Problem of Evil

This is the Truth Network. Why do bad Things happen to good people? Or why do immoral things happen to moral people? Why does injustice happen to those who deserve justice? Justice.

Why does tragedy strike The undeserving.

some different ways of wording that. All of these questions fall under this umbrella. of the problem of evil. It's a topic that philosophers have debated for centuries. And as we contemplate it, that should be some comfort.

Like, we're not the first ones to. Like, we're not discovering anything new here. Since the fall, tragedy, evil, injustice have been around. Uh since the fall, humanity has looked up to the sky and asked Why, God? We're not alone in asking this question.

So, the problem of evil is an argument against the existence of God. And we certainly can ask the question, why do bad things happen to good people? without the intention of dismissing or rejecting God. We can ask the question without doing that. But let me lay the argument out for you.

I want to build guardrails. In our thinking, no matter what situation we may be going through, it's important to understand the Christian faith is logical. We may not understand why we go through specific kinds of suffering. But a lack of understanding is not a refutation to the true value of our faith. That's the core of today's message.

So the problem of evil, this is how it goes. You got three premises and a conclusion. First premise God is perfect. God is good, God is perfectly loving, and perfectly powerful. Yeah, I agree to that.

There's nothing I disagree with there. All right, so that's our first premise. Second, Evil exists. Yeah. Evil exists.

I mean, it's about summertime now. There's mosquitoes everywhere. I mean, I see some evil.

So God is perfectly good, loving. Evil exists. Third premise. God, as defined, would not allow evil. and maintain his character.

That's the third premise. Then the conclusion God does not exist.

Well How do we answer that? There's certainly a lot at stake here. If we're wrong. God either doesn't exist, or He's not all good, He's not all powerful. Certainly, regardless, it's not a god worth worshipping.

Dr. Peter Singer is an atheist professor of applied ethics. He would say, All animals are equal. including people. People are animals, all animals are equal.

You take that to the conclusion, logical conclusion.

Well, humans Cocker roaches? We're equal. We're the same. This is basically what he's saying. And he's right.

In the absence of God, if there is no God, we are all equally worthless. In the absence of God, we face a total absence of objective meaning, value, and dignity. David Hume is another prominent atheist philosopher arguing this problem of evil. He would say that pursuing ethical virtue, pursuing Doing what is right in the absence of God is a complete waste of time. In the absence of God, there is only nihilism or nothingness.

Who cares? Why are we even having this conversation? It's frankly ironic how much David Hume spills ink telling the world nothing matters, you know, as if it matters. Yeah. Now, when an atheist argues these topics, they assume meaning and value to suffering.

It's worth addressing. They also assume knowing the truth is good, happy, and healthy. They assume believing in God when it's not the truth is a bad thing. Let's address it. Then we ask, well, why do bad things happen to good people?

Again.

So, who cares? What does it matter? There is no objective meaning. There is no objective value without God. And so when we talk about this question, why do bad things happen to good people?

Here's our guardrails. If we throw away God, We can't even make sense of the question.

So if we're wrong. God does not exist. This is what is at stake. We lose all objective value and meaning. Suddenly, it's all preference.

Might as well be a question of do you like chocolate or vanilla? We suddenly can't even make sense of the question: what do you mean bad things happen? What do you mean there are good people? As Richard Dawkins would say, there is no good, there is no evil, there is only blind and pitiless. indifference.

That is what is at stake if we are wrong.

So, in order to make sense of and defend the problem of evil. We would have to demonstrate The character of God and evil are not in contradiction. Evil can exist, and God can be as he is defined. We'd have to be able to demonstrate that. And the Most um I guess the easiest or minimalistic way to answer this argument is developed by this guy, Alvin Plantagia.

He argues that evil or moral evil is not contrary to the character of God because God gives humanity free will. He gives us a choice between choosing him and choosing anything else. God created the universe. When He created you, He gave us agency. We have choices.

And in order for us to have choices, God has God must allow for the potential of evil. not the cause of evil. He allows for the potential Of evil.

So he created us to be in loving relationship with him. That was the desire. But hiding love. Uh The only way we can love is if we have a choice to Not love. If I don't have the choice to not love, it's not my love that I'm giving, I'm more like an automobile, you press the button and it turns on.

Uh, it's, I don't have the choice there, and if I don't have the choice, I can't authentically love God back.

So, God gives me the choice A or B. I can choose to love God back. or I can choose not to.

Now, if we understand God is the source of everything that is good. Option A is I love God and it is good. Option B is I reject God. And by default It is not good. It is evil.

When we choose something other than God by definition of who God is. For making an evil Choice.

So God allows for free will. He allows us the choice. to choose him But in that choice, there has to be the potential for evil by definition. of free will. This is a valid defense.

To the problem of evil, because it makes sense. God is good, loving, powerful, evil exists. And if he wants us to love him back, he has to allow for the potential of evil. Here it is. It's manifested because we chose option B.

No fault of God. We were given the choice, and we chose. What was evil?

So, let's see here. God is good, loving, all-powerful. First premise, second premise: there is evil. The third premise in the problem of evil: God would not allow evil.

