Mackie’s Argument

  1. If God exists, God is omnipotent. (Premise)
  2. If God exists, God is wholly good. (Premise)
  3. God exists. (Premise)
  4. Evil exists. (Premise)
  5. A good being eliminates evil as far as it can. (Premise)
  6. An omnipotent being has no limits on what it can do. (Premise)
  7. If God exists, God eliminates all evil he can. (By 2 and 5)
  8. If God exists, God can eliminate all evil. (By 1 and 6)
  9. If God exists, God eliminates all evil. (By 7 and 8)
  10. If God exists, there is no evil. (By 9)
  11. There is no evil. (By 3 and 10)
  12. Contradiction! (4 and 11)

 

Mackie concludes we should reject premise 3.

Solutions Mackie rejects