[Professor S]

Well, it all depends on what you think is the definition of Evil. There are theological beliefs in evil, but quite honestly, I think the dieas of good and evil go far beyond religion. They are a shared belief that pretty much all humans have, regardless of religion or lack thereof.

Is evil a compulsion to do horrific things by a deity working towards our distruction?

Is evil a natural trait developed to ensure survival of that being's DNA that can go terribly awry?

Is evil simply a lack of empathy?

Is evil apathy towards your common man?

I tend not to try and lend definitions to that which is the sublime. I know what evil is, but if I had the capacity to put something so archetypical to the human existance into words, it would no longer be an adequate definition.

Back to the specific ideas, I find the entire wording of the "problem" to be extraordinarily weak. To even state that the existence of evil is incompatible with God reveals an severe misunderstanding of religion in general. And honestly, there is no reason that evil and God have to be married at all.

Most events that I would describe as stereotypically "evil" took place in cultures that abandoned God (Hitler's Germany and Stalin's Russia).

So then, if we want to bring this back to the religious statements, is evil the absence of God?