The Problem of Evil…
In case you missed last week’s worship experience at Journey Church, here are some quick points on what we touched. You can always watch the message here or download the podcasts here!
One of the most common reasons people choose to reject Christianity is what’s most often referred to as “the problem of evil”. You can sum up the “problem of evil” this way: “How can a good and loving God allow so much evil, pain, and suffering…or does He simply not care?” Great question. Stinging, really.
And the more I’ve pressed into the question, the more comfortable I am living in the tension that question raises. Yes! God is good. Yes! He is all-powerful. Yes! He is keenly aware of the evil that so plagues the world. Yes! He is going to, one day, vanquish evil. AND (and it’s a big ‘ol “and”) it would appear that Yes. God allows very real evil in our world for a season and for a purpose—His greater purpose.
Understanding the “whys” of God permitting evil to run rampant is a quite elusive pursuit, however, there are some biblical “points of light” which help to illuminate the broad strokes for us.
Thanks to Mark Mittelberg, Peter Kreeft, and Ronald Tacelli for pointing me toward these conclusions.
1. In John 16:33, Jesus tells us that this world is going to be full of evil, pain, and suffering—and He got that right, didn’t He?!?
2. God didn’t create the evil that so abounds, but He did create human beings who could choose whether or not to truly love and follow Him. We can choose to truly love Him, or we can go the other way and not love or follow Him.
3. The by-product of a God Who created us as free beings who can choose to follow or not follow Him, is that we live in a world where people do what they want to do, which means that all kinds of sin, abuse, and damage occurs at the hands of people—leading to untold volumes of human pain and suffering.
4. The by-product of the moral evil which has affected the entire human race is what scholars call “natural evil”, which has tragically affected the world (cosmos) around us. “Natural evil” fleshes itself out via hurricanes, earthquakes, tsunamis, tornadoes, floods, fires, and all manner of other natural disasters—stuff the insurance industry calls “acts of God”.
5. God’s promise to vanquish and judge evil stands—He simply hasn’t done so yet.
6. God—especially in the person of Jesus—suffered in ways that none of us ever will.
7. Because He’s God, He is capable of bringing good out of bad (and He often does…)
And what we must never forget is that the cross of Jesus Christ is the only thing that ultimately gives meaning to our pain and suffering, because the cross communicates loudly and clearly—“You don’t suffer alone—Jesus suffers with you!”
“The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; he rescues those whose spirits are crushed.”
Psalm 34:18
So while we cannot fully explain away the “problem of evil”, God has, in His graciousness, seen fit to give us some guiding principles to help us navigate the maze of evil, pain, and suffering we live in each day.
Get ready for this weekend where we’ll be tackling Sticky Question #5: Why Does Christianity So Condemn Homosexuality When It’s Clear That God Made Homosexuals And That He Loves All People The Same?
Honest Agnostic
Brian, I just wanted to leave a note, not to start a debate, but just to ask that in your explanations you be completely honest, and I’m going to use one example from your “Problem of Evil” posting.
By way of qualification, I was an evangelical for 46 years, a ThB from Multnomah, and a missionary in Europe. Three years I became an agnostic after months of searching and examining my lifelong beliefs, and am now completely content and fulfilled in my present state of disbelief in the Bible deity.
Anyway, I just want to pull one example from your list, number 6, although all the others have significant problems when looked at rationally: “God—especially in the person of Jesus—suffered in ways that none of us ever will.”
I used to say that all the time when witnessing to non-christians, and I believed it. However, almost anyone with knowledge of the history of torture knows that statement is utterly false. Many hundreds of thousands of people have suffered – and are now and will in the future – significantly more than Jesus did hanging on the cross. If you read detailed, specific accounts of torture during the Inquisition, the Serb-Croat conflict, and many, many other periods in history, you will very quickly realize that hanging in the hot sun on a cross for a few hours, and even having a spear thrust through your ribs, is very small in terms of physical suffering, compared to what other people have gone through. Please, read accounts of torture: lasting for days, slowly burning a person, or twisting arms and legs until each joint rips from it’s socket, or cutting fingers from hands joint-by-joint-by-joint and then segments of arms and legs until only a head and torso is left. The torture devices invented simply to prolong and intensify the agony, are inconvievable. Jesus suffered nothing like these people.
So basically, I’m just requesting this: if you’re going to be an apologist, don’t just parrot untrue things that others before you have said. Be objective, be honest, be truthful, and don’t make stuff up just to support your theology. Speak carefully and accurately.
Kate Townley
H.A. – I’m sure Brian can and will respond better and more completely than I, but I read the post and your comment and wanted to throw an idea out for discussion (not debate, like you said).
What if what Brian’s words weren’t “untrue” because they weren’t meant only to include Jesus’ physical suffering, but also his spiritual? Because I’d agree with you – there are accurate records/accounts of torture more painful and egregious than Roman crucifixion. You mentioned the Serb/Croatian conflict – maybe you heard some of these first hand when you were in Europe? But here’s what I was thinking about – Jesus (from a Christian’s perspective) was the only human to have perfect relationship with God…none of us have ever pulled that off since. So can any of us really claim to understand the depth of pain experienced by someone who was, for the first time in existence, separated from God because he took on the weight, consequences and punishment for our own inequities & sins?
I understand if you claim neither faith nor disbelief in Jesus as God then your personal acceptance of Jesus’ suffering in that way isn’t likely, but, I think it’s a fair way to think about it if you’re willing to step into the shoes of the Christ follower who accepts a portion of the suffering as spiritual. Then you’re not agreeing, but seeing why Brian might make that comment in this post and how it could be both careful and accurate from a Christian’s perspective.
-KT
Honest Agnostic
(Oops! I meant “…three years ago I became an agnostic…”)