The Case for FAITH!
Objection #1: The Challenge of Faith:
Since Evil and Suffering Exist, a Loving God Cannot.
“Christian theism must be rejected by any person with even a shred of respect for evidence.” – George H. Smith, atheist 1st
“Christian faith is not an irrational leap. Examined objectively, the claims of the Bible are rational propositions well supported by reason and evidence.” – Charles Colson, Christian 2nd
Solution #1.
Evil As Evidence For God:
I. If a person is right in responding to suffering, with outrage, that presupposes there really is a difference between good, and evil. The fact that the person is using the standard of good to judge evil, the fact is there saying, quite rightly, this horrible suffering isn’t what is ought to be; that this notion corresponds to something real; and that there is, a standard to judge by called the Supreme God
II. Let’s say a teacher gives one student a 90% and another an 80% on there test. That presupposes 100% is a real standard to be judged by. And my point is this: if there is no God, where did we get the standard of goodness by which we judge evil as evil.
III. The very presence of these ideas in our minds- that is, the idea of evil, thus of goodness, and of God as the origin and standard of goodness- needs to be accounted for.
Question #2. To Objection Number 1.
Are there any other ways in which evil works against atheism?
I. If there is no Creator and therefore no moment of creation, then everything is a result of evolution. If there was no beginning or first cause, then the universe must have always existed. That means the universe has always been evolving for an infinite period of time- and, by now everything should be perfect. There would have been plenty of time for suffering and evil to have been vanquished. But there still is evil and suffering and imperfection- and that proves the atheist wrong about the universe.
II. If there was no moment of creation then why do we have a standard of good judging evil, where does this idea of goodness, and thus evil come from—if it doesn’t come from God.
Question #3. To Objection #1.
Then is atheism an inadequate answer to a problem of evil?
I. It’s an easy answer, if I may use the word, a cheap answer. Atheism is cheap on people, because is snobbishly says Nine out of Ten people have been wrong about God, and have had a lie at the core of their hearts.
II. Think about that, how is it possible that over 90% of all human beings that ever lived –usually in far more painful circumstances than we- could believe in God? The objective evidence, just looking at the balance of pleasure and suffering in the world, would not seem to justify believing in an absolutely good God. And this has been almost universally believed.
III. So atheism treats people cheaply. Also, it robs death of its meaning. And, if death has no meaning what so ever, then how can life ultimately have meaning?
IV. And in the end, when the atheist dies and encounters God, instead of nothingness that he had predicted, he’ll recognize that atheism was a cheap answer because it refused the only thing that is not cheap- the God if infinite value.
Question # 4. To Objection # 1.
But since evil exists therefore isn’t it logical that such a loving God doesn’t?
No, let’s look at God three divine attributes.
I. God Is All-Powerful.
What does it mean when we say God is all-powerful? That means he can do everything that is meaningful, everything that is possible, and everything that makes since at all. God cannot make Himself cease to exist. He cannot make good evil. Because he Is all-powerful. Only week and stupid beings make mistakes. One such mistake would be to try to make a self-contradiction, like two plus two equals five. Now that classic defense of God against the problem of evil is- that it is not logically possible to have free will and no possibility of moral evil. In other words, God chose to create human beings with free will, and it is up to them whether to sin or not. God created the possibility of evil; people actualized that potentiality. That’s where evil comes from. If we followed God’s commandments and rules, there would be no such thing as evil.
II. God is All-Good
“Good” is a notoriously tricky word, because even in human affairs there’s such a wide range of meaning. But the difference, once again, between us and God is certainly greater than between us and animals, it must vary even more enormously between us and God. Let me give an analogy. If I said to my fellow student I could help you out with your homework, and I could make you understand it, but I wont. I would be irresponsible and perhaps wicked, and cruel. That’s how the world looks at God allowing evil, this is how I view God allowing evil. Parents don’t do their homework for their children. They don’t put us in a bubble and protect them from every hurt. They let us make mistakes and allow us some troubles. Why? Because we learn from our mistakes and troubles. Why does God allow hurt? So that we may learn from them and be closer to Him, nothing brings us closer to God than sin, and hurt is a result of sin.
III. God is All-Knowing
God, if he is all-wise, knows not only the present, but the future also. And he knows not only the present good and evil but the future good and evil. Therefore can we not presume that even though there appears to be no good resulting from suffering because God’s knowledge vastly exceeds our own, perhaps there is good that results from suffering. If his wisdom vastly exceeds our own it’s possible that he sees the greatest good coming from the most evil. You see, God has specifically demonstrated how the very worst thing ended up resulting in the very best thing that has ever happened in the history of the world. What I’m talking about is the dei-cide, the death of God himself on the cross. At the time no one saw how anything good could ever come from this tragedy. And yet, God foresaw that the result would be the opening of heaven to human beings. So the worst tragedy happened on the cross, which brought about the most glorious event in history—Salvation!
