Responding to Arguments on the Problem of Evil

Copyright H.C. Felder www.GivingAnAnswer.org

Responding to Arguments on the Problem of Evil

By H.C. Felder


Roadmap

What is Evil? Where Did Evil Come From? Why Can’t Evil Be Stopped? What is the Purpose of Evil? What About Natural Disasters? Couldn’t God Make a World Without Evil? Evil is Evidence for God’s Existence Christianity Alone Defeats Evil


What is Evil?

Argument○ God is the author of everything○ Evil is something○ Therefore, God is the author of evil


What is Evil?

Response○ Evil is not a substance, but the lack of

something that should be there○ Examples:

Sickness is a lack of healthTo be maimed is the lack of a limbBlindness is a lack of sight


Where Did Evil Come From?

Argument○ Every creature God made is perfect○ But perfect creatures cannot do what is

imperfect○ So, every creature God made cannot do what

is imperfect



Responses:God made everything perfectOne of the perfect things God made was

free creaturesFree will is the cause of evilSo imperfection, (evil) can arise from

perfection (not directly, but indirectly through freedom).



Responses:To be free we had to have not only the

opportunity to choose good, but also the ability to choose evil

God made evil possible, man made evil actualImperfection came through the abuse of our

moral perfection as free creaturesSatan used his free will to rebel against God

causing the first sinEvil comes from our desire to put our own

interest above God’s


Why Can’t Evil Be Stopped?

ArgumentIf God is all-good, He would destroy evilIf God is all-powerful, He could destroy evilBut evil is not destroyedHence, there is no such God


Why Can’t Evil Be Stopped?

Responses:God cannot destroy evil without destroying

freedom○ As long as free beings chose evil, God cannot

destroy evil without destroying their freedom○ But to destroy the freedom God has willed free

creatures is not a good but an evilSome physical suffering is a result of our own

free choice (e.g., some sickness)Some evil results indirectly from own free

choice (e.g., poverty from laziness)


What is the Purpose of Evil?

Argument:There is no good purpose for much sufferingAn all-good God must have a good purpose

for everythingSo, there cannot be an all-good God



Responses:Just because we may not know the reason

for suffering does not mean that there is no reason○ Only an omniscient God could know the

reasons for all sufferingEven we know the reason for some suffering

○ God sometimes uses evil to warn us of greater evils

○ Pain keeps us from self destructionLeprosyChild with fire



Responses:God will use evil to bring about his purpose

○ Slavery-Used to bring salvation to millions of African Americans

○ Holocaust -Instrumental in Israel reclaiming their homeland

○ Permitting some evil, prevents other evilDentistSpankingThe Cross



Responses:God will use evil to bring about his purpose

○ Develop spiritual maturity‘I will no longer drive out before them any of the

nations Joshua left when he died. 22 I will use them to test Israel and see whether they will keep the way of the LORD and walk in it as their forefathers did.” (Judges 2:21-23)

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.” (James 1:2-3)

What about Natural Disasters?



ArgumentMoral evil is explained by free choice But some natural evil does not result from free

choiceNatural evil cannot be explained by free

choice of creaturesHence, God must be responsible for natural

evilBut natural evils cause innocent suffering and

deathTherefore, God is responsible for innocent

suffering and death



Responses:The entire creation is fallen

○ “For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay” (Rom. 8:20-21)

It is not God’s fault that people live in an area prone to famine and severe weather

It is not wrong for God to take life since He gave life


Couldn’t God Make a World Without Evil?

Argument:God could have chosen alternative worlds

that would have been better than this world Let’s examine the options

God could have created nothing○ Response: The things God created were good

and it is good to merely existGod could have created a world without free

creatures○ Response: A non-moral world is not a good

world



Let’s examine the optionsGod could have created free creatures that

would not sin○ Response: Not possible

God could have created a world without free creatures○ Response: God cannot force anyone to love

him. Forced love is rape



This is the best way to the best possible worldFreedom is preserved in that each person

makes his own free choice to determine his destiny

Those who choose God will be confirmed in it and sin will cease

Those who reject God are in eternal quarantine and cannot upset the perfect world that has come about

Evil is Evidence for the Existence of God

former Oxford atheist, C. S. Lewis, asked himself, “Just how had I got this idea of just and unjust? A man does not call a line crooked unless he has some idea of a straight line.” He adds, “What was I comparing this universe with when I called it unjust. . . . Of course I could have given up my idea of justice by saying it was nothing but a private idea of my own,” he concludes..,.



“But if I did that, then my argument against God collapsed too—for the argument depended on saying that the world was really unjust, not simply that it did not happen to please my private fancies.” Thus, “in the very act of trying to prove that God did not exist—in other words, that the whole of reality was senseless—I found I was forced to assume that one part of reality—namely my idea of justice—was full of sense”



God is the moral standard by which we can judge evil

The Moral Argument Proves the existence of God○ Every law has a lawgiver ○ There is an absolute Moral law

Absolutes are undeniable. (We know right from wrong best by our reactions, not our actions.)

We can’t know in-justice unless we know justice.We wouldn’t make excuses for doing wrong if there was

no Moral Law.We wouldn’t know the world was getting worse (or better)

if there was no Moral Law.

○ Therefore, there is an absolute Moral Lawgiver


Christianity Alone Defeats Evil

Pantheism○ The belief that evil is unreal does not

correspond to realityIt does not explain the existence of evilIt is contrary to our experience

Atheism○ Believe that evil is real but has no way to deal

with it. Evil must be defeated by manPolytheism

○ Believe evil is necessary. There no mechanism to get rid of evil



Finite Godism○ God is limited in love and/or power so he either

can’t or won’t defeat evilIslam

○ There is no triumph of good over evil. People in heaven are unregenerate



Christianity○ There is coming in the future world where evil is

defeated and a greater good achieved ○ For once men have freely chosen good or evil, it

is not a violation of their free choice for God to permanentize what they really willed to do

○ People are regenerated○ Evil will be completely segregated from good

(Heaven and Hell)○ Evil will be defeated permanently


Summary

What is Evil?Evil is not a substance, but the lack of something

that should be there Where Did Evil Come From?

Evil is the result of free will Why Can’t Evil Be Stopped?

Evil can’t be stopped without removing free will What is the Purpose of Evil?

We don’t always know the purpose but that does not mean that there is no purpose


Summary

What About Natural Disasters?All creation fell when man fell

Couldn’t God Make a World Without Evil?Not without taking away free will

Evil is Evidence for God’s ExistenceThere cannot be evil without good. God is the

standard of good Christianity Alone Defeats Evil

Christianity is the only worldview that defeats evil while maintaining free will


The End

Responding to Arguments on the Problem of Evil

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