How do Judaism Christianity and Islam explain the existence of evil?

Answer 1

The problem of evil is the question of how an all-knowing, all loving, and all powerful God could allow it. It goes a little like this;

(1)If a perfectly good God exists (all powerful, knowing, loving), then evil should not.

(2)There is evil in the world.

Conclusion: therefore, the existence of the perfectly good (all powerful, knowing, loving) God would seem to be contradicted.

A theist (Christian or Islamic) person would want to keep all three of God's characteristics (see above), but the problem of evil isn't a problem if a theist says you can drop any one of the three. However, there are responses to the problem of evil that keep all three and that evil can still exist.

Half way down the related links you can see the responses.

• Jewish Answer

There is no "problem of evil" from the Jewish perspective. Judaism teaches that we are all born good but with the ability to do both good and bad in our lives (Deuteronomy 30:15-20). If we do bad, God still gives us opportunities to correct those misdeeds and grow as a person, thereby growing closer to Him. Without this opportunity, there is no way for humans to grow spiritually.

Since God explicitly states that evil is part of the creation (Isaiah 45:7), the question falls away. All that needs to be explained is the purpose of evil. That is a separate question and will be dealt with when asked.