WHAT WE CAN AND CAN’T KNOW ABOUT THE “PROBLEM OF EVIL”

The “Problem of Evil” (or suffering) has long been raised against the Christian faith. It claims that if God is all-loving and all-powerful, there could be no possible reason for evil and suffering. However, this is notoriously difficult or even impossible to prove. There is simply no evidence that God could not have a good and loving reason for allowing evil and suffering to enter into the world.

Instead, Scripture has provided us with ample reason to believe that God had a good reason for allowing such suffering and death to enter into His world.  The Bible claims that He did have a purpose for our Fall into sin, suffering, and death. Somehow, through it, He would bring forth something even better than what Adam and Eve had experienced before their rebellion against God:

·       Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later. For all creation is waiting eagerly for that future day when God will reveal who his children really are. Against its will, all creation was subjected to God’s curse. But with eager hope, the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay. For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children, including the new bodies he has promised us. (Romans 8:18-23 (NLT2)

What is the “eager hope” of the Fall? An end of sin, suffering, and new eternal bodies! Well, couldn’t He have made us without sin and death like the eternal angels? But they too are “groaning” along with the rest of the creation. Even the Holy Spirit is groaning (Romans 8:26) along with us.

But if God is all-powerful, could He not create a heaven without first having us pass through the Valley of the Shadow of Death (Psalm 23)? This reminds us of Jesus’ prayer:

·       “My Father! If it is possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.” Matthew 26:39 (NLT2)

Even though God can do anything He wants to do, even He cannot violate His holy and righteous nature, which requires an adequate payment for sin. Perhaps for this reason, our veil of tears is necessary to get to where we are destined to go:

·       For God has imprisoned everyone in disobedience so he could have mercy on everyone. (Romans 11:32; Galatians 3:22)

Mercy depends on our guilt, on first seeing that we need His mercy. Did Paul understand this completely? Certainly not! Therefore, he continued:

·       Oh, how great are God’s riches and wisdom and knowledge! How impossible it is for us to understand his decisions and his ways! For who can know the LORD’s thoughts? Who knows enough to give him advice? (Romans 11:33-34)

Paul had been unable to fully understand the ways of God and His purpose for suffering; nor can we. However, we can understand a lot of things about His plan. For instance, we know that suffering builds character:

·       We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love. (Romans 5:3-5)

There are also many indications that suffering and evil help to solidify our relationship with the Savior. Suffering taught Paul to rely upon the Lord rather than upon himself (2 Corinthians 1:8-9) and to accept his weaknesses and insufficiency in view of God’s complete sufficiency (2 Corinthians 3:5; 12:7-10). It taught David to dig deeply into the Words of God (Psalm 119:71). It prepares us for our heavenly relationship with Jesus:

·       Dear friends, don’t be surprised at the fiery trials you are going through, as if something strange were happening to you. Instead, be very glad—for these trials make you partners with Christ in his suffering, so that you will have the wonderful joy of seeing his glory when it is revealed to all the world. (1 Peter 4:12-13)

Yet, all of these truths will never prevent us from asking, “Couldn’t God have accomplished His purposes without so much evil and suffering?” If think that if He could have, He would have. Forgiveness and reconciliation required the death of His Son. Perhaps God the Father also has a compelling set of reasons why we too must suffer.

I also think that we are foolish if we insist on understanding all the ways and whys of God before we believe. Often, we over-rate our level of understanding. Even Job did this. He brought indictments against God based upon his limited understanding. However, with a series of questions, God had to show Job how little he did understand. This awareness brought Job to repentance and restoration.

We have gaps in our understanding that only faith can fill. If I didn’t experience such gaps in tangible and painful ways, I too would readily have instructed God in His management of His creation. Instead, I am now trying to accept His mysterious ways as I also seek for understanding.

In view of both what we can understand of God and the mysteries of His ways, it is little wonder that philosopher Peter Van Inwagen had observed, "It used to be widely held that evil was incompatible with the existence of God: that no possible world contained both God and evil. So far as I am able tell, this thesis is no longer defended." ("The Problem of Evil, the Problem of Air, and the Problem of Silence, Philosophical Perspectives, vol. 5: Philosophy of Religion, ed. James E. Tomberlin (Atascadero, CA: Ridgeview Publishing, 1991), pg. 135)