LECTURE 1 - Cru



LECTURE 5

The Problem of Evil & Inclusivism

I. INTRODUCTION TO THE PROBLEM OF EVIL

II. UNDERSTANDING THE NATURE OF THE “PROBLEM”

A. The problem is person (& worldview) - relative.

B. Two Primary Problems of Evil: Logical and Religious

1. Logical (or philosophical) problem of evil

a. The issue:

b. The problem stated

i) If God were all-loving he would destroy evil.

ii) If God were all powerful he could destroy evil.

iii) Evil is not destroyed

iv) Therefore, an all-loving all-powerful God does not exist.

c. Two types of evil

i) Moral evil

ii) Physical (or natural) evil

2. “Religious” problem of evil

a. The issue

b. Implications

III. APPROACHES TO THE PHILOSOHICAL PROBLEM OF EVIL

A. The concept of “theodicy”

B. Two classical theodocies

1. The “Free-will Defense” (St. Augustine)

1. The “Soul-making Defense” (Irenaeus)

C. All world-views must attempt to account for the problem of evil

1. Atheism

2. Pantheism/illusionism

3. Dualism

IV. BIBLICAL REFLECTIONS ON EVIL: THE NEED FOR A FRAMEWORK FROM WHICH TO ANSWER THIS QUESTION

A. The framework of the Bible’s story-line

B. Implications from the Bible’s story-line:

➢ It is clear from the story that God is not the author of evil.

➢ Sin (and hence evil) entered the world through human choice.

➢ The Bible takes evil very seriously.

➢ Death is not merely the outworking of natural process, but it’s the price we pay for rebellion against God.

➢ God’s immediate goal is not merely to eliminate evil but to gather a covenant people.

➢ God understands our suffering because he has suffered.

➢ One day God will eliminate all evil.

➢ Story highlights the issue of waiting.

C. Two additional biblical “givens”

1. God is sovereign

a. God’s sovereignty never functions in such a way to curtail human responsibility.

b. God is never an accomplice to evil.

c. God appears to stand behind good and evil in different ways.

2. Human beings are morally responsible

a. The reality of choice

b. Blame for evil actions always rests on humans (& Satan) never on God

c. Humans are “free” but never in such a way as to make God absolutely contingent on their actions.

d. We must be careful not to adopt a view of human freedom that contradicts Scripture.

3. Examples of compatibalism

a. Gen 50:19-20

b. John 6:37-40

c. Phil 2:12-13

4. The mystery of Divine Providence

“It seems better to affirm that God causes all things that happen, but that he does so in such a way that he somehow upholds our ability to make willing, responsible choices, choices that have real and eternal results and for which we are held accountable. Exactly how God combines his providential control with our willing and significant choices, Scripture does not explain to us. But rather than deny one aspect or the other (simply because we cannot explain how both can be true), we should accept both in an attempt to be faithful to the teaching of all of Scripture.” Grudem, Systematic Theology, 231.

V. THE RELIGIOUS PROBLEM OF EVIL

A. The religious problem of evil does not raise the question of evil in general but why God allowed a specific instance of evil.

B. The religious problem of evil is not primarily intellectual but emotional.

C. A common mistake

VI. DEALING WITH THE PROBLEM OF EVIL IN MINSTRY

A. With Non-Christians

B. With Christians

VII. Introduction to Inclusivism and the Fate of the Unevangelized

SENERIO TO DISCUSS:

You are part of a team preparing notes and articles for a new evangelistic study Bible aimed at those who have never read the Scriptures. The following article was written by a distinguished member of the committee (someone who you have never personally met). It was sent to you by the administrator of the project asking you to review it for Biblical and theological accuracy and applicability to this audience. What would be your response?

What about those who never heard of Jesus?

