Many people cite 'the problem of pain' as a strong objection to the Christian faith. This objection is described as follows:
"If a good and powerful God exists, he would not allow pointless evil, but because there is much unjustifiable, pointless evil in the world, the traditional good and powerful God could not exist." (J.L. Mackie - The Miracle of Theism)
In summary, the problem of pain states that God is either:
a) Not God - and therefore does not have the power to stop evil
OR
b) Not Good - therefore has the power to stop evil but chooses not to.
I like Timothy Keller's response to this objection, from his book 'The Reason for God':
"If you have a God great and transcendent enough to be mad at because he hasn't stopped evil and suffering in the world, then you have (at the same moment) a God great and transcendent enough to have good reasons for allowing it to continue that you can't know. Indeed, you can't have it both ways."
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