God and the Problem of Evil: An Attempt at Reframing the Debate

• Main Author: Brett Wilmot
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2021-03-01
• Series: Religions
• Subjects: process philosophy; theism; ontological argument; theodicy; problem of evil; metaphysics
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/12/3/218

This article attempts to reframe the traditional account of the problem of evil for God’s existence. The philosophical debates about the problem of evil for the existence of God within the traditional framework do not exhaust the available options for conceiving of God’s perfection, including our understanding of God’s power and God’s relationship to the world. In responding to the problem of evil, rational theists should seek a reformulation of divine perfection consistent with God’s existence as both necessary and as morally relevant to human life in a manner that does not collapse in the face of the problem of evil. The neoclassical account of God’s nature as developed in the tradition of process philosophy is presented as an alternative that meets these requirements.