Abstract: God may be expected to give humans significant responsibility for themselves and each other (including responsibility for forming their own characters). This involves allowing them to do significant moral evil, and it involves allowing for natural evil, without which they would not have much opportunity for heroic actions. God has a (limited) right to allow some humans to suffer at the hands of others for these good reasons. Hence, the problem of evil is not a good objection to the existence of God.

Keywords: moral evil, natural evil, problem of evil, responsibility,