The theological problem of evil is a problem that many philosophers have tried to solve. The problem is stated as, “if one believes that god is omnipotent and wholly good, why does evil still exist?” In this writing I will discuss the solutions/propositions of John L. Mackie in his work, “Evil and Omnipotence.” I will do this in order to illustrate the concept of free will for understanding or resolving the problem, and to reveal how and why Mackie arrives at his conclusions.In the beginning of Mackie’s work he writes a brief introduction to fully expose the problem of evil, and to set guidelines for determining whether or not the problem applies to one. Mackie states that in his work one must be prepared to believe, not only what cannot be proved, but also what can be proven wrong from other beliefs one has. From this Mackie moves on to describe that the problem applies only to individual’s who believe that there is a God who is omnipotent and wholly good. Mackie sets this guideline in order to eliminate the acceptions of individual’s that the problem will not apply to. Now that Mackie has set the guideline to test whether the problem is applicable, he states the problem of evil in what he calls its ‘simplest form.’ Mackie states the problem as; God is omnipotent, God is wholly good, and evil still exists. The problem with the phrase is that all three propositions cannot exist collectively. One can choose only two and it would cause the third to be false. Now that Mackie is nearing the end of his introduction he sets some rules concerning the terms ‘good,’ ‘evil,’ and ‘omnipotent.’ Mackie states that good is opposed to evil in a way that good always eliminates evil as best as it can and that there are no limits to what an omnipotent thing can do. Therefore, Mackie exposes that a good omnipotent being will eliminate evil 2entirely, a...
