SortingBeans

Among all the challenges the Christian faces today in regards to skepticism, it seems as though the problem of evil and suffering is among the greatest, if not the greatest. When it comes to arguing the existence of God, I’ve heard the debates shift from one thing to another without really working out an entire argument. The interesting thing about this, though, is that the skeptic seems to never leave out the presence of evil and suffering in the world. This can be a stumper for the Christian if they are ill prepared to give reason for such a contrast; that a perfectly loving and all-powerful God can coexist with evil. The argument typically follows the order below.

1. If God exists, then there is no evil.
2. But there is evil.
3. Therefore, God does not exist.
(Taylor 144)

We must ask, though, why would someone think that just because God exists there would be no evil? This would come from the presupposition that if God exists, then he must be perfect. And his perfectness would encompass all attributes, even love. Therefore, the argument would be as follows (Taylor, 145):

1. If God exists, then God is perfect.
2. If God is perfect, the God is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnibenevolent.
3. If God is omni x 3, then there is no evil

We see here that from the conclusion of an all-powerful, perfect-loving God, the skeptic would have a hard time believing in such a being in the presence of evil. After all, why would a perfect God create such a thing? Wouldn’t a perfect loving God provide the best for his creation, so as to keep them from even being able to sin? I would consider the following logic before any further investigation (Geisler, Portable 360):

1. God created every substance.
2. Evil is not a substance (but a privation in a substance).
3. Therefore, God did not create evil.

We see here the argument highlighting the fact that evil was not a direct cause upon God’s creative process. While God created everything that exists, it doesn’t necessarily mean that he created evil. One may say that since God created everything and evil is something, then God created evil. We must be careful here, because even though evil is something, it may not be something intrinsically. For one to assume evil, they must have already assumed a good prior to the evil. This must be true because evil cannot be judged without an understanding of good, just as wrong cannot be understood without knowledge of what is right. Therefore, only if one has an idea of what good is can they know what evil is, thus, good being the standard by which evil is judged. Since what God created was good (Gen. 1:31), then he did not directly create evil. Where, then, did evil come from? This would bring us into the area of the human choice.

You see, when God created man, he did so in his own image (Gen. 1:27). Part of being created in the image of God is that you have the ability to will, not to the extent of God, but nonetheless, the human has the ability to exercise choice over that which he has the ability to choose. Now, how does this relate to good and evil? After all, since everything God created was good, then there was no evil for man to choose, right? Let’s look a little further.

In Genesis, chapter 2, we read that God gave man instruction. God instructed the man that

“From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat…” (v. 16-17).

This instruction to man was actually a two-fold message; 1) God gave man the ability to choose and 2) since God did this, he gave man the ability to either obey or disobey, thus having the knowledge of what right and wrong is. Later, we know that the man, Adam, did choose to disobey God and thus, evil had since been visible. If God didn’t allow man to freely choose between him and that which he did not want man to do, then there would be no way of expressing authentic love toward God. For one cannot truly love another if that is the only thing possible to do; there must be an alternative choice that one must have the opportunity to either choose or decline in order to offer true, authentic love. Also, it would take a perfect-loving God to provide this opportunity. What kind of perfect-loving God makes people love him? Therefore, since man chose to disobey God, he experienced for the first time what an absence of good is. Remember, evil cannot be judged without first knowing what good is. When man chose to do that which he knew he shouldn’t, he rejected what the perfect-loving God had warned him against, thus initiating the absence of good, which is evil.

It is obvious that this is a difficult area for people to cope with, that God would justify evil. One might conclude with William Rowe:

“… probably, if there were a reason that would justify God in allowing so much evil, we would know what it is, and there are no reasons we know of, so probably, there are no such reasons” (Taylor 157).

I believe a good response to this question would be, “Suppose there are certain evils that God is preventing. Are there any reasons to believe that this world could be in a worse condition of evil?” If so, then probably, we can think of some way that the world could be worse off than it is, so probably, there are good reasons to believe that God is preventing that what could be.

In the midst of all this, God does not leave us abandoned in the presence of our self-initiated evil. He comes to us and provides a way out. Faith in the Christian God is not merely a means to get over evil, pain, suffering, and even death, but to conquer through it; to be more than merely copers of evil, but overcomers of it, otherwise known as victors! If I may, and if it is sufficient to say, it is reasonable, upon these conclusions, to not dismiss the existence of an entirely good God for the simple fact that evil exists.

Works Cited

Multiple. The Bible. NASB. Nashvill: World Publishing, 1985.

—. The Portable Seminary. Ed. David Horton and Ryan Horton. Bloomington: Bethany House Publishers, 2006.

Taylor, James E. Introducing Apologetics. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, Baker Publishing Group, 2006.