The Problem of Evil



The Problem of Evil

Many Christians look at all the wickedness in the world today and have a hard time understanding how a God that is all powerful, all good, and all knowing can allow such atrocities as murder, kidnapping, abuse, hurricanes, and tornadoes to exist.

Many Christians come to the conclusion that there is no God because the God revealed to us in the bible just could not create a world where suffering occurs and wrongs appear to never be made right.

This bulletin will hopefully answer some of these issues.

Evil is Real

By evil, the writer does not just mean the Charles Manson, Adolph Hitler evil. The Problem of Evil is a philosophical issue dealing with “discomforts” in the world. It entails all the natural disasters in the world. It includes physical suffering that some go through. It includes the emotional turmoil of losing a child to SIDS. It also includes the suffering one might go through at the hands of an evil doer such as an abuse, a murder, etc. Many cannot see how an all powerful, all loving, all knowing God can allow man to suffer though any of the above named evils.

First of all, despite what some cultic religions may teach, evil is real. Pain is real. Suffering is real. It is not just in our head. And usually, it has nothing to do with out faith being weak at a particular moment. When one is suffering with cancer, it is NOT just in his/her head. The person is suffering. Anyone with cancer can tell you that. Everyday we turn on the news or pick up a newspaper we read of some natural tragedy. Those events HAVE occurred. The suffering that the survivors are going through is NOT just in their minds.

So, how can an all loving God permit such things to take place?

Is God Really All That?

Psa. 139 speaks of two of the omni qualities that God possesses; omnipresence and omniscience. Job 38-41 speaks of Gods omnipotence. Where as James 1:13 informs us not only is God not evil, but he cannot be tempted by it. He is omnibenevolent. If God really is as the bible claims Him to be; that is He is everywhere, He is all knowing, He is all good, and He is all powerful, then how can does He allow evil to exist in this world? If He is truly all powerful, why does He not use His power to remove suffering? If He is truly all knowing, can he not see the pain that many in the world are in? If He is truly all good, then what is the purpose of letting mankind suffer?

The truth is that those who hold to such a philosophy fail to understand what God created and what is are two different worlds. God created a world without suffering. God created a perfect world. Go back and read Genesis 1-4. In Genesis 1-2 we read of an utopian society. Not one death is mentioned. The animals, as well as man, were created to eat fruits and green herbs (Gen. 1:29-31). And being that it goes on to say that the creation was “very good,” we can be assured that that is all they ate! In Genesis 3-4 we can read of the first deaths in the bible. We read of animals dieing as their skins were given as clothing to Adam and Eve in Gen. 3:21. We also read of Abel dieing in Gen. 4. What caused their deaths? Sin. The world we live in was created when man sinned. “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin (Rom. 5:12).” The Old Testament reveal just as Paul taught. Death came into this world through sin. Suffering entered into this world in the same fashion. The first mention of suffering is found after sin (Gen. 3:16). Paul wrote concerning suffering, “For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now (Rom. 8:22).” In context Paul is telling us that carnal mindedness, that is sinful living, is what caused this suffering seen in creation.

God did not intend man to live in a world with pain, suffering, and sorrow. He created a world without evil.

Is God all good? Why does He not just undo all the evil in the world? He has and He will. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life (John 3:16).” The loving act of allowing His Son to come to this world to pay the debt that everyman owes for his own sins (Rom. 6:23; Eze. 18:20) is the single greatest act of goodness this world has ever known. Death no longer has to reign over us. If we place our faith into God, His Son, and His ways then death will be swallowed up in victory (I Cor. 15:54-57).

Furthermore, God will destroy this world. He has once before. Gen. 6-9 explains the events surrounding the great flood. God destroyed the wickedness of man. The only one brought safely through the flood were righteous. Yet, it was not long before sin came back into this world (Gen. 9:20-27).

The only way to forever remove sin, death, and suffering is to do away with this world. God was revealed to us that He does intend on destroying this world. “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works therein shall be burned up (II Pet. 3:10).” The world that is to come will have no death, no sin, no sorrow and no suffering. “And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God Himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain, for the former things are passed away. (Rev. 21:3-4).”

The Problem of Evil is only a problem when you do not understand God’s plan. Evil will be done way with in His time.

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