The Problem of Evil

If God is all-good and all-powerful how can evil exist?

Outline • What is evil and where did it come from?

• The intellectual problem of evil ― There is so much evil in the world I don’t see how there could be a God. ― Why do bad things happen to good people? ― Doesn’t Hell contradict a loving God? ― Why the problem of evil is a bad proof for atheist.

• The emotional problem of evil.

What is evil?

• Evil is not a thing, an entity, or a being. ― God is the Creator of all things and if evil is a thing, then God is the Creator of evil, and he is to blame for its existence.

• Evil is a wrong choice, or the damage done by a wrong choice. ― The origin of evil is not the Creator but the creature's freely choosing sin and selfishness.

• The cause of physical evil is spiritual evil. The cause of suffering is sin.

The origin of evil •

God is the source of all life and joy. Therefore, when the human soul rebels against God, it loses its life and joy. ― Now a human being is body as well as soul so the body must share in the soul's inevitable suffering

• If the origin of evil is free will, and God is the origin of free will, isn't God then the origin of evil? ― Only as parents are the origin of the misdeeds their children commit by being the origin of their children.

The intellectual problem of evil

How to give a rational explanation of how God and evil can co-exist.

Is it logical for God and evil to co-exist?

• According to the logical problem of evil, it is logically impossible for God and evil to co-exist. ― If God exists, then evil cannot exist. If evil exists, then God cannot exist. Since evil exists, it follows that God does not exist. ― The problem with this argument is that there’s no reason to think that God and evil are logically incompatible.

• The atheist presupposes that God cannot have morally sufficient reasons for permitting the evil in the world. ― So long as it is even possible that God has morally sufficient reasons for permitting evil, it follows that God and evil are logically consistent.

There is so much evil in the world I don’t see how there could be a God.

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We are not in a good position to assess the probability of whether God has morally sufficient reasons for the evils that occur. ―

As finite persons, we are limited in time, space, intelligence, and insight.

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In order to achieve His ends, God may have to put up with certain evils along the way. Evils which appear pointless to us within our limited framework may be seen to have been justly permitted within God’s wider framework.

The chief purpose of life is not happiness, but the knowledge of God. ―

Many evils occur in life which may be utterly pointless with respect to the goal of producing human happiness in this world, but they may not be unjustified with respect to producing the knowledge of God.

There is so much evil in the world I don’t see how there could be a God.

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Relative to the full scope of the evidence, God’s existence is probable.

― Probabilities are relative to what background information you consider. ― If all you consider for background information is the evil in the world, then it’s hardly surprising that God’s existence appears improbable relative to that. ― The real question is whether God’s existence is improbable relative to the total evidence available.

When you consider the total evidence, then God’s existence is quite probable.

The Weight of Glory • Imagine a scale in which all the sufferings of this life are placed on one side, while on the other side is placed the glory that God will bestow on his children in heaven. The weight of glory is so great that it is literally beyond comparison with the suffering.

Why do bad things happen to good people?

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The question makes three questionable assumptions. ― First, who's to say we are good people? The question should be not "Why do bad things happen to good people?" but "Why do good things happen to bad people?"

― Second, who's to say suffering is all bad? Life without suffering would produce spoiled brats and tyrants, not joyful saints. ― "The man who has not suffered, what can he possibly know, anyway?“ (Rabbi Abraham Heschel )

― Third, who's to say we have to know all God's reasons? Animals can't understand much about us; why should we be able to understand everything about God?

Doesn’t hell contradict a loving and omnipotent God? • The worst aspect of the problem of evil is eternal evil, hell.

• Hell is the consequence of free will. We freely choose hell for ourselves; God does not cast anyone into hell against his will. ― If a creature is really free to say yes or no to the Creator's offer of love then it must be possible for the creature to say no. And that is what hell is, essentially. ― Free will, in turn, was created out of God's love. Therefore hell is a result of God's love. Everything is.

The problem of evil for atheist • Objective evil exists: - Things exist that aren't just contrary to my personal tastes (like broccoli) but which are contrary to what all moral people know to be good (like genocide or the torture of little children).

• Objective morality, including objective evil, cannot exist without God. - This doesn't mean that atheists can't be moral people.

- The problem is that moral behavior appears completely irrational without God.

The problem of evil for atheist • There's no way to get from statements about how the world is to how the world ought to be without imposing a value system.

- To say something is objectively evil—that it objectively ought not to be—you have to believe in objective values, binding everyone.

• Atheistic naturalism denies any such universally-binding moral laws (since they require Divine Authorship): - If God does not exist, objective moral values do not exist.

- Objective moral values do exist.

- Therefore God exists.

The problem of evil for atheist • If objective morality does not exist, the problem of evil as argument against God breaks down.

- When atheists raise the problem of evil, they're already conceding the existence of objective evil, and thus, of objective morality.

• Atheists can either believe that morality is nothing more than a shifting moral spirit of the times, of no more importance than the latest fashion, or they can criticize the moral values of our religions. But they can't coherently do both. • We can see that objective morals do, in fact, exist. We don't need to be told that raping, torturing, and killing innocent people are more than just unpleasant or counter-cultural.

The problem of evil for atheist • So is the problem of evil a problem for Christians?

- There are intellectually satisfying answers, but it's not for nothing that St. Thomas Aquinas lists it as one of two logical arguments for atheism in the Summa Theologiae.

• However the problem of evil is a dramatically larger problem for atheists: - To complain of the problem of evil, you must acknowledge evil.

- To acknowledge evil, you must acknowledge an objective system of moral laws.

- Objective universal moral laws require a Lawgiver capable of dictating behavior for everyone.

- This Lawgiver is Who we call God.

The emotional problem of evil

How to address people’s emotional dislike of a God who would permit suffering.

What is the answer to the question of suffering?

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Most people who reject God because of the evil in the world just don’t like a God who would permit them or others to suffer and therefore they want nothing to do with Him.

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As the Christian sees things, God does not stand idly by, coolly observing the suffering of His creatures. He enters into and shares our suffering.

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Jesus endured a suffering beyond all comprehension: He bore the punishment for the sins of the whole world. None of us can comprehend that suffering. ― Though He was innocent, He voluntarily took upon himself the punishment that we deserved. And why? Because He loves us.

The emotional problem of evil •

When we comprehend His sacrifice and His love for us, this puts the problem of evil in an entirely different perspective. For now we see clearly that the true problem of evil is the problem of our evil.

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Filled with sin and morally guilty before God, the question we face is not how God can justify Himself to us, but how we can be justified before Him.

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So paradoxically, even though the problem of evil is the greatest objection to the existence of God, at the end of the day God is the only solution to the problem of evil. If God does not exist, then we are lost without hope in a life filled with gratuitous and unredeemed suffering.

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