WHAT HAPPENS TO PEOPLE WHO HAVE NEVER HEARD ABOUT CHRIST? IF JESUS IS THE ONLY WAY TO ETERNAL LIFE (ACTS 4:12), WHAT CHANCE DO THEY HAVE? THE ANSWER IS THAT EVERYONE HAS A CHANCE TO HEAR THE BASICS OF THE GOSPEL. ROMANS 1 DECLARES GOD'S CHARACTER AND NATURE CAN BE "UNDERSTOOD BY THE THINGS THAT ARE MADE, . . . SO THAT THEY [WE] ARE WITHOUT EXCUSE." COLOSSIANS 1:23 SAYS THE GOSPEL HAS BEEN PROCLAIMED TO EVERYONE UNDER HEAVEN, A REFERENCE TO GOD'S WORDS BEING SPOKEN THROUGH THE HEAVENS (PSALM 19:1-4). BUT EXACTLY HOW IS THE GOSPEL REVEALED TO ALL THROUGH THE CREATION?

Humble-hearted examination of nature is sufficient to convince anyone that a Creator exists and that He is powerful and wise. The extent of the Creator's provision for His creatures speaks of His love, and our awareness of right and wrong tells us a standard of rightness, or holiness, also exists.

Sooner or later, we discover that even with our best efforts we can't consistently do right. We see that we fall hopelessly short of the Creator's perfect standard and even our own. But surely a Creator who is so loving, powerful, and wise would have provided a way to rescue us. There must be a Rescuer, a Redeemer. If we trust our lives totally and only to this Rescuer-Redeemer, we will be saved. This, in a nutshell, is the gospel. And it is information attainable though God's creation. Anyone who discerns and accepts this much truth about God's Rescuer and comes to Him for deliverance from his or her helpless, hopeless inability to live rightly will be saved. There is nothing magical about any of the more than 50 names for Jesus in the Old and New Testaments. It is his character and mission we must trust in, not any particular title.

A good example of someone who (by God's Spirit) discovered and received the gospel as he examined God's creation is Job (Job 7-19). Of course, not everyone is as humble as Job. That is why missionaries are needed. But in the same passage that the apostle Paul emphasizes the need to send out missionaries (Romans 10:14-15), he quotes King David's declaration in Psalm 19 that God's message, written upon the heavens, has been sent out to all the earth (Romans 10:18).

VIII. Open Views on the Destiny of the Unevangelized

A. Justin Martyr (2nd century apologist)

B. Ulrich Zwingli (Reformer)

C. John Locke (British philosopher)

D. John Wesley (18th cent. evangelist): “No more therefore will be expected of them then living up to the light they had. But many of them . . . we have great reason to hope, although they lived among the heathens, yet were quite of another spirit; being taught by God, by his inward voice, all the essentials of true religion.” (From a sermon)

E. C. S. Lewis: “There are people in other religions who are being led by God’s secret influence to concentrate on those parts of their religion which are in agreement with Christianity, and who thus belong to Christ with knowing.” Mere Christianity, 176.

IX. The Emergence of Catholic Inclusivism

A. “No salvation outside the church”

B. The Second Vatican Council (1962-65) Five counciliar documents address the relation of the Church to non-Christian religions:

1. Nostra Aetate, “Declaration on the Relation of the Church to Non-Christian Religions,” (October 28, 1965)

2. Lumen Gentium, “Dogmatic Constitution of the Church,” (November 26, 1964)

3. Dignitatis Humanae, “Declaration on Religious Liberty,” (December 7, 1965)

4. Gaudium et Spes, “Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World,” (December 7, 1965)

5. Ad Gentes Divinitus, “Decree on the Church’s Missionary Activity,” (December 7, 1965).

C. A revised theological framework

1. Jesus Christ is the one mediator between God and humankind; salvation is found exclusively through him.

2. God desires everyone to be saved (often referred to in Catholic theology as “God’s universal salvific will”).

3. The Church is necessary for salvation in such a way that those who have heard the gospel and reject Christ and his Church cannot obtain salvation.

4. Nevertheless those who through no fault of their own have not heard the gospel, can obtain salvation. Three conditions must be exist:

a. The person must be ignorant of the gospel and the (Catholic) Church.

b. The person must seek God with an open heart.

c. Moved by grace the person must seek to do God’s will.

5. Through the mysterious work of the Holy Spirit the benefits of Christ’s death are made universally available to all humankind. However, only God knows the means through which salvation outside the Church occurs.

6. The Church seeks positive relations with adherents of non-Christian religions.

7. Non-Christian religions are to be viewed positively insofar as they contain elements of “beauty and truth.” These elements may be viewed as preparatory for the gospel.

