Murder, rape and other violent crimes, as well as hurricanes and other
natural disasters, are more frequent today than in the near past. This being
the case, many people are asking, if God is all loving and all powerful, why
does He allow evil to exist? To address this issue, since it is directed at
God, the most logical place to look is with God Himself. He speaks to man
through His word, the Bible.
The first step would be to look at the problem of evil. In the Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, it states,
“There is no one problem, because there are various kinds of problems of evil,
and all are different.”[1] It
goes on to say that, from a theological standpoint, known as a theodicy, the
view, in question, must not contradict itself; not that it cannot contradict
the questioner’s views or the beliefs of another theistic system.[2]
Therefore, the questioner has to weigh the theodicy and then evaluate whether
there is any contradiction.
The Bible says that God created everything that was created, including
man and He made man in His image (Gen. 1:27; Gen. 5:1; Deut. 4:32; Eph. 4:24,
NKJV). He gave man an inherent knowledge of right and wrong and he gave this
man, Adam, one command, “Of every tree of the garden
you may freely eat; but of the tree of the
knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it
you shall surely die.” (Gen. 2:16-17, NKJV). Adam had a personal
relationship with God; yet he disobeyed Him. This is where the first problem of
evil begins (for mankind).
According to the Evangelical Dictionary
of Theology, there are two types of evil: moral and natural.[3]
However, while different, you cannot separate them. Moral evil is the act
whereby man breaks God’s law; while natural evil, hurricanes, etc., are a
result of man’s sinfulness.[4]
When Adam chose to willfully disobey God, he brought God’s curse, not only upon
mankind but on the earth itself. God created perfection; man invited sin and
corruption.
There are various theodicies; one is that of Gottfried Leibniz. His
theodicy is based on metaphysics. He states that God, if He indeed is good,
would have to put man in the absolute best environment and under the best
conditions for him to thrive.[5] He
also reasons that “God always operates on the basis of sufficient reason.”[6]
Summed up, if man can best thrive in a world that contains both moral good and
moral evil, God would have to provide this environment for Him (God) to be just
and good. While Leibniz does not contradict himself, the questioner may not
agree with him.
Other theodicies, “rest upon a modified rationalistic theology.”[7]
Basic points of these theodicies are: (1) God is not under obligation to create
any world because His existence is the supreme good; (2) creating a world is a good
thing but not the only good thing He could do and whatever He does is based on
reason but these reasons are not necessarily universal law; (3) there are a
limitless number of worlds He could create but some are inherently evil by
nature, therefore He could not create them but there are other good worlds He
could create. There is no such thing as a best possible world. (4) Lastly, God
had the choice to create or not, as He so chose.[8]
According to the Evangelical
Dictionary of Theology, the problem of evil arises in this theodicy. One
such problem is whether this world is one of the good worlds; another problem
is the sinful acts carried out by creatures that God created for this world,
supposing that God created a world where evil did not exist.[9]
A theodicy, to have merit, must be internally consistent. It must show
that God is good, while not removing evil from the world. As an act of perfect
love, God gave man the free will to choose or reject Him. Anything less and man
would not have the freedom to choose and that would not be perfect love. As a
further act of perfect love, God prepared a plan of redemption for fallen man,
the perfect sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. God gave man the option to choose
but provides a way back into fellowship with Him for eternity (John 1:1-14;
Acts 3:13-26).
Sin separates man from God and an unrepentant man cannot be in
fellowship with God because God is holy. He must first repent and confess his
sin; then God will hear him and abide with him and give him eternal life. A
believer may have questions for or about God, Job and his friends did. Although
they all disputed certain beliefs about God, He showed His great mercy and
forgave them. (Job 2:11-42:17). The believer is expected to pray and study
God’s word; if he does, God will reveal His truths to that person; however, if
a person chooses to believe a thing based on convenience or selfish motivation,
God will deal with him.
Bibliography
Elwell,
Walter A. Evangelical Dictionary of
Theology, 2nd Edition. Grand Rapids:
Baker Book House Company, 2001.
What is the problem
of evil?
Define moral evil and
natural evil, and illustrate them with examples.
Seek to explain why
there is sin among mankind (the philosophical problem of moral evil) and why
bad things happen in nature (the philosophical problem of natural evil).
Consider the various theodicies presented in the reading, and address
the merits and faults of each one.
Briefly explain why a
theodicy must be internally consistent, and defend the internal consistency of
your explanation of evil’s existence.
Consider how personal
experience of evil may affect one’s relationship with God (the religious
problem of evil). Do you believe someone can dispute a certain belief
about God without actually attacking God Himself?
[2].
Ibid., 414.
[4].
Ibid., 412
[5].
Ibid., 1185.
[6].
Ibid., 1185.
[7].
Ibid., 1185.
[9].
Ibid., 1185.
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