Divine Justice and the Problem of Evils

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Department of Philosophy at Imam Khomeini International University

10.22080/jepr.2026.30850.1315

Abstract

The issue of the existence of evil in the world has been the most important argument for atheists in denying God and religion. They say that in view of the absolute perfection of God, there should be no evil in the world, while evils exist in the world. Philosophers and religious theologians have tried to show in the face of these doubts that there is no incompatibility or conflict between the belief in divine justice and the issue of evil. Another issue raised regarding the issue of evil is resorting to it to deny the existence of God, which of course can at most distort the existence of a just God and cannot prove the non-existence of God. In this article, we will examine the views of several contemporary religious philosophers on the compatibility or incompatibility of the existence of evil with divine justice, and in particular, we will analyze their views on several issues: first, what factors prevent God from intervening in preventing the occurrence of evil, and whether these factors justify God's action in such a way that His non-intervention is compatible with His justice. Second, what role does the occurrence of evil in human life play in strengthening the human spirit and providing the conditions for his growth? And finally, whether the claim of skeptical theism regarding our ignorance of God's evidence for not preventing the occurrence of evil can solve the problem of evil, or does this claim itself confront us with new problems.

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