THE CITY

Winter 2015
Atheists Have No
Problem of Evil,
but They Have a
Bigger One
Jerry L. Walls
“ The problem of evil” is a loaded phrase. For one thing,
it is packed with emotional freight owing to the fact
that the phrase calls to mind some of the most hotly
contested battles in both historical and contemporary
philosophy. It has long been the favorite weapon in
the atheists’ arsenal, and has often been deployed proof that God
does not exist. The argument from evil has often been advanced
with deep sense of painful regret, but sometimes it has been wielded
with a sense of sneering triumph.
The issue is massive in scope and importance, as well as enormously
complicated, but it involves matters of such fundamental human
significance that it does not require any special training to grasp
the fundamental issues and why they matter so much. At stake are
cosmic level questions about the very meaning of life and what sort
of hopes we can rationally maintain.
Think about what is implied in the very phrase, “the problem
of evil.” Notice in the first place the obvious fact that the phrase
assumes there is such a thing as evil. And second, that it is somehow
a “problem.” Now what is most telling is that these commonplace
assumptions cannot simply be taken for granted today, and the
reasons for this go back to the “enlightenment.”
49