Why Does Evil Exist?

One of the most often cited arguments against the existence of God is the problem of evil. It goes like this, if God is good then anything from him should be good. But evil exists so therefore a good loving God does not. The idea that a loving God would allow such terrible things to happen simply means he can’t possibly exist. While this argument tugs at the heart of many people, especially those who have faced terrible times, it is a poor one.

This argument is simply an assumption and offers no real reason for there not being a God. It begs the question why can’t God for a temporary period of time allow bad things to happen? Perhaps there is a greater reason behind everything that we simply don’t understand. Sometimes perhaps there is a reason to allow bad things to happen. A good example is a parent who allows their child to fall down to learn a lesson. It’s not that the parent enjoys seeing their child hurt, but there is something to learn from the experience that the child unfortunately could not learn any other way. Sometimes learning from our own mistakes and those around us is the best way to learn!

So why would God allow a hurricane to kill hundreds of people, or disease, wars, famine, etc. The answer may be so far above our thoughts that we could never truly understand. But perhaps it is part of a learning experience. According to the Bible we are living in a temporary state where evil exists. It is promised that one day there will be no more tears, but rather only pure joy. This brings to mind that wrestler who has trained so hard for the big match. He sacrifices his time and goes through plenty of physical pain to achieve his goal. But then when his hard work pays off and he wins the big match, he feels satisfied.

As we read the Bible we see a storyline developing. God creates the perfect world and perfect
creatures to live in this world. Everything is perfect, there is no sin, no death, and evil does not exist. But then something horrible happens, Adam and Eve disobey God and are banished from the garden. As a result of their sin many other bad things happen. But it doesn’t end there, God himself intervenes in the affairs of man throughout history and offers the hope of restoration. The hope that everything will one day be restored and even made better!

The biblical storyline brings to mind the typical movie where everything starts off well. We see the all American family and everything is going great. But then something bad happens, the family breaks up and everyone becomes embittered and miserable. Then we see how the characters develop, handle stress, and how the new situation their in compares with where they started from. But then we see the family coming around and eventually in the end coming back together. How many movies are based on a couple falling in love, breaking up, and then coming back together again. And often not until they realized what they truly had can they truly appreciate one another moving ahead. We may even see the parallel of tempation where
the guy is tempted by the prettier woman and gives up all he has for her. Only to end up bankrupt and broken from this. But then he wakes up and goes running back to what he had, something he perhaps didn’t appreciate before.

So why exactly God allows evil to exist we may never know or perhaps we will one day. But nevertheless it is not a good argument to use to deny God’s existence. There are many reasons why God can allow evil to exist and this does not conflict with his good nature. I’ll hold on to the fact that he created everything initially good and on to his promise to one day restore everthing to perfection!

Free Will vs Determinism

People often choose to believe we either have free will or are simply products of determinism.   The truth is both are true and co-exist simultaneously.  There is some element of fate in all of our lives, those things we simply cannot control.  Yet, there is also a degree of freedom which we all share.  For example, you can’t control who your parents are but you can choose whether or not you will listen to them. 

We see from families of alcoholism that many children grow up to be alcoholics themselves.  In other cases they have little or nothing to do with drinking.  If everything was predetermined by our paths, then everyone in these scenarios would turn out very similar.   In a nutshell, some people with tough pasts become very bitter and miserable people, while others overcome, forgive, and go on to do great things.

In religion, it is often said that God is sovereign and that we have zero power over anything we do.  They say since God is all powerful if we make any of our own decisions, for example to become saved, that we are limiting God.  Some pastors I’ve talked to will even go so far as calling you a heretic if you believe you had anything to do with the choice of becoming saved.  It is to them, in some way, limiting God and taking credit for what he did.  They fail to understand the truth that an all powerful God could certainly choose to limit his complete control and offer us free will.  The Bible speaks clearly of free will and responsiblity for our actions. 

“But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.”  (Joshua 24:15 NIV)

Because God is outside of space and time and sees the past, present, and future all at one moment, he makes his plan considering the choices everyone makes.  Think of a game of chess where your opponent could choose any number of moves, yet, you know in advance what he’ll do.  Based on this knowledge you shape your overall plan around the freedom of choice your opponent has.  And although you give him or her the ability to make choices, by knowing them you still remain in control. 

The truth is we have free will given to us by an all powerful God who was powerful enough to allow us to choose.  The argument can be turned around to say if you’re saying we can’t choose because it limits God’s sovereignty, then saying he can’t allow us to choose also does.  In may ways we are victums  of our circumstances, those things we have either zero or very little control over.  We all have been given a lot in life and all are responsible for making the best of it.  Jesus said to him who was given a lot, that much was expected, but to him who was given little, less was expected.  God knows our circumstances and someone giving $20 dollars to charity may be worth more in his eyes then a billionaire giving a million dollars.  You cannot seperate your lot or circumstances from your actions.  But you also can’t negate your choices because of your lot.