The Problem of Evil

Greetings fellow earthlings!
This week in class I have been learning about the problem of evil. We had to write a paper in response to the problem. This is my response: (I added little pictures to make it more interesting. The pictures were not in my actual paper)

The Goodness of God and Human Suffering

"The fact of suffering undoubtedly constitutes the single greatest challenge to the Christian faith”,stated theologian John Stott. Indeed I have been guilty of asking myself the questions;If there is a God, why do good people suffer; Why do innocent children starve while the wicked prosper; and would a loving creator allow heart-wenching suffering? For centuries skeptics and believers alike have wondered if the presence of suffering could co-exist with a wise and loving God. The presence of evil and suffering can actually be proof of a good and caring God, because it presupposes an objective standard for good and evil.

God is the objective standard for good and evil. C.S. Lewis has called God “The Supreme Good”. Lewis also said,“If the universe is so bad...how on earth did human beings ever come to attribute it to the activity of a wise and good Creator?” Lewis believes the very concept of evil and goodness calls for a standard of goodness which begs to be accounted for. If there is no God, where did the standard by which we define evil originate? Skeptics may ask, “Where was God when the hurricane hit Haiti?; why didn't God stop the disaster?;does God care? If God is all-loving, all-powerful and all-good shouldn't suffering be non-existent?” However, the over-arching response to those questions should be “By what standard are you judging “good” versus “bad” circumstances? Every society has a standard by which they determine “good” from “evil” yet most of the time they don't realize the organization of their standard.

Regardless of their religious beliefs most people would unwaveringly agree that putting young children into the back of a pick-up truck, driving them to the edge of a cliff, then shoving them off the cliff, would be morbidly evil. But why? Why does the image of purposely shoving babies off a cliff make people cringe? Because, everyone knows this is wrong. When and where did they learn this moral code of right and wrong. No one has to teach to man. It's part of the Natural Law that God instilled into His image-bearing creation.

Natural Law is an objective norm to which people strive for and which expect other people to abide by. It is a law that informs and convicts men of what they should and should not do. It is universally known and universally broken. Unfortunately, although the law is written on human hearts it is not automatically obeyed. We all break this natural law, and disobey the law's author.

God, the author of good and evil is Himself acquainted with suffering. Romans 8 says “What then shall we say to these things?If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword?” (Romans 8:32-33, 35)

Good cannot exist without evil, therefore the two do not contradict each other. Evil is a necessary counterpart to good. This can easily be shown through the contrast between great and small. For something to be great it must naturally have a counterpart in something less great. While the concepts of great and small can be viewed as opposites, they need each other in order to be clearly understood.

An example of this: When I was six years old I went on a missions trip to a housing project built on top of a dump in Mexico. While there I visited an extremely poor family who had received a new bed and wanted to show “the Americans”. As I entered their humble abode I noticed the mother had put a lot of effort into preparing her home for us. The dirt floor was swept smooth, the table was cleared and decorated with a jar of flowers. To any poor Mexican this little house would appear clean as a whistle. However, to an American eye, the house was anything but clean, in fact it was dirty. It was dirty to me and my family because of our American understanding of clean.Similarly evil presupposes good. Just as clean is the absence of dirt, so evil is the absence of good. This is significant proof that evil and good do not contradict each other

God is the ultimate good, righteous in all His ways. Even in circumstances that would cause the most faithful follower to question God's goodness. In Genesis 18 Abraham asked God confidently “Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?” There is no good apart from God. Evil cannot exist apart from a Holy God, since God's goodness and justice are the hallmarks of everything that is opposite of evil.

Peter Kreeft, author of “The Case for Faith” says“God is not the author of suffering, but He is the provider”. God created free will. Mankind's free will is the source of evil. God could not create a world without the potentiality for sin and evil. If was were no potentiality for sin, there would be no freedom. The idea of a world with free will yet without potentiality for sin is a self-contradiction. What would be the point in having free will if we didn't really get to make a choice? As Kreeft asserted “A world without suffering would be more like hell than heaven”, Because when evil is removed, free is abolished. Kreeft also said “A world without suffering would be a world without love, which is the highest value in the universe. That highest good could never have been experienced. Real love- our love of God and our love of each other- must involve a choice. But with the granting of that choice comes the possibility that people would choose instead to hate.” God gave us Free Will, and we chose to sin and now suffer the consequences.

An omnipotent God can and will use suffering, pain and evil in our lives.

 Romans 8:28- “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” Allowing evil enables God to defeat the ultimate evil, Satan, with His righteous justice.

When God allows suffering it may be His way of pushing us in the direction of unexpected blessing. Sometimes the presence of pain in my life brings the practical benefit of sanctifying me. God works in me through affliction. R.C Sproul puts it nicely ”As uncomfortable as pain may be, we do know that the scriptures tell us again and again that tribulation is a means by which we are purified and driven to a deeper dependence on God. There is a long-range benefit to us that we would presumably lose were it not for the pain we are called to 'endure for a season.' The scriptures tell us to endure for a season because the pain we experience now cant even be compared with the glories stored up for us in the future.” It's going to hurt and we don't know why we're going through that hurt, but God knows. And when we overcome that suffering we partake in a tiny piece of what Christ did on the cross. Sproul also says “It's good to remember that the very baptism we receive is, among other things, a sign of our willingness to participate in the sufferings of Christ.” We may not know why we're suffering but we can take comfort in suffering honorably in trusting God with the results.

In conclusion, the fact that evil exists aids the argument for the existence of God. There is an objective standard for good; that is the Supreme Good, who is God. Suffering is not necessarily bad. Man's suffering can be for a greater, sometimes invisible, purpose.“Pain and suffering are frequently the means by which we become more motivated to finally surrender to God and to seek the cure of Christ” surmised Peter Kreeft. God does not make mankind suffer unnecessarily. Without evil we would not have free will. God knows what He is doing at all times even when He ordains suffering for His people. Just as it pains a human father to see his child hurting, whether from an accident or needful surgery, God the Father suffers alongside His children. God suffered extreme pain when He sent His son Jesus Christ to die the painful and shameful death of the cross.

Perhaps the real question that should be asked is not “If God is good, why do bad things happen?”, but rather, “Why is God so merciful and gracious towards us and what have we done to deserve this?”. The only truthful answer is that we don't deserve it. But God has made a way for us to be eternally free from all pain and suffering- in glory, with Him. This is the truth that should make us stand in awe.