Making Sense of Life
The Problem of Evil - Part 1
13 Aug 2023
When trying to reconcile the existence of a good and all-powerful God and the problem of evil, it can be a difficult conversation. One doesn’t need a Ph.D. in theology or philosophy to realize something is desperately wrong with the world we live in. The existence of evil is one of the most vexing challenges a Christian—or any person for that matter, must grapple with.
So what is evil? Augustine said: “Evil is the absence or deprivation of good…the effects of evil tend to be destruction and disorder – a twisting or scarring of nature, and of souls.” In the same way we can say night is the absence of light, cold the absence of heat, and hunger is the absence of food, evil is the deprivation of good, and in this case, the absence of God. You cannot know what evil is without knowing what is good. Evil is like rust on metal, if you didn’t have the metal in the first place you wouldn’t have rust.
Who defines what is ultimately good, right, and just? Last week, Allen and Jon spoke about how the moral law and how it points to a moral law giver who is the greatest Good, God Himself. Since evil has many faces, we want to break it down in a few ways. We can view evil, from a personal view - that is from the one who is suffering from the effects of evil. Or else we can view evil from the vantage of the observer - from the one who sees the evil but is not directly affected by it. Intellectually and philosophically, we are speaking about two sources of evil:
1. Natural evil - that which happens as nature breaks down. For example, there are hurricanes, earthquakes, fires, floods, tsunamis, tornadoes, famines, diseases, etc., that can cause great damage and loss of life.
2. Moral evil - evil that people are responsible for; that which comes from the breakdown in human nature.
As we have seen throughout history, people can choose to be very good one moment and completely evil in the next. At life group last Friday, Daniel Jarnik brought out a good example of this. Adolf Eichmann, an SS officer in the Third Reich, was considered one of the most notorious Nazis, a major organizer for the holocaust and one of the persons responsible for the extermination of six million Jews. After WW2, after escaping to Argentina, he was described as a model citizen - until he was captured and taken to Israel to stand trial. Time Magazine reported that Eichmann was known to have been an architect of the Nazi genocide and was even once reported to have said that he gained “extraordinary satisfaction” from knowing that he had millions of death on his conscience. How could someone responsible for so much moral evil in the holocaust be viewed as a model citizen in the following years of his life?
Jesus said that evil resides within every human heart and can manifest itself in acts like pride, greed, theft, cowardice, cruelty, hatred, jealousy, murder, and injustice. But there are also verbal evils like slander, maligning, gossip, sowing discord among brothers and sisters thereby causing division. There are theological evils where people misrepresent God, twist the Scriptures, engage in spiritual abuse - causing incredible pain and suffering for others.
What effect or impression is left on the secular world when religions use terror to advance their belief? Or when church leaders fall into immorality or engage in misappropriation of church funds? How often do we consider the effects our actions or inactions have on others? Some moral evils can even lead to natural evil.
Understanding the theoretical or philosophical aspects of evil are helpful but they cannot offer us the same degree of comfort as a wise and caring friend who walks with us through our pain. And in the face of evil, whether natural or moral, our explanations many come short of giving a completely satisfactory answer for the many aspects of evil. Evil is an age-old problem and we need to know how to think about it.
Please turn with me to Luke 13:1-5 (AMP)
1 Just at that time some people came who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate [the governor] had mixed with their sacrifices. 2 Jesus replied to them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans because they have suffered in this way? 3 I tell you, no; but unless you repent [change your old way of thinking, turn from your sinful ways and live changed lives], you will all likewise perish. 4 Or do you assume that those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed were worse sinners than all the others who live in Jerusalem? 5 I tell you, no; but unless you repent [change your old way of thinking, turn from your sinful ways and live changed lives], you will all likewise perish.”
Jesus was making it clear that moral and natural evil will affect everyone, and it may or may not be linked to divine judgment. But when evil unexpectedly happens, and it will, how will you make sense of it? Just two days ago we read about the horrific forest fires in Maui that spread with such catastrophic speed, causing at least 80 deaths and incredible devastation to the land. The question here isn’t about comparative righteousness or evil but about whether you and I are prepared to meet the Lord.
A similar narrative to what this passage in Luke 13 can be found in the first chapter of the oldest book in the Bible - the Book of Job. In this story, we see the two kinds of evil that wreaked havoc in the life of Job and his family. First, we see the instance of moral evil - two different raiding parties came and stole his livestock and killed the servants. Then natural evil in the form of fire killed his sheep and the servants. At the same time, strong winds toppled the oldest son’s house where all Job’s sons and daughters were eating and every single one of them died.
How would we view these simultaneous moral and natural evils? Some might become very fearful or even lose their faith saying, “if God was good and all powerful, none of this would have happened.” Others, like Job’s friends, might said, “Job himself is to blame for all this evil because of sin in his life.” “Who can we blame for this evil?” But we know that Job chose to cling to God in the midst of it all and that he silenced these three by showing them that there isn’t necessarily a correlation in this world between righteousness and prosperity or between wickedness and suffering.
It doesn’t matter where you live or what you believe - none of us can avoid evil and suffering. And if you are a victim of natural or moral evil and are still suffering from the effects of it, you may be looking for answers to give you the hope and strength you need to face the future. Why did this happen? Why is this happening to me or to this family, what is the purpose behind it? How could any good come out of it or is it truly just senseless, mindless, irrational, gratuitous evil? How you and I make sense of evil whether its affecting us personally or we are only observers depends on our world view.
