Trouble in Paradise: Evil, Evidence, and the Problem of Paradise

In the previous post, I considered arguments for the conclusion that evil is evidence for the existence of God. In this post, I want to consider an argument for the conclusion that evil is evidence against the existence of God. The argument is defended by appeal to what is known in the academic literature as the problem of paradise, which Matthew A. Benton, John Hawthorne, and Yoaav Isaacs introduce as follows:

Problem of Paradise: Consider a world of pleasures with no pain, of goods with no evil— an Eden. If the world were like that, then we think that would constitute a fairly overwhelming argument for the existence of God. In such an Edenic world, atheists would face the problem of paradise. But if the probability of God is higher given the complete absence of evil (in an Edenic world), then the presence of evil (as in our world) must reduce the probability of God. Put otherwise: if the absence of evil is evidence for God, then the presence of evil is evidence against the existence of God ("Evil and Evidence," pg. 5-6).

The Problem of Evil and the Moral Argument for God: A Corrective to Popular Apologetics

"Surprisingly, though, evil is actually evidence for God, not against Him." — Greg Koukl

"True evil is evidence for God’s existence." — J. Warner Wallace

"But because there is evil and because theism better predicts or explains those things needed to make sense of evil, then evil provides great evidence for the existence of God." — Pat Flynn

"While the existence of evil is a serious problem, it is an even more serious problem for atheists because the existence of evil is only further evidence for God’s existence." — Daniel King

"Again, the problem of evil—the leading anti-theistic argument—turns out to be an argument for God’s existence." — Paul Copan