One of the objections made by one of the atheists in the VT debate on the existence of God was William Rowe’s form of the problem of gratuitous evil:[1]
- There exist instances of intense suffering that an omnipotent, omniscient being could have prevented without thereby losing some greater good or permitting some evil equally bad or worse. (Factual premise)
- An omniscient, wholly good being would prevent the occurrence of any intense suffering that being could, unless that being could not do so without thereby losing some greater good or permitting some evil equally bad or worse. (Theological premise).
- Therefore, There does not exist an omnipotent, omniscient, wholly good being.
Or, simply put:
- There are unnecessary evils.
- God would prevent evils without losing some greater good.
- Therefore, God does not exist.
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