Problems of Evil

It’s been three years since I’ve written about the problem of evil.  Some of you have joined us in that time, so I’ll summarize the problem for you:

If God is all knowing, He would know how to end evil.

If God is all powerful, He would be able to end evil.

If God is all loving, He would want to end evil.

Evil exists.

Therefore, an all knowing, all powerful, all loving God does not exist.

The problem of evil (POE) has been around since three hundred years before Christ.  So long as someone believes there is a good, powerful, and loving God, the POE stands as an issue that needs to be dealt with.

This particular form addresses what is called the Moral Problem of Evil.  There are others, but this is the form most often presented to Christians to answer. 

“How can God allow planes to fly into towers and let 3,000 people die without cause?”  Usually it goes something like that.  There is something called the Freewill Defense first developed by the professor of philosophy, Alvin Plantinga of Notre Dame in his book, God, Freedom, and Evil.  He said that God loves us and wants us to love Him back.  True love must be freely given, so God would need to give us the ability both to love Him and to reject His love for us.  Those who reject God’s love are capable of doing ungodly things.  This would include flying into towers and killing people.

Another POE is The Natural Problem of Evil:

God is all-powerful

God is perfectly good

God knows all suffering

Natural disasters and diseases cause immense suffering

Therefore, such a God probably does not exist.

Natural disasters and diseases are not necessarily the result of someone’s sin:

Luke 13:4-5 (ESV)  Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? ⁵ No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”

Here are some biblical reasons for the Natural Problem of Evil:

Creation was originally “very good” – Gen. 1:31

Human sin brought a curse upon creation – Rom. 8:20-22

God sometimes uses suffering for His purposes – John 9:1-3

God promises to remove natural evil – Rev. 22:3

Why is this important?

The problem of evil is the most frequently asked question of Christians and the question that most often goes unanswered.  We are to have an answer for those who ask of us:

1 Peter 3:15 (ESV)  ¹⁵ but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,