Right now, I am sitting at home, pretty much safe and dry, as the effects of hurricane Florence pass through the Carolinas. It is quite ominous to see on television the massive amounts of damage torrents of water can cause. But, natural disasters are only one sort of evil we come across. Murders, accidents, diseases, even “nature red in tooth and claw” contribute to those moments which drive us to examine our pain. Why has this evil come about? Where is God in all of this? Can we make sense of all the senselessness? We are forced to stare into the abyss, grapple with evil, and look for a reason in all the mess.
Sometimes the contemplation of pain is for emotional resolution, a way of anesthetizing the deep hurt which came about over experiencing evil. The hope is to grab onto something that can make the pain go away, instill confidence that everything going to be alright, and even provide a simple answer to a complex question. On the other hand, the contemplation of pain is intellection, a way of seeking answers to an ultimate question of about life. What is evil? How can a good God permit evil? Does not the occurrence of evil make the God who allows the evil to happen morally reprehensible?
Declaring evil to be an illusion is hardly a good answer. Neither is refusing to see, hear, or speak evil a solution to the problem, for evil monster is still there even when eyes are shut, ears are plugged, and conversations are steered away from addressing the proverbial “elephant in the room.”
Things happen in the world that are evil; however, this never means God is absent. God can even take the worst of all situation and turn things around for the greatest good. Lee Strobel writes, “God was powerful enough to take the worst thing that has ever happened in the history of the world — or the death of His one-and-only Son on the cross — and turn it into the very best thing that has ever happened in the history of the world: the opening of heaven to all who follow Him. If God can do that, why would we think He was somehow incapable of drawing good from our circumstances, no matter how dire?”
We can be very grateful for God bringing about many capable Christian thinkers to grapple with the problem of evil. One can find cogent answers to questions on evil, suffering, and the goodness of God in articles like
“Handling Christianity’s Toughest Challenges” by Lee Strobel
“Why Did God Let that Child Die?” by Clay Jones
“When Religious Doubt Grows Agonizing” by Gary R. Habermas
“Is it Immoral to Believe in God” Matthew Flannagan,
“Why Does God Allow Bad Things to Happen to Good People?” by Hank Hanegraaff
“Holocaust Apologetics: Undoing the Death of God” by Barry Leventhal
The story is hardly over, and Christianity offers the confident hope that all wrongs will be set to right. When Jesus Christ appears again, the dead shall be raised from the graves. The saints shall be resurrected to eternal life in a new heaven and new hearth and the sinners to eternal condemnation in the lake of fire (John 5:28-29; 1 Cor. 15:1-58; 2 Cor. 5:9-10; Heb. 9:27-28; Rev. 20:11-12; cf. Dan. 12:2). The problems sin, suffering, and Satan will be fully and finally resolved. Paradise lost with Adam will one day be restored with Christ.
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