The Analytical Theodicy of Paul MacDonald

The article provides a comparative analysis of two diametrically opposed arguments against evil, presented in Paul McDonald’s work «God, Evil and Redeeming Goodness». The classical atheistic argument, which deduces the impossibility of God’s existence from the existence of evil, is contrasted with the inverted theistic argument, in which the existence of evil is seen as evidence in favor of the existence of God. The analysis is carried out from the standpoint of formal logic, religious epistemology and metaphysics, involving the historical context of Thomism and modern analytical philosophy of religion. It is concluded that the persuasiveness of each argument directly depends on the acceptance of more fundamental metaphysical premises, and MacDonald’s theistic argument is a radical attempt to remove the «burden of proof» from theism in the problem of evil.