Well, that is what John MacArthur would call a quasi-logical leap. I call it a big fat assumption. It is an assumption that does not follow by necessity. God may permit evil if He desires us to be able to love Him back.

So some other assumptions.

Well, if God is good and powerful, could not He create a world? Any world that He desires, could He make it so that we have free will, but evil is still not an option? If God is all powerful, can't He make a circle with squared edges?

Well, that's another assumption. We don't know that, but what we do know is the nature of free will. demands the potential for evil.

So to say that um God is creating a world where the potential of evil doesn't exist, but I still have free choice. That is a square circle. It's a contradiction, and God does not contradict himself. Regarding evil, we go back to free will requires the potential of evil. But it's us who bear the guilt, the blame, because we choose other than God.

God gives us the choice, He does not deny us the choice because He loves us. Regarding Suffering. It's important for us to note: suffering is not as black and white as good. And evil. I would say there's good types of suffering.

You ever been to the gym? You go there and you suffer. But yeah, it's a hard time. You go there, you suffer, and then you immediately come out with washboard ads, alright? Immediately.

That's what I'm told. I apparently can't find the machine for that, but Um I'm gonna say me neither. Yeah. And now we have a support verb for Absolutely. Uh okay, so then you also have Delayed gratification.

I'm going to save my money now. For a more secure future.

Now, there's an amount of discomfort and suffering that goes into, well, I have to limit myself here for something greater.

However, The late gratification is not only good, there is something noble about it. Enduring suffering. Today, for something that is a better good tomorrow, that's not obviously wrong. In fact, It's what Christ demonstrates. He endured the ultimate suffering.

For the greater good of us all being able to be forgiven and be in relationship. with our Creator. God And the existence of evil are not contradictory.

So the conclusion. God does not exist. Logically fails. The the problem of evil is a failed argument.

Now I know this isn't exactly comfort to a person dealing with specific serious suffering.

However, I want to lay this out as guardrails in our thinking. Because in the specific situation of deep suffering we deal with, we must understand, though we ask why God, And he can be silent sometimes. Though we don't understand the reason of why he's allowing this, we do not have the logical grounds to throw God away. Without God, we cannot even make sense. of the problem.

Now since the logical argument of the problem of evil fails. Skeptics in philosophy have evolved it. Uh Now I have the evidential argument.

Well, logically it doesn't work. Wha what about this miscarriage? A baby is offered no option for life. They come into existence and simply blip out. The mother and father are heartbroken.

Why would God allow this The potential for evil is necessary for free will. We've talked about that. But in the case of a miscarriage, who's permitting it? What's the secondary good or higher aim? What does the suffering amount to?

I'm gonna tell you right now, church. the most honest theologian. We'll tell you. I don't know. I don't know.

So what the skeptic will do? is they grab onto this and push the problem of evil again in this way. First premise. God is good, loving, all-powerful. We agree?

Second premise. There are many examples of specific evil, like miscarriage, tragedy. There are many specific examples of evil. Third premise: we cannot clearly see the reasons. Perhaps there is none.

So, conclusion: God is. Improbable. They won't say he absolutely doesn't exist, but it's improbable. If you take it all and you weigh it all on the scale, God is improbable. Victor Stinger, an atheist writer, writes in his book, Why Isn't the Universe?

More accepting to human life? Why must we fight to survive? Why must we suffer? Since we don't know the reason, God is improbable. We gotta grant, you know, there's examples of evil where there is no obvious reason why God allows this.

We call this gratuitous evil or evil It doesn't have an obvious reason.

So the evidential argument takes that scale, stacks all of these evidences of evil that doesn't have an obvious reason, and would say when you weigh the scale, God is improbable. You got miscarriages. The North Carolina hurricane. animal suffering. A sudden head-on collision that just takes everybody's life.

deep, intense poverty like we see in Guatemala. A child born With clubbed feet. and d uh constant pain with no signs of stopping. Why would God allow these things? You got all this stuff.

that God allows, seemingly for no reason, Therefore, his existence is improbable, right? I mean, how are we going to explain this?

Well first We have to recognize we're not dealing with the logical problem of evil anymore. That's actually done. Logical problem's done. We can dance on its grave. Logical problem of evil fails.

It doesn't work. This argument is changed. The rules of it have changed.

Now we're just looking at evidences of evil that are hard to explain. to push God is improbable. Evidences that God is in problem. That's all we're looking at now.

So, if we're stacking the scale, weighing the evidence of if God is probable or not.

Well we have to argue, put all the evidences on the scale. You got the moral argument. Morality can't exist without a moral lawgiver. Yes, we have this, but let's put the moral argument on there. How do we argue for morality without a moral lawgiver?

Otherwise it's just preference. What are we even talking about? Why does it matter? Then you got the cosmological argument. Every effect has a cause.

The universe came into existence, therefore, the universe has a cause. And it's a very God-shaped-looking cause. You got the cosmological argument. Then you have the historical evidence for the resurrection. Let's put that on the scale.

