Evil

The question of evil involves several major things.  First, it seeks to understand how God (if He exists) can allow evil.  Second, it tries to make sense of the actual evil in the world, both natural and moral.

The first argument concerning evil is the logical argument.

  1. God is all powerful and God is perfectly good.
  2. A good and powerful God would put a stop to evil.
  3. Evil continues, therefore, God must not exist.

For an in-depth evaluation of this argument, read God, Freedom, and Evil by Alvin Plantinga.

For now let me just say that God allows humans to have free will.  With free will comes the ability to make good and bad choices.  A God who is all good and powerful would only put an end to evil if it did not cause a greater evil.  Having no free choice may be a greater evil than having to deal with some evil in the world now.  Finally, God is putting an end to evil and He is renewing all things, He is just slow in bringing about the end of evil so as to give more people an opportunity to learn to trust Him and to know Him.

The second argument concerning evil is the moral argument.

  1. God is good and all powerful.
  2. A good and powerful God would put a stop to pointless evil.
  3. Pointless evil exists, therefore, God must not exist.

While this second argument is better than the first, it has one major flaw.  It presumes that pointless evil exists.  This argument could easily be turned around.

  1. There is no pointless evil.
  2. A good and powerful God would put a stop to pointless evil.
  3. Therefore, a good and all powerful God does exist.

We may not always know why certain evils happen, but we can trust that there is a reason, even if we do not know what it is.  God never told Job why he had to suffer as he did, and God does not owe us an explanation either.  Suffering could be punitive (for punishment), it could be soul-making (used for building our character or the character of others), it could be to prevent a greater evil, regardless of why we suffer, all suffering is a time that will test us.  When you suffer will you draw closer to God, or will you push Him away?