What is the Inconsistent Triad?

The Inconsistent Triad is an argument against the concept of an all-powerful and all-loving God whilst suffering persists. The existence of suffering alongside an all-loving (omnibenevolent) and all-powerful (omnipotent) God are argued to be contradictory. The God the argument is posed against is typically the Judeo-Christian God. The argument is as follows; if God is all-loving and all-powerful he should be able to prevent any suffering. Suffering, however, exists. From this, it is concluded that God either cannot be omnipotent or cannot be omnibenevolent. It is called the Inconsistent Triad because it is comprised of three states of existence (making three corners of a triangle) that supposedly cannot co-exist.

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Answered by Elisa A. Religious Studies tutor

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