The Three Levels of the Problem of Evil

Why Levels Matter

When people talk about the problem of evil, they often speak past each other. Some are wrestling with raw grief; others are thinking through a philosophical argument. Both are real, but they are not the same. To treat suffering only as an argument is to miss its human depth. To treat it only as a feeling is to miss its intellectual weight.

The problem of evil appears on three distinct levels: emotional, intellectual, and dramatic. Recognizing these levels helps us see why this question is so challenging and why no single kind of answer is sufficient.

1. The Emotional Level

This is the most immediate and painful. It is not a theory, it is an experience. When a loved one dies, when a diagnosis comes, when a tragedy strikes, the cry of the heart is not, “How do I reconcile omnipotence and benevolence?” but, “Why did this happen to me?”

A parent whose child is dying does not need a lecture. They need presence, compassion, and hope. At this level, the question of evil is less about logic and more about survival. It demands patience, empathy, and the assurance that we are not abandoned.

This is why Christianity insists that God does not stay distant from suffering. In Christ, He steps into our pain. The Cross shows us that God’s answer to suffering begins not with an explanation, but with solidarity.

2. The Intellectual Level

Still, the emotional cry naturally raises an intellectual problem. Here, the question becomes an argument:

• God is all-good.

• God is all-powerful.

• Evil exists.

• Therefore, God does not exist.

This is the problem in its sharpest form. Philosophers and skeptics argue that the existence of evil is logically incompatible with the existence of God. If God wants to remove evil but cannot, He is not all-powerful. If He can remove it but does not, He is not all-good.

The intellectual level matters because faith is not blind. If belief in God contradicted reason, then it could not stand. In future posts, we will look carefully at these arguments, how thinkers like Aquinas, Augustine, and C.S. Lewis stated the problem, and why Christians believe it can be resolved.

3. The Dramatic Level

Beyond emotion and logic, the problem of evil unfolds in the great drama of human history. Evil is not only personal: it is also communal, cultural, and global. Wars, betrayals, genocides, and injustices show how fragile goodness can be.

• A single word can ruin a friendship.

• A single betrayal can wreck a marriage.

• A single act of arrogance or hatred can unleash violence on nations.

The greatest good of all -love- seems especially delicate. It can be disappointed, betrayed, or crushed. Yet Christianity insists that love, though fragile, is stronger than evil when it is lived out in Christ.

Consider Jesus with the woman caught in adultery (John 8). He did not deny her sin, nor did He condemn her to death. Instead, He named evil as evil while extending forgiveness. This is love in action, neither sentimental nor harsh, but redemptive. It shows that God’s response to evil is not abstract but embodied in mercy and justice together.

Holding the Three Together

When we separate these levels, we can misunderstand the problem.

• If we reduce it only to the emotional, we may despair, forgetting that reason can bring clarity.

• If we reduce it only to the intellectual, we risk coldness, offering neat answers to bleeding wounds.

• If we ignore the dramatic, we miss how sin and grace shape the whole story of humanity.

The Christian faith insists that all three matter and that the ultimate answer must reach all three levels. That answer is not merely a syllogism, not merely a comfort, but a Person who enters into our story: Jesus Christ.

Looking Ahead

In the next post, we will examine the classical formulations of the problem of evil, as presented by thinkers like Aquinas, Augustine, and C.S. Lewis. These formulations sharpen the intellectual challenge and prepare the way for exploring possible responses.

Evil cannot be explained away, but it can be understood more deeply, and most importantly, it can be confronted and overcome in Christ.