Theodicy as a term was originally coined in 1710 by a philosopher named Gottfried Leibniz in his work Essais de Théodicée sur la bonté de Dieu, la liberté de l'homme et l'origine du mal ("Theodicy Essay on the Benevolence of God, the Free will of man, and the Origin of Evil"). Theodicy, as defined by Webster’s Dictionary, is a “defense of God's goodness and omnipotence in view of the existence of evil.”

David Hume, in his Dialogues concerning Natural Religion, quotes Epicurus, a Greek philosopher, as saying the following:

“Is [God] willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is impotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Whence then is evil? Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?”

Epicurus states the core of the problem of evil. If God exists, and is omnipotent as well as omnibenevolent, how can he allow evil to exist? If he is not omnipotent, or omnibenevolent, why do we call him......

Join Now to view the rest of this term paper!
Members: Login to view this research paper.

Title: Thoughts On God And The Problem Of Evil
Approximate Word Count: 1261
Approximate Pages: 6 (250 words per double-spaced page)

With the Term Papers Lab Membership Pass, you get instant access to every essay on this site, including this essay on Thoughts On God And The Problem Of Evil, for as long as you remain a member.

Other essays sites charge almost $100 for a single term paper. At Term Papers Lab, you can get instant access to over 100,000 research papers for as little as $29.95!