Board index ‹ The Problem of Evil and Suffering

[Olivia]

If God is good, why does he allow evil?

[jimwalton]

Why doesn’t God at least stop evil from happening? It's most likely a common thought that we want God to stop all kinds of things. OK, so God can’t possibly have created without evil, as I said before, so why doesn't he at least use his power to stop it? God should stop every random act that would cause harm, pain, or hurt, should stop every act of every person that would have a negative effect, should stop every thought that would result in a harmful action, should stop every disease, should stop every problem.

Just to repeat what I said before, if he did that we would have no more too hot, never too cold, no illnesses, no mean thoughts, no harsh words, no anger, and no unpleasantries. Any hand raised to strike another would be frozen in place, or God would purge the thought so the hand wouldn’t be raised. It could never rain when anyone planned a picnic. It could never be too cold for our planned day at the zoo, because that would cause bad attitudes, disappointment, and suffering. What are we left with here? We would just walk around, doing our business, greeting each other with smiles. There wouldn’t be any love, because you have to CHOOSE love for it to be real and meaningful. There wouldn’t be any real relationships because we’d all be sappy to each other all the time. This is a pretty lousy world I’m thinking of, and not real. In ways may be preferable to a world of suffering, but in ways lacking in some of life’s most treasured realities. I’m not sold on a world without suffering. Maybe I’m thinking too shallow, but it just doesn’t make sense to me. That’s not a world. That’s not life. I just can’t get around it.

Is the entire scenario a set-up? I don’t think so. By my understandings, God created the only possible world that could be created, and then he entered that world to redeem the things that by necessity had to be there but were undesirable. He doesn’t stop them, because it would deprive us of life, ultimately. So instead he offers redemption in the midst of it, or after it. He offers us life on another level, and that’s something He CAN do. It’s the only choice He has, and to be fair He offers it freely to all. But, you say, we’re judged for following the way nature built us, and so it’s a set-up? Never, because God has freely and easily given us the other path, and it’s the only possible action he could take if He is a good and loving and powerful God.

Now, to follow with your next question: Why does God allow Satan to have as much power as he has? Man, you ask good questions. In every reference to Satan throughout Scripture, he is clearly subordinate to God. In Job, he only acts with God's permission. In the Gospels, he always does what Jesus tells him to; he has no power over Jesus at all, not even in little ways. But, as you've observed, Satan has power as an accuser, a tempter, and a deceiver. Why does God allow him this? Satan, even though he is a real spiritual being, is an expression of sin in the world. In that sense he is a symbol (Have you ever seen "Batman Begins", and the idea of an individual also being a symbol??). As long as sin is around in all its power, Satan will be around in all his power. When Jesus defeated sin on the cross, Satan was defeated. And in the end, at the great judgment, when sin is forever consigned to hell, so also will Satan be.

Did God create evil? No, but it was a necessary part of creation, as I've already explained. When you turn on a light you automatically create shadows, part and parcel of the light. There's no way around it. A heart that beats also has a time of rest. One long beat isn't a beat. A beat necessitates that it goes off and on. That's the only way things can work. When God created people with free will (in his image, but without the perfection), then it was inevitable that they have every right to choose something contrary to God. So God didn't create evil. People did, because where there is light, there is the possibility of a shadow.

But I should worship him because even though he couldn't stop evil from happening, he has been working from it's first expression to undo and redeem it, even to the point of sending his son to die for it in an expression of love. that's why I worship Him.

[gmw803]

I believe God does prevent most evil from occurring - the vast majority of evil is not converted to reality because it is restrained. A month after the Sandy Hook school shootings, I was so dismayed by the church's cliched response that I wrote a book about the topic. It is on Amazon titled "But No Farther." And my name is Glenn Walker. But it is overpriced (amazon minimum) and badly needs to be rewritten. Ask Jim for my e-mail address, and I'll send you a copy for free.

The reason put forth is three-fold: 1. The heart of man is so desperately wicked that we can't even imagine how wicked it is (Jeremiah 17:9); 2. God allows some measure of human behavior to take place, but, as He told Pharaoh at the border of the Red Sea, "This far you may come, but no farther (Job 38:11). 3) God outright puts His hand of restraint out to prevent evil, but sometimes He takes it out of the way (2 Thessalonians 2:7).

Here's how the three folds interact: You say you give generously to charities, and you do well. But the truth is your heart is so deceitful that you don't even comprehend how wicked you really are. Were it not for the restraining ministry of God's Spirit, you would surely be robbing charities. That is but one example. What God gets flack for - and it isn't justified - is that occasionally God pulls back His hand of restraint, thereby giving us a peak at what happens when God does not say "but no farther." And it isn't pretty. The cruelest acts are the same as you and I would be doing were God to withdraw His hand of restraint - even just once.

Why does God let us see such ugliness? If He never lifted the curtain, we would vacate Jeremiah 17:9. "What does God mean? Man isn't all that bad." Acting out the evil in your heart is a tragedy. But woe to the man who takes personal credit for the good that God has provided.

[jimwalton]

Glenn, I agree with you very strongly: God does prevent most evil from occurring. His hand of common grace on mankind is so "natural" to us that most don't even see it. But we have seen enough clear (though mercifully only a relative few) examples of human atrocity that we know the depravity of the hearts of men. But we have also seen enough apocalyptic writings and movies to know that all of us are well aware of the beast that lies within all of us—just remove the external constraints or the facade of civilization, and how quickly we turn demonic. I believe that each of us has seen or felt the beast rising inside of us, and we have the repressive capabilities to put it back in its closet inside of us, but we've seen his face and know it resembles "me", and it's in there, just waiting for the right stimulus to set him free to destroy. The Bible talks ferociously about this reality, and that Christ is the only antidote.