Why Does Evil Exist?
April 29, 2008
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!
I’d like to tell you that this is completely illogical. If “falling down” were supposedly an “evil,” and to learn that it was an evil we had to experience it and sense for ourselves its badness. However, if there were no such thing as evil, in that sense, falling down would not exist. If falling down did not exist, if evil and pain did not exist, there would be no need to experience it at all. But, there is pain, without reason, for if there were no pain or evil the reason which you are labeling on it currently is . Blaming a God is relinquishing your inquiry into the subject and blinds you to further progress, since, it’s often seen as, “Oh, it’s just as God intended. No need to think about it. Things will all turn out for the best, Jesus will come!”. People like that are those who are a disgrace–stunting the advancement of their own minds and spreading that handicap to others. See beyond the veil you have placed, or you will not progress well in any deep thought outside of your own little Godly world, when you believe in things such as these. [”Everything is perfect, there is no sin” | “Adam and Eve disobey God”] Can you not see the contradictions it holds in itself? Lift the veil, and progress–if this seems illogical, please e-mail me. I will reply if possible.
The term “evil” implies malicious intent. Hurricanes do not maliciously pick out people and decide to ruin their lives. That is just the way the wind blows. Good things happen, bad things happen. Evil is just a construct created by people trying to explain why something bad has happened to them.
Hi Roure,
The main point of my post is that an all powerful God could certainly have reasons for evil existing beyond our understanding. The argument that an all powerful benevolent God would keep sin and bad things from happening begs the question why? What if he being all powerful chooses to allow evil for a time? If he were all powerful then he certainly can do this. So this argument against God is nothing more than an opinion.
You can label people that believe in God and see him working in their lives a disgrace, but that like this argument against God is merely an opinion. In a nutshell this argument is no reason to not believe in God.
Hi D,
The example of the hurricane is referring to God allowing it to happen. Meaning he could stop it if he wants but still allows it. The evil would be in God not stopping it. But I see your point on the wording, the hurricane would better be seen as simply something bad.
Basically, the answer given as to why evil exists is, “I don’t know, but I’m sure that God has reasons. Maybe he’s trying to teach us something.”
This is a cop-out. It shows the empty center of belief in an all-good and all-powerful god (whatever that actually means).
The ancient Greek philosopher Epicurus summed up the problem of evil well when he wrote these ideas:
Either God wants to abolish evil, and cannot; or he can and does not want to.
If he wants to, but cannot, he is impotent.
If he can, but does not want to, he is wicked.
If, as they say, God can abolish evil, and God really wants to do it, why is there evil in the world?
After over 2200 years, nobody has been able to give a coherent response.
There is no reliable evidence for any god, or even for Jesus. There is also extensive evidence that all gods are fictional characters — myths created in stories told mainly by primitive peoples who had little understanding of how our universe operates. We all like stories, but we don’t have to believe them.
Ah, that good old argument.
To me, this is not a reason why I don’t believe in God, though one of my principal arguments is related.
Much of judeo-christian (by which I include muslims and any other “People of the Book”) writings presents God as a being who is fair, but harsh. In some cases, he is even angry, punitive, jealous, and he “holds his enemies like snakes over the pits of hell”.
How can you possibly believe that someone who behaves in such an angry, punitive manner can be good? Our experience of the world shows us that anger, jealousy, vengeance and other harshnesses are not qualities associated with “good” people. And if God is not good, he is certainly not Good. And if he is not Good, then there are only two possibilities: either He exists and is not worth believing in, or He does not exist and is therefore also not worth believing in.
Daniel
what’s with the cat? can you please leave the cat out of this!
I love cats, I was trying to find a picture that represented evil in some way so the angry cat was used. I probably could of found a better picture. Sorry to all cat lovers, I love them too:)
The argument always made is if there is a God then why doesn’t he stop bad things from happening. Even if you don’t subscribe to the Judeo-Christian mindset, we still have this same dilemna. My argument is although it’s ok to question this, it doesn’t prove in any way there is no God. As God may have reasons beyond our comprehension for allowing evil and bad to happen for a time.
There are some experiences that would not exist in a perfect sinless existence. For example relief from pain, comfort in tough times, empathy for someone’s loss, etc. Perhaps we have to go through this to understand the fullness of our existence. It may be good to know what it’s like to hunger or thirst. Or to be pushed emotionally through enduring tough times. Who knows, perhaps only after we experience all that is wrong can we appreciate all that is right.