If god is good, then why all of the evil in the world?

I have struggled with this one personally. If god is good, then why all of the evil in the world? I am a Christian and have always been taught that god is good and he is the great protector and nurturer. I never questioned it until my freshmen philosophy class and honestly I was a little stumped. I did not have an answer and that bothered me. When it came to matters of god I usually knew every answer and if I did not I knew someone who did but this question I had to struggle with on my own. I always will defend my god with no hesitation but I realized in this class that I need to be able to question my god and it still be ok. I need to question whether he exists or whether there is really good in the world, or evil, or even if there is a heaven or hell. I think that it is ok to question god now, which is a huge step, and the biggest question really is, If god is good, then why all of the evil in the world?

The Boston bombing really affected me and I just don't know how to deal with the loss. I don't know why this had to happen. I have heard about numerous terrorist attacks and horrible things that occur right under my nose but the Boston Marathon bombing really just made me realize what evil there is in the world.

My initial reaction was complete shock, which turned into a flood of questions. Why them? Why did the bombers do this? What did they gain from murdering innocent people?

The philosopher St. Augustine believed something very different than my own ideals. He was a pagan but later converted to Christianity where he believed that since there was evil in the world as well as good, and since god is the creator, god must be evil too.

I disagree whole-heartedly. Although I respect St. Augustine I just cannot imagine that any part of god is evil. I was brought up to believe that there is god, which is love, and the devil, which is hate. Good and evil in my mind could not be two of the same or even similar things, especially if it came to my god.

But, there is good and bad in all people, so why cant there be a good and bad god?

I have to question, but honestly I must confess that it is incredibly difficult to even type this. It is difficult to question the very basis of everything that you have firmly believed.

Can there be a good and evil god? And if so then is that why there is evil in the world.

If you really think about these questions than St. Augustine could be right. It goes against the modern interpretation of god but if god truly does exist than you have to push aside the bias and the portrayal of god that most Christian people have been exposed to and open your mind to new ideas.