil into two different categories: Moral evil and Non-Moral evil. .
Moral evils are all the evils caused by humans, either to that individual or to others, which according to Musser and Price are "agents whose intent is to harm; examples include murder, theft, and lying" (Musser 173). The presence of moral evil can be explained by saying that because God gives humans free will; therefore, God allows moral evil to occur. David Freedman says, "Evil also designates human immorality and corruption. According to much Wisdom Literature, evil and wickedness originate in the human heart (Prov. 6:14; Eccl. 8:11), which is evil from youth (Gen. 8.21)" (Freedman 431). Free will is necessary for the worship of god, and to avoid the consequences of religious fatalism. Predestination, which is the notion that God predetermines individual lives, has always been thought of as a pivotal form of religious fatalism. If not, all evils should come from one source, a source that we would never be able to truly place the occurrence of evil on. For if free will does not hold out, and there is an omnipotent, all knowing God, then he/she holds all the blames of evil.
