The problem is normally stated as follows:
- There is evil.
- If God were all-knowing He would know of evil.
- If God were all-powerful He could stop evil.
- If God were all-good He should prevent evil.
LOGICAL CONTRADICTION?
Some have suggested that Christianity is stuck here in a contradictory predicament. The presence of evil is a very real presence indeed and any belief system that denies this lapses into certain incoherence. The Bible presents God as the all-knowing being and yet to some it seems as though God may not be aware of the evil we face in this world. Christian theology states that God is all-powerful and yet there is so much evil that continues in human experience. Christians believe that God is all-good and yet people wonder why does God not prevent the evil that causes so much pain. Does God know what we are going through? Can He stop it? If He knows and can stop it, why doesn’t He?
There is a difference between a set of propositions that humans do not understand and an actual logical contradiction. A contradictory statement is one that presents at least two propositions that both cannot be true at the same time and in the same sense. For example, it is contradictory to say that all bachelors are married or that Richmond is married to Leanne and Leanne is not married to Richmond. These are contradictions because they are opposing statements that both cannot be true at the same time and in the same way. To consider it necessary for God to now (He will in His timing) stop evil because He is all-powerful does not mean that God contradicts Himself for not doing it, but only that we have an expectation that we prefer to impose upon Him. The same is true of God’s goodness and knowledge. God is all-knowing, but to question whether He actually knows about the evil only exposes a presumed human expectation upon the divine. The only reason the question is presented in this manner is to impose an expectation upon God by assuming how He should handle the situation. The implication is that if God knew, or was really all-good, what was happening here below then He would certainly do what I want Him to do. These ideas present disappointment in what God should do according to a certain human perspective but they do not offer formal contradictions. It is perfectly possible that God is all-knowing and knows all about the evil in this world and yet has a purpose for what He now permits. It is also plausible that God is all-powerful and is moving history to a pre-appointed time in which He ultimately and finally will eradicate evil. It is also conceivable that God is all-good and is using His power to redeem that which is evil for a greater good.
THE WAYS OF GOD
God has His ways of handling the wickedness of this world and His ways are not our ways. Isaiah 55:8-9 says, “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,” says the LORD. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.” God has a perspective of the universe that we simply do not have. The Bible also says that God has a divine way of manipulating the evil that occurs in order to achieve an even greater good. As Joseph said in Genesis 50:20, “you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good.” The Almighty is constantly working in people’s lives to redeem that which the world meant for evil and transform it into something which brings about a greater good. I remember enduring some great difficulties as a child and at the time I did not understand and just wanted someone to take the pain away. There is still much that I do not understand but I can now look back at the difficulties of my childhood and see how God used that to make me the person I am today. Those previous times of misery have been turned into beautiful and more effective opportunities of ministry toward others who are enduring the pain of this fallen world. Romans 8:28 displays all three of the divine attributes in the lives of His people, “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” God is all-knowing in that He knows “all things” in the lives of those who “love God”. God is all-powerful in that He “works together” all things. God is all-good in that He “works together for good” all these things. I admit this verse speaks only of God’s attributes actualized in the lives of His called out ones, but rather than debate the extent to which He exercises His attributes I prefer to encourage the reader to receive Christ and enjoy the benefits of God’s knowledge, power, and love.
DEFINING EVIL AND ITS ORIGIN
The presence of evil demands something absolutely good by which one may determine what is evil. Evil is defined as that which is morally wrong or bad. In order for something to be morally wrong there first must be a standard of what is morally right. This perfect righteousness is part of who God is. Before anything can be categorized as bad there must be a standard of what is good by which to measure that which is bad. This absolute good is God. When we say “God is good” we are not only saying that God acts in ways that are good but that God is intrinsic goodness. The presence of evil is the departure and its results of rebelling against God and His goodness.
God created life and granted His creatures the gift of actual freedom. This freedom of agency allows them to be significantly free which allows for the potential of at least two alternatives. Humans were given actual freedom and the moment this freedom was actualized there came with it two options. The first option was that which is good, or morally consistent with God, His character, and His commands. The second option was that which is evil, or morally inconsistent with God, His character, and His commands. Someone may wonder at this point why did not God just create His creatures in such a way that they were determined only to do what was right? This determination would not have allowed for actual freedom because if we are not significantly free then we cannot do what is right freely. The absence of actual freedom would also remove the possibility of doing that which is actually good. The presence of good actualizes the possibility of that which is evil. Actual rightness actualizes also the potential for actual wrongness which results in the existence of two alternatives therefore bringing about significant freedom. The propositions may be stated this way:
- One of God’s eternal attributes is absolute goodness.
- God created beings and actualized goodness in the experience of created beings.
- The actualization of goodness produced the potentiality of it’s opposite which is evil.
- The actuality of good and the potentiality of evil presented two alternatives which actualized freedom of agency in created beings.
- One created being actualized evil by exercising freedom of agency to choose it.
- Evil originated with this one being.
This one being in whom evil originated is called Lucifer or Satan. He is the one who initially actualized evil and rebelled against God and later introduced sinful rebellion also to the first humans (Adam and Eve) which God created. The freedom of agency which was granted to the first humans allowed for the capability of both moral good and moral evil. The exercise of this freedom resulted in the choosing of evil. This explains the beginning of the problem with which we are still plagued today, and so we continue in the choosing of evil. Romans 5:12 puts it this way, “just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned.”
GOD’S REMEDY
God knows all about it. God has power to overcome it. God lovingly grants His power to all who will turn away from evil and receive His provision. Hebrews 4:15 says Jesus was “tempted in all points as we are, yet without sin.” He knows about the evil in this world and He knows about each individual way that evil manifests itself in our lives. In all of the perfect holiness of Jesus we find the One who is absolute goodness and has power to not be infected by evil. He was born of a virgin conceived by the Holy Spirit, not by the seed of man, indicating the evil of man’s sin was not transmitted to him as it has been to every other human born. He lived such a perfect moral life that even His judicial prosecutors (Herod and Pilate) confessed they could “find no fault in Him” (John 18:38; 19:4, 6). When Jesus died on the cross He, “disarmed principalities and powers (evil), He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.” (Colossians 2:15) On the third day after His crucifixion Jesus rose victoriously from the dead. His resurrection reveals the exercise of power over evil and the effects of evil (pain and death). The Bible also promises that Jesus Christ will return at a time which has been appointed to completely eradicate evil forever (Revelation 19-22). God is completely aware of the evil in this world and He is acting. He is alleviating the suffering of many through a variety of means today and one day He will completely eliminate the evil of this world and consign it all to a place called Hell. He has all the power to do it and He will.
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