Mynders 2 March 3, 2023 God is an all-knowing being, who is ultimately just, and true, all loving and powerful; how is humanity expected to know or understand his ways? Yet, we involve ourselves in all kinds of divine matters, often trying to find a clear and comprehensible answer. This almost never happens, yet in this paper I plan to debunk the argument against God because of the existence of evil by showing the necessity for humans to have free will. I will do so by explaining the logical argument for the problem of evil through citing “The Problem of Evil” inThe Brothers Karamazovby Fyodor Dostoevsky, and then moving to explain what free will is, continuing to make the argument that evil indeed proves even more that God exists, and is the creator of this world, citing mainly the Bible as an authoritative religious text, looking at different affected parties such as children and nature. Looking first then at the problem of evil itself, it is typically spelled out in a logical format; as Dostoevsky says, the root of this problem is the seeming confusion about the justice of God. I understand, of course, what an upheaval of the universe it will be when everything in heaven and earth blends in one hymn of praise and everything that lives and has lived cries aloud: ‘Thou art just, O Lord, for Thy ways are revealed.’ When the mother embraces the fiend who threw her child to the dogs, and all three cry aloud with tears, ‘Thou art just, O Lord! 1 Dostoevsky points out some of the main sufferings for different people and infers that justice does not reign. The argument follows then, that if there is a God who is just and loving, why then would he cause his people to suffer, why does evil seem to prosper? This question, though it seems to be legitimate, is missing the point altogether. Because humans are able to choose 1Fyodor Dostoevsky,The Brothers Karamazov, trans. Constance Garnett (Digireads.com Publishing, 2007), 12.
