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05 / 06
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Argument of Evil & Suffering Against the Existence of God?

The One Minute Apologist with William Lane Craig

Time : 00:01:25

We ask special guest Dr. William Lane Craig the question "What is the argument of evil and suffering against the existence of God?"

Watch this exciting episode and grab a copy of Dr. Craig's new book "On Guard" to learn more about this and other arguments on how to defend your faith with reason and precision.

Transcript

Bobby Conway: What’s the argument of evil against God?

Dr. Craig: Well, the main argument against the existence of God offered by atheists today is the problem of evil or suffering, and this comes in two forms. One is the logical version of the problem of evil, which says that God and the evil in the world are logically incompatible with each other. They’re like the irresistible force and the immovable object, and therefore, if one exists, the other one cannot exist. And since evil exists, obviously, it follows that God does not exist. That’s the logical version.

The evidential or probabilistic version is more modest. It says, “Alright, God and evil are consistent with each other. It’s logically possible that both exist, but nevertheless, it’s highly improbable. Given the evil in the world, it is improbable that God exists.” And these versions of the argument from evil, I think, would be the main argument that atheists would offer in support of their view today.

Bobby Conway: Thank you, Dr. Craig.