You got 500 witnesses, the disciples going to their deaths, claiming they've seen the resurrected Christ. Put that on the scale if we're weighing the probability of God. You got near-death experiences of people who have died and said that they've gone and experienced heaven. Muslims who've met Jesus in their dreams with no concept of who Jesus is. Put that on the scale.

You got the teleological argument. This is the watchmaker. If you're in the woods, You find a watch. on the ground. You don't just assume that watch poofed into existence.

Somebody put it there.

Somebody dropped it. And that watch certainly has a watch maker, doesn't it? Look at your hand. Look at the skin covering your hand. You got muscles that cause the ligaments to move.

You got blood shooting through it that's keeping everything working. You got fingernails that work like little tweezers. Where's the watchmaker to this? And since we're stacking all the evidence, look at your feet. Look at your legs.

Yeah. Got all the animals in creation, every single one of them. Where's the watchmaker to them?

So there's tons of examples. Uh may God beyond probable. If we're just looking at the evidence We got to add them onto the scale. And I argue when we Weigh everything out. God is beyond preppable.

God is necessary.

Now this. again, is not much comfort to somebody Actively going through deep pain. This is the cold, exacting truth to the problem of evil. I understand it's very theoretical. It's not much comfort.

When we're really dealing with the situation, It's different.

So, I want to speak to that now. God exists, evil exists, they're not mutually exclusive. There will be evil, injustice, and in fairness. that we can't always explain.

Sometimes there's a lot of it. But this does not mean for a second that God is absent. Complicit or The cause. These are our guardrails. And now that we have our guardrails, I'm telling you, as your pastor, when you're going through deep pain and suffering, keep your guardrails and then ask, why, God?

What's going on? Tell me, I need, help me understand. Why is this happening, God? Ask him. He can handle it.

But if we throw God away We throw away our only hope of dealing. with suffering. It's a Christianity. It's not an insurance policy. from bad things.

It's more like strength training. God will use pain, suffering, trials and tribulations. He will let us go through great pain because it strengthens and refines. Our face But why? Why would God do this?

to me. Why do bad things have to happen? To good people. See, there's the logical, the evidential problem, but there's also the emotional side of it when we're going through it. Everything in my spirit screams, God, this is not how it ought to be.

Why are you allowing this? Let's bring some scripture into this. Job. Job He's a good person. God allowed very bad things.

To happen, to joke. And as you read this story, Job never understands. why God allowed these bad things to happen. We read the story from third person. We know that God is allowing Satan to test him, but still, even as the reader, It's not obvious to us Why?

God allowed this to happen. Job was a wealthy man. And Satan takes away everything. He takes away his wealth. He takes away his health.

Satan is even sneering lies to Job through his wife, telling him, Isn't it better for you to just curse God and die?

Well thanks, honey. But he doesn't. He he loses everything, but he hasn't lost his faith.

Now Job has three friends in this story that come to comfort him. And I gotta say, they do a pretty good job until they open their mouths. Says Joe too. Says Job 2.13. They sat down on the ground with him for seven days, seven nights, no one speaking a word.

I like that. If I'm dealing with tremendous grief, sorrow, or loss. Don't say anything. Just sit with me. You don't have to have the right thing to say.

You don't. Frankly, it's better if you don't say anything at all in a lot of situations. Just sit with me. in the pain. Sit with me in the pain till you feel it with me as well.

That's what people need. They need a friend. Just be in the fire with them.

So Job has deep lament. His friends open their mouths. Chapter 6, it is titled, Job's Friends Are No Help. Joan's friends are no help.

Soon as they start talking.

Now the major theme we see in their discourse is this retribution theology. Good things. come to good people. And if you do bad things, Bad things will happen to you. Job is experiencing bad things.

Thus, Job must have done something bad. Through the discourse over many chapters, that is the theology we see that the friends have. Job is very familiar with it, but he knows. I don't, I haven't done anything to deserve This, he continues to argue that he is righteous, he has not sinned, and he demands, God vilify me. Chapter 24, Job argues Look in this chapter, chapter 24.

Job argues, man, it really looks like God just ignores injustice. Good is supposed to happen to good people. Bad is supposed to happen to bad people. Doesn't God know this? But yet, bad things happen to good people.

Why? This question, why do bad things happen to good people? God posed the question for us first. Before we even had a chance to think about it, Job was written roughly 500 BC. Events happened in the patriarchal period, 1900 to 1700 BC.

That's a long time ago. God posed this question to us first. The unbeliever that rejects God on the basis of unexplained suffering. Has it discovered something new? Has it discovered a chink in the armor of the faith?

God Himself has already laid out this for us as wisdom. and the story of Joan.

So Job's friends They don't have the answer. And Job repeatedly demands God for an answer. And we see chapter 38 of Job, God. and service. He starts verse 3.

Now gird up your loins like a man and answer me this. I'm gonna answer you, Job. Pull up your bridges.

So God's saying that. Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Where were you when I set its measurements? Where were you when I enclosed the sea? Can you lead a constellation of stars through the sky at its according season?

Can you call on the clouds to bring rain down to the earth? Can you do these things? Mm.