Jordan Peterson on The problem of evil
Peterson takes the problem of evil seriously but argues it is a call to moral action rather than a disproof of God.
Peterson's treatment of the problem of evil is distinctive because he does not attempt to solve it philosophically. He takes suffering with extreme seriousness — drawing on Dostoevsky, Solzhenitsyn, and the Holocaust — and argues that the existence of horrific evil is indeed a challenge to naive theism. But he does not think it disproves God.
His response is existential rather than analytical. Peterson argues that the proper response to evil is not to conclude that God does not exist but to take personal responsibility for reducing suffering. The question is not 'How can God allow evil?' but 'What are you doing about it?' He sees the problem of evil as a moral challenge to the individual, not an intellectual puzzle to be solved by philosophers.
Peterson frequently invokes the archetype of the hero who voluntarily confronts evil and suffering — Christ's descent into hell, the individual's willingness to shoulder responsibility. On this reading, the existence of evil is not evidence against God but the precondition for the highest human virtue: the voluntary acceptance of suffering in the service of good.
“Life is suffering. That's clear. But that doesn't mean it isn't worth living. The question is whether you can find enough meaning to justify the suffering.”
“You don't get to complain about the nature of being unless you've exhausted your own capacity to improve it.”