X. Significance of Vatican II

In the years since Vatican II, two principle positions have emerged among Catholic theologians:

P1: While salvation (in a Christian sense) is available outside the visible Church, it is not mediated through non-Christian religions.

P2: Salvation (in a Christian sense) is not only available outside the visible Church, but it is also mediated through non-Christian religions such that these religions are to be viewed as vehicles of salvation.

XI. Evangelical Inclusivism -- Several proponents:

A. Clark Pinnock – A Wideness in God’s Mercy (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1992).

B. John Sanders – No Other Name: An Investigation into the Destiny of the Unevangelized (Grand Rapids: Eerdmanns, 1992)

C. Amos Yong – “Discerning the Spirit(s) in the World Religions: Toward a Pneumatological Theology of Religions,” in No Other God’s Before Me? Evangelicals and the Challenge of World Religions, ed., John G. Stackhouse (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2001), 37-61.

XII. The latest stir: Rob Bell in Love Wins

A. Do we believe most will suffer in hell forever?

B. Will God get what He wants?

BELL ON GOD GETTING WHAT GOD WANTS

“God wants all people to be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim. 2).

So does God get what God wants? How great is God? Great enough to achieve what God sets out to do, or kind of great, medium great, great most of the time, but in this, the fate of billions of people, not totally great. Sort of great. A little great . . . . Will all people be saved or will God not get what God wants? Does this magnificent, mighty, marvelous God fail in the end?

Rob Bell, Love Wins, pp. 97-98.

1. Does God always get what He desires? (Want Adam and Eve to disobey? Secretly hoped Satan and a third of the angels would rebel? Was pleased when His beloved only Son was betrayed and murdered?)

2. This is why theologians distinguish between the “perfect” will and “permissive” will of God.

C. Is universalism a mainstream, orthodox Christian belief?

D. Is Rob Bell a universalist?

1. He strongly states that He is not.

2. I would call him a “maybe universalist.” See Alan‘s blog in CruPress Green at



E. Arguments in support of Evangelical inclusivism

1. Moral argument

2. Argument from general revelation

3. Argument from God's love

“If God really loves the whole world and desires everyone to be saved, it logically follows everyone must have access to salvation.” Clark Pinnock, Wideness in God’s Mercy, 157.

4. Analogical argument from the case of infants

5. Argument from God's universal presence

6. Argument from the scope of the atonement

7. Distinction between Christians and believers

8. Misunderstanding of traditional exclusivist passages

F. Questions raised by Evangelical inclusivism

▪ Are the “unevangelized” in a different category from the “lost”?

▪ What warrant exists for believing that men and women may be saved apart from explicit faith in Christ?

▪ Can general revelation save?

▪ How should be understand God’s salvific will expressed in passages like

1 Tim. 2:3-4?

▪ Is it appropriate to draw a comparison between Old Testament believers and the unevangelized?