In fact, every religion and philosophy throughout the ages has tried to come up with a way to make sense of evil. Hindus tend to regard suffering as punishment for deeds done in a previous life. To the Hindu, a great deal of suffering is simply accumulated "karma" catching up with us. In the stories told in sacred Hindu writings, the gods and goddesses show little concern about human suffering. To the Buddhist - good and evil are not innate but are products of people’s greed and attachment. In their religion, removing such attachments becomes the key to liberating a person from evil.
Islam’s response to evil is to say that everything that happens is the will of Allah. Therefore, when we suffer, we shouldn’t ask questions but rather submit ourselves to whatever Allah has willed. According to many atheists, suffering and pain is ultimately futile. Alex Rosenberg in his book, An Atheist’s Guide to Reality claimed that there is no meaning or purpose in suffering and pain. In other words all that we go through in life is ultimately meaningless and accomplishes nothing so we shouldn’t try to find reasons for it. In fact, evil is the most prominent reason why many atheists cannot believe in a good, omnipresent, all-powerful God. Yet without God they can’t make sense of evil nor justify their definition of what is evil in a non-Theistic universe.
When it came to finding the meaning of evil through religion, early philosophers like Epicurus said that the existence of evil showed that either the gods were neither good nor just and that they weren’t able to help us, or that they didn’t exist. David Hume, in his book Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion, puts the problem this way:
Epicurus’s old questions are yet unanswered. Is he [God] willing to prevent evil, but not able? then is he impotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then is he malevolent. Is he both able and willing? When then is there still evil?
Because evil exisits, Hume argued against the existence of God. His reasoning or syllogism is based on the following propositions:
? If God is good and loves all human beings, it is reasonable to believe that he wants to deliver the creatures he loves from evil and suffering.
? If God is all knowing, it is reasonable to believe that he knows how to deliver his creatures from evil and suffering.
? If God is all powerful, it is reasonable to believe that he is able to deliver his creatures from evil and suffering.
How are we to respond to Hume’s theological premises, that if God was good, loving, all-knowing, everywhere present, all-powerful - He would act in a certain way. But because He doesn’t - He’s either unable or unwilling to deliver His children from evil or else He just doesn’t exist. The biblical worldview holds that God is wholly good, perfectly just and loving, knows all things, is everywhere present, and is all-powerful but at the same time acknowledges that despite these facts about God, there’s a lot of evil in this world.
If God is not the originator of evil, we need to consider where all the evil in the world came from. We know that when God created everything, including Adam and Eve, He said, “it was very good.” In the garden God gave them the freedom to eat from every tree except one - which was called what? [the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.] Why did He tell them not to eat from that one tree? [“in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”]
Adam and Eve were given choices with the consequences clearly spelled out. They were free to choose a certain action and they were free to refrain from it. Alvin Plantinga said:
Now God can create free creatures, but He can’t cause or determine them to do what is right. He can’t create them with the freedom to do evil but at the same time prevent them from doing so. For if He does so, then they aren’t significantly free after all.
Sadly, when Adam and Eve were tempted, they exercised their freedom in the wrong way and chose to listen to Satan. The fruit of the tree looked good, offered good things like knowledge and wisdom, but the outcome would be a life deprived of God, the greatest Good. Augustine pointed to this one act of disobedience as the source of moral evil on this earth. However, the fact that free creatures do wrong and will enter into evil doesn’t mean that an all-good, all-powerful, all- knowing, everywhere present God doesn’t exist.
This really caused me to think about the choices I make when I have certain needs, wants, or goals. There could be many good choices, but will a particular choice deprive me of the highest Good? What about making decisions in the midst of difficulties, maybe you have suffered an injustice, a hurt, a misunderstanding - do I choose the greatest good according to God’s Word and wisdom? Not always right away. Usually, I am quick to choose a way that looks good, seems good and commonsensical but actually it is a lesser good. How often have I not shown others - my friends, my family, my peers God’s way - the greatest good. I thank the Lord for allowing me to see these things, to learn from my mistakes, and for giving me the opportunity to repent and find His forgiveness.
The Pharisees thought they were showing the Jewish people the greatest good when dealing with evil by the way they treated the sick, the sinner, those with diseases even Jesus - God Himself. They marginalized these people, treating them with distain and wouldn’t even allow them into the temple. This is how they thought God would deal with evil. But we know this is not how a good, loving, and just God acted when He chose to come into a world infiltrated with evil. He endured the cross so that He could set people free from the power of sin and death. He offers salvation to anyone who places their faith in Him so that they never have to live a life deprived of God’s presence. This is how God chooses to interact with us as His children today, why He chooses to deliver us from evil every day. He gives us His Holy Spirit, His Word, the local church, and godly fellowship so we do not have to live a life deprived of Him. God’s love is the antithesis of evil. Even when we have chosen or choose the lesser good, God does not leave us, He is sad, grieved, but He is still good.
Is this how do we interact with others when slighted or hurt? Is God’s I Cor 13 love our response? It’s our choice, we can either live out of emptiness or an overflow. What do you think would happen if God’s love and kindness began to overflow towards others around us? I believe it would affect how we will interact with others and would accomplish God’s plans and purposes in our lives and in those around us. What would random acts of goodness and kindness do to complete strangers? Would people perhaps begin to recognize and respond to the goodness and kindness of God? Next week we will continue talking about the problem of evil in: Making Sense of Human Suffering.
