ABSTRACT
A successful theodicy must explain the goods that morally justify God's permitting suffering and show that there can be no morally better way for God to achieve this good. If God were all-powerful, he could destroy evil. J. L. Mackie thinks that it is logically impossible for both God and evil to exist. A theodicy is any response to the problem of evil that purports to tell us why God permits evil. God is morally justified in permitting suffering because freewill is so valuable. There are three main objections to theodicy. Alvin Plantinga argues that atheists have yet to show that God and evil are logically incompatible. The obvious objection to Plantinga's counterexample is that God, unlike us mere mortals, can save both rock climbers. Most of the discussion surrounding the argument from evil has focused on evidential or empirical versions. William Rowe offers an inductive argument from evil.