XIII. An Evaluation of Inclusivism

A. Strengths

1. Means of salvation

2. Common ally

3. Scripture

B. Weaknesses

1. Salvific role of general revelation?

2. Problem of context

3. Distorts the “love of God”

4. God’s wrath and justice

5. Distorts NT understanding of “faith”

6. Comparison to OT believers?

XIV. What can we know with certainty?

A. God loves lost people everywhere

B. Christ’s death is the only basis for salvation.

C. God will judge everyone justly.

D. Everyone has some light for which they are accountable.

E. God is holy.

F. The gospel is the only means described in New Testament through which people are saved.

“For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.” 1 Cor. 1:21

G. Those who reject God's provision are eternally damned (2 Thes 1:8-10).

H. Those who seek God seem to received the light of the gospel.

I. We are commanded to take the gospel to every nation.

J. Will there be people in heaven who have never heard the gospel?

XV. The fate of the unevangelized in evangelism

A. Resist the pressure to offer a definitive answer.

B. Help reframe the issue for people

C. Focusing on the central issue,

XVI. What about Infants? Four Views

A. Only some are saved

B. No answer

C. Infants are evangelized after death

D. All infants who die are saved

APPENDIX 1

Thoughts for Christians: Fifteen "reasons" for evil

i. Testing - Job 1:9

ii. To show God's power - John 9:3; Rom. 9:17

iii. "Soulmaking" - Romans 5:1-5; Joel 2:12-13

iv. Retributive justice -Neh. 9:26-27; Amos 2:4

v. Personal sin -James 5:13-15; Mark 2:1-12, John 5:14

vi. Sowing and reaping - Gal 6:7-8; Hos. 8:7

vii. Biological usefulness - leprosy

viii. Human knowledge - Acts 5:5

ix. Satanic activity - 1 Peter 5: 6-8; Matt. 13:28

x. "God's megaphone" - 2 Cor. 12:7-9

xi. Discipline - Hebrews 12:5-11; Prov. 3:11-12

xii. Persecution - 1 Peter 2:20

xiii. Purification from sin, refining - James 1:2-4; 1 Peter 4:1-6

xiv. Sharing Christ's sufferings - 1 Peter 3:13-14; Col. 1:24

xv. "Higher ways" - Gen. 50:20; Hab. 1:5-6; 3:17

APPENDIX 2

Thoughts for helpers

PRELIMINARY THOUGHTS

• Let go of the health and wealth gospel - abandon it in light of Scripture.

• Realize that rebuilding a broken world takes time.

• How vitally connected is this incident to the person's self image?

• How vitally connected is this person to good relationships?

• How tenaciously will they hold on to their broken world view?

• How broken is their world?

• How used to being "real" are they?

STEPS TO HELP

1) Be there for them (Job 2:13)

2) Physical presence combats the nakedness and loneliness of a broken world.

3) Practical helps can make a huge difference - meals, rides, etc.

4) Offer to hear their story. Offer (but don't force) yourself as a concerned listener.

5) Practice reflective listening.

a) One of the biggest mistakes we make with others is that we assume we understand before we really do.

b) Reflective listening is not parroting; it is seeking to enter their world to understand exactly what they are struggling with.

c) Reflective listening shows love by seeking to understand, and it affirms the individuality of a person's pain.

d) Reflective listening can help the person put into words what he/she is feeling. "You sound like you feel abandoned.", "That feels really lonely.", etc.

6) Share and express your anger and sadness at this manifestation of evil in the world.

7) Let them know that it's OK to express their feelings to the Lord and to you.

a) Some people will feel guilty expressing any negative emotion to God

b) A look at the psalms shows us that honest hurt and anger can be expressed to God.

c) Journaling can help some people put their feelings into words.

8) Ask questions to understand their situation better. Seek to diagnose their particular problem.

a) Does it feel like God is weak?

b) Does it feel like God is uncaring?

c) Does it feel like God is absent?

d) Does it feel like God is untrustworthy?

9) Offer to share some thoughts with them (whenever they are ready or interested) of how God helped you make some sense out of suffering.

a) Be careful not to compare your situation to theirs.

b) Be willing to let them come to you. If you are a good listener, they will come to you first.

c) Offer to be a sounding board, not an advice-giver.

10) Seek to introduce a Biblical grid to their situation, embracing the emotional content and the intellectual.

11) Ask them how they would have wanted the world to be. Would they rather be robots? Would they rather not have choices, even though sometimes they lead to horrible things?

12) Continue be their friend regardless of how they feel about their spirituality. Affirm them for beginning the process to rebuild their broken world.

13) Encourage every thought that thinks Biblically about evil and suffering in the world. Respond to unbiblical ideas with, "Yeah, it sure feels like God is absent (or whatever), doesn't it?". Affirm the feeling but not the concept. Encourage them to be tenacious in their relationship with God. Assure them of God's help. Help them see the light at the end of the tunnel. (1 Pet. 5:10; Rom 8:31-39; 2 Cor. 4:17)

XVII. FOR FURTHER STUDY

A. The Problem of Evil

Basinger, David and Randall Basinger, eds. Predestination and Free-Will: Four Views of Divine Sovereignty and Human Freedom. Downer’s Grove: InterVarsity, 1986. One of the issues that arises in handling the logical problem of evil is how one understands both God’s sovereignty and human freedom. Four writers (John Feinberg, Norman Geisler, Bruce Reichenbach and Clark Pinnock) each present a particular view of God’s sovereignty and human freedom and respond to each other.

Carson, D.A. How Long, O Lord?, 2nd ed. (Baker Academic, 2006). This book is a must-have. Carson wrote this book not for non-Christians but for Christians. It contains insightful biblical reflections on both the religious and logical problems of evil.

