Kalam cosmological problem of evil

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Kalam Cosmological Problem of Evil is a counter-argument of the Kalam argument for the existence of God. The argument is source of evil is either God or some source that God was unable or unwilling to counter. This implies God is either malevolent, or non-omnipotent.

The argument[edit]

If evil began to exist:

  1. Everything that begins to exist has a cause.
  2. Evil began to exist.
  3. Therefore, evil must have a cause.

If evil did not begin to exist:

  1. Everything that did not begin to exist has no cause
  2. Evil did not begin to exist.
  3. Therefore, evil does not have a cause.

Therefore if God exists, either:

  1. Evil has a cause, God is the ultimate cause of evil: he is therefore not omnibenevolent, or
  2. Evil has a cause, it was created by rival non-temporal mind (perhaps a rival deity) that God could not or would not overcome: implying either malevolence or non-omnipotence, or
  3. Evil did not have a cause, God desired to destroy evil but could not: he is therefore not omnipotent, or
  4. Evil did not have a cause, God did not desire to destroy evil: he is therefore not omnibenevolent.

It is impossible to escape the fact that God's decision to create the universe increased the amount of evil in existence. Theists may fall back to the possibility that God did not know his creation would result in evil, however this would mean he was not omniscient. In any case, the traditional "omnimax" god of Christianity has been refuted successfully.

See also[edit]