The problem of evil is a question that many philosophers have attempted to explain from their perspective. This particular problem has caused many theorists to question the existence of evil in the world when God is supposedly omnibenevolent, omniscient, and omnipotent. Because this thought-provoking inquiry was enlightened, it called into question the existence of God and His power to be good. In this article I will support Voltaire's argument in Candide against Leibniz's theory of optimism in the Essays on the Goodness of God, the Freedom of Man and the Origin of Evil. François-Marie Arouet, known as Voltaire, was a man who thrived in the French Enlightenment – ​​a time when society strived to become better through reason and knowledge – in the 18th century. During this period, France was still strongly Catholic, which influenced the political structure of the country. However, this did not stop Voltaire from expounding his views on Christianity. “[Christianity] is surely the most ridiculous, absurd and bloody religion that has ever infected this world” (Mathews). Unlike many philosophers before him, Voltaire did not live under the major threat that the Church would break down his door and exterminate him for heresy; however, it could have damaged his reputation. Many philosophers do not yet appreciate the presence of the Church everywhere in France; therefore, some have criticized the church and literary works that support theological thought. For example, Voltaire wrote a satire, Candide, against Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz's Essays on the Goodness of God, the Liberty of Man and the Origin of Evil. Voltaire mocked this statement: "metaphysical considerations concern the nature of the possible and... middle of paper......supplies in his time, it would be very possible that he used it and composed a a different perspective on the problem of evil. Voltaire, on the other hand, would have obtained more concrete evidence to prove his point of view: this suffering does not come from God himself, but from natural causes proven by science. So if God was not the cause of these events, then it is not God trying to prove a point and create the world, thus crippling Leibniz's idea. Voltaire's argument in Candide brought out many strong points against Leibniz's theory of optimism in the Essays on the Goodness of God, Freedom of Man and the Origin of Evil. This question of why evil exists in the world should not have been answered because God decided it was best for the world; there is suffering everywhere and if it were judged as a whole rather than as one event, then there would be little or no good in the world.