I wouldn&#x27;t say it&#x27;s begging the question. Of course evil is an illusion in an atheistic viewpoint. The &quot;problem of evil&quot; is strictly an attempt to show a contradiction in the theist position.<p>As a Christian, my own answer (in short) is that true &quot;good&quot; requires that people can choose to either do good or evil. The only alternative is a pretty clockwork. This requires accepting a broader definition of &quot;good&quot; for you to accept that God is both good and accepts this tradeoff, but it&#x27;s not a contradiction. It&#x27;s just an emotionally significant consequence of believing God exists.