ABSTRACT
The problem of evil may be divided into theoretical and existential dimensions. We are familiar with the various versions of the theoretical problem: the logical, probabilistic, and evidential formulations. This other dimension of the problem of evil is more difficult to characterize. There is something about the experience of evil as gratuitous that can and often does render faith in God untenable. Many persons say that they find themselves gripped at the core of their being by the horror of evil and that this awareness is profoundly transforming. Some defensive maneuvers by theists such as Plantinga seek to show that the facts of evil do not render theism improbable. Plantinga correctly intimates that there is more to the problem of evil than abstract exercises in juggling propositions. To suggest that further philosophical enlightenment is not relevant to the attitudinal or experiential dimension bifurcates reason and experience.
