%0 Journal Article
%T The Problem with Evil
%A Ian A. McFarland
%J Theology Today
%@ 2044-2556
%D 2018
%R 10.1177/0040573617731711
%X This article contends that there are significant theological problems connected with the use of the term ¡°evil¡± to label states of affairs, and that the ¡°problem with evil¡± is that we are too quick to presume to know what evil is. If evil is defined as that which is against the good, and the good is identified with God¡¯s will, then the use of ¡°evil¡± should be restricted to those actions of free creatures that oppose the divine will. The classic understanding of evil as a privation of good will therefore be rejected, on the grounds that it depends on an expectation that the good of individual creatures should conform to a general type. It follows that instances of what is traditionally termed ¡°natural evil¡± are not properly categorized either as evil or as good, but rather as occasions for the discernment of how God¡¯s will for creaturely flourishing is to be realised in a particular context
%K evil
%K good
%K privation
%K sin
%K theodicy
%U https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0040573617731711