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The Problem of Evil and Suffering

If God is all-loving and all-powerful, why is there suffering? Explore the problem of evil and the ways Christians respond to it.

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What you'll cover

Why is there suffering? 🤔

If God is **all-loving** and **all-powerful**, why is there so much evil and suffering in the world? This is called the **problem of evil**, and it is one of the hardest challenges to faith. Christians have thoughtful responses, and this module explores them.

Key terms ✝️

Learn these before you weigh the problem:

Match each term to its meaning

  • Omnipotent
  • Omnibenevolent
  • Moral evil
  • Natural evil
  • All-powerful
  • All-loving
  • Suffering caused by human actions
  • Suffering caused by nature

Moral or natural?

Which of these is an example of moral evil?

  • A war started by people
  • An earthquake
  • A flood
  • A disease outbreak

The heart of the problem ⚖️

The problem runs like this: a God who is **omnibenevolent** would **want** to end suffering, and a God who is **omnipotent** could **do** it. Yet suffering continues. This seems to challenge belief in a God who is both all-loving and all-powerful.

How Christians respond 💡

Christians answer in several ways. The **free-will** argument: God gave humans genuine freedom, and moral evil is the price of that freedom. The **soul-making** idea: suffering can help people grow and develop compassion. Many also point to **Jesus**, who suffered on the cross, showing that God **shares** in human suffering.

Christian responses

Select the TWO Christian responses to the problem of evil.

  • Free will means evil is the price of genuine freedom
  • Suffering can help people grow, an idea called soul-making
  • Evil proves that God does not exist
  • Evil shows that God is weak and uncaring

Match each response to its idea

  • The free-will argument
  • Soul-making
  • The example of Jesus
  • The Book of Job
  • God allows freedom, which can be misused
  • Suffering helps people develop virtues
  • God shares in suffering on the cross
  • Keeping faith even without full understanding

The problem of evil frame

The problem of evil asks why suffering exists if God is _____, all-powerful, and _____, all-loving. Suffering caused by people is _____ evil, while suffering caused by nature is _____ evil.

omnipotent omnibenevolent moral natural invisible distant human weather

The free-will response

The free-will argument says that evil exists because...

  • God gave humans genuine freedom to choose
  • God is not really powerful
  • God does not really love people
  • There is no God at all

Apply the ideas

An interactive activity.

The responses frame

Christians respond to evil with the _____-will argument, the idea of _____-making through suffering, and the example of _____, who suffered on the cross. The Book of _____ shows keeping faith without full understanding.

free soul Jesus Job no body Moses Kings

Explain a response

An interactive activity.