Curtis, Brent and John Eldridge. The Sacred Romance (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1997). While this book does not address the problem of evil the authors have some helpful insights on dealing with the religious problem of evil viz. the story-line of the Bible.

Feinberg, John. The Many Faces of Evil, revised and expanded ed. (Wheaton: Crossway, 2004). Feinberg looks at how different theological systems attempt to resolve the logical problem of evil.

Frame, John. Apologetics to the Glory of God. (Phillipsburg: Puritan & Reformed, 1994). Frame’s book is an example of how one approaches the problem of evil from a “presuppositional” perspective.

Grudem, Wayne. Systematic Theology (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1997). See especially chapter 16 on “God’s Providence,” pp. 315-54.

Helm, Paul. The Providence of God. Downer’s Grove: InterVarsity, 1993. This book presents an overview of the biblical doctrine of providence. Chapter eight discusses God’s providence and evil (pp. 193-216).

Larrimore, Mark, ed. The Problem of Evil: A Reader. Oxford: Blackwell, 2001. The volume includes more than 60 philosophical and theological essays on the issue ranging from antiquity through the 20th Century. Authors include Plato, Irenaeus, Augustine, Anselm, Maimonides, Aquinas, Luther, Calvin, Milton, Spinoza, Voltaire, Hume, Hegel, Darwin, Nietzsche, Freud, Heidegger, C.S. Lewis, Barth, and John Hick.

Lewis, C.S. A Grief Observed. (New York: HarperOne, 2009). The apologist agonizing account of how his wife’s death from cancer challenged his faith in the goodness of God.

_________. The Problem of Pain. (New York: Macmillan, 1962). His classic treatise, which includes a discussion of animal suffering.

Yancey, Phillip. Disappointment With God: Three Questions No One Asks Aloud. (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1997). A master wordsmith, Yancy writes a very personal and readable grapple with the pain and suffering.

____________. Where Is God When It Hurts?, anniversary ed. (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2002). Yancy’s books are particularly helpful in addressing the religious problem of evil.

Plantinga, Alvin. God, Freedom and Evil. (New York: Eerdmans, 1977). Plantinga presents a classic expression of the free-will defense in this book in response to the logical problem of evil.

Wright, N. T. Evil and the Justice of God. Downer’s Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2006. The Bishop of Durham and former Cambridge and Oxford Professor of New Testament deals with the issue in the context of God’s promise of eventual victory over all evil.

B. Inclusiveism

Bell, Rob. Love Wins: A Book About Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived. New York: HarperOne, 2011. [inclusivist-probably] Bell seems to strongly favor that all will eventually be saved. He definitely believes there will be opportunities to respond to God’s love after death.

Carson, D. A., The Gagging of God: Christianity Confronts Pluralism (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1996). [exclusivist]

Chan, Francis. Erasing Hell: What God Said About Eternity, and the Things We’ve Made Up. Colorado Springs: David C. Cook, 2011.[exclusivist] Chan writes in an informal, conversational style, much like that of Rob Bell.

Crockett, William V. and James G. Sigountos, eds., Through No Fault of Their Own? (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1991). [both exclusivist & inclusivist positions presented]

Dixon, Larry. The Other Side of the Good News: Confronting the Contemporary Challenges to Jesus’ Teaching on Hell. Wheaton: Victor/BridgePoint, 1992. [exclusivist]

Nash, Ronald J., Is Jesus the Only Savior? (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1994). [exclusivist]

Okholm, Dennis L. and Timothy R. Phillips, eds., More Than One Way? Four Views on Salvation in a Pluralistic World (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1995). [both]

Pinnock, Clark H., A Wideness in God’s Mercy (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1992). [inclusivist]

Sanders, John, No Other Name: An Investigation into the Destiny of the Unevangelized (Grand Rapids: Eerdmanns, 1992). [inclusivist]

________, ed., What About Those Who Have Never Heard? Three Views on the Destiny of the Unevangelized (Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 1995).

Whitmer, Michael E., Christ Alone: An Evangelical Response to Rob Bell’s Love Wins (Grand Rapids: Edenridge Press, 2011). [exclusivist]

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