If you are like me, every time you see the face of those precious kids whose lives were ended, you have a mixture of emotions: heartbreak over the loss; anger over the evil; and hope because God is in control.
Over the past few days, I have been searching the internet and reading how Christian leaders have responded to this tragedy. Some of it is good, and some of it is, well, just plain wrong. In this blog, I want to address these questions of God and evil, along with how Christians should respond. This blog will be a bit lengthy, but considering the complexity of the issue and the gravity of the situation, we need to dive deep. The problem of evil is something that theologians and theistic philosophers have wrestled with for ages. We struggle with it, and will probably continue to struggle with it.
In exploring the questions of why evil, and if God has the power to stop it, why doesn't he, we are going to start off with addressing the most obvious answers and move to the most mysterious.
1. The Depravity of Humanity- Why is there evil and suffering? Why do people walk into a school and shoot kindergartners One word: sin. It all started in the Garden. God’s moral intent for Adam and Eve was to take them under his arm, and mature them into the knowledge of good and evil under his care and guidance. Instead, they rebelled and sought this knowledge outside of God. From that point on, man’s relationship with God, each other, and society was marred, and marred deeply. Paul gives the picture in Romans 1 that from that time on, humanities heart sank deeper and deeper into sin. Sin pollutes the mind, darkens the heart, enslaves the will to do its bidding, and ravages the emotions. Sin affects the totality of human beings. This is why we call the doctrine of man’s depravity total depravity. Everything he is has been marred by sin. So, why is there evil and suffering? One of the reasons is because man is sinful and he does very wicked things at times. History is proof of this.
2. The Human Will- The human will is what gives us the ability to choose certain courses of actions. It is what makes us responsible for the things we choose to do. The problem is that our will is not really “free.” As we have just seen, outside of Christ, the human will is held sway by the darkness of the depraved mind and heart. Are all humans as wicked as they could be? No, but all humans are capable to the most wicked acts imaginable. This past Friday proved that. The fact that humanities’ will is in bondage to sin does not mean that his choices are not real. In fact, we see the opposite. We see that our choices have consequences, whether good or bad. This is the moral fiber of the universe; the way God has set things up. If you make choice A, it will lead to result B. This means that our sinful, wicked choices can cause outcomes that ravage the lives of others. Why did the shooting happen? Because a person acted on their sinful desires and this action had grave consequences.
3. The Moral Fiber of the Universe- If God has the power to stop evil, why doesn't he? The fact of the matter is that God indeed stops some evil, but not all. Why? Why would God intervene in other events, but not in the Holocaust, not in Columbine, and not in Newtown?
The answer lies in explaining the law of cause and effect, along with what is understood as providence. God has created a “system” which, under the watch of his providential control, he allows to take its course. God has put in place an orderly system and he sustains every aspect of it in its existence, but allows things to operate according to the order that he established. This is also true with his moral agents. God is not continuously at work effecting every human decision, but permitting his moral agents to make decisions. It must be noted that this permission is deliberate, and it must be seen in light of God’s control and ordaining of all that has gone before. This could be referred to as God’s general providence.
The other aspect of God’s providence is his special providence. This refers to those circumstances in which God brings about something that would not have occurred without his intervention. How does all of this relate to the earlier question of why God does not stop the evil?
First, if God providentially intervened in every situation, the law of cause and effect would lose all meaning. This begins to infringe upon what moral responsibility is all about.
Secondly, even if God prevented the most horrific evils, this still would not solve the problem. This is because what is a horrific evil to one person, may not be to another; therefore, whose standard of morality should be used in determining which evil should be prevented? Even if there is consensus, and that the evil act is prevented (Newtown) then there will still be another evil that would substitute as the most horrific evil; and then if that one is dealt with, still another would arise, leading to a chain of infinite regression back to the Garden.
Another thought to consider is that this would mean that God would have to providentially intervene in every sinful choice made, thus making the concept of moral responsibility arbitrary and useless. These arguments, at the very least, give support as to possible reasons why God does not eradicate the evil now. Yet the bible does promise that in the end, there will be a day when God does do away with all evil (Rev. 19-22)
4. God and the Necessity of Evil- But why did God allow evil in the first place? When God decided to make humanity as morally responsible agents, there was then the logical necessity of evil. In creating humanity, God could not create a universe that contained moral good without one that also contained moral evil. In his infinite wisdom, God surveyed all the possible worlds that he could bring in existence and saw that no matter what world he actualized that contained human beings, there would be good and evil. Therefore, it is a logical impossibility for God to create a world with morally responsible agents that contains no evil. God chose to actualize this world, because it was the best of all possible worlds in which to fulfill his purpose and plan.
So, evil exists, but does it serve any purpose. Yes. Many times in scripture, we see that God uses evil acts to accomplish his purpose. The crucifixion of Christ is the ultimate example. We also see other stories such as Joseph and Job. The thing we always have to remember is that evil is under the control and sovereignty of God. Nothing shocks God.
Everything exists as he wills them to be. God is omnipotent, and nothing exists outside of his control. God is perfect, infinitely and eternally happy. If this is true, then things are as they should be in the sight of God, including the entrance and existence of evil; for if anything is contrary to what God desires, he would cease to be happy. Therefore, it must make God happy that evil exists, even though it is contrary to his commands. This does not mean that God takes pleasure in the act of evil, but it does mean that God desires it to exist. But how can such a vile things as evil bring any sort of happiness to a Holy God? Or even better, how is it possible that a Holy God can take pleasure in its existence? How is he able to be happy when something so antithetical to his holy nature abounds in his created order?
The holiness of God is the excellency and beauty of his nature in which his heart is both disposed and delighted in all that is morally good (Jonathan Edwards). God’s holiness is also infinite and eternal, and is known by what he hates. Because God is infinitely holy and opposed to sin, this makes it absolutely impossible for him to love any sort of evil. But if God is under a natural necessity not to do evil, and if he hates all manner of evil, how can God be the cause, either positively or negatively, of the existence of evil?
There is a difference between God being the Orderer of the existence of sin by not preventing it, and being the one who does an evil action. God has ordained that sin be permitted and not hindered; God let’s sinful man act on the desires of his sinful heart. So, just because God decreed the existence of evil does not mean that God is motivated by evil impulses.
Sin and evil are the absence of divine agency in the human soul, which results in humanity being left to their own depravity. Jonathan Edwards gives the example of darkness and cold; just as darkness and cold are a result of the absence of the light and warmth of the sun. Therefore, man being left by himself, sins.
In speaking of the decrees of God, it could be argued that his decrees were not necessarily ordered for his happiness. However, God’s perfect happiness does imply that all his decrees are perfectly in agreement with his will, especially his decree to permit evil.
Evil was decreed for an ultimate good in which God is glorified. Better stated, the decree for God to exercise his wrath and grace, would have not been possible if evil had not been decreed first. The attributes of God’s wrath and grace would have remained hidden in the Godhead, but because of the existence of evil, they are revealed to humanity for the chief end of brining glory to God.
As paradoxal as it may seem, evil may (but not always) be an occasion for good. In the day to day experience of life, human beings experience “good”. The reason one is able to label something as “good” is because there exists a dialectical opposite- evil. “Good” would be unknowable to the human experience and incapable of appreciation without the existence of evil. This existence of evil is mainly for the sake of God’s people, for without sin destroying the people of God, Jesus Christ would have never come into the world to redeem them. Without the corruption and tragedy of sin, the elect would have never known the grace of God. Furthermore, no man can even start to love God who has not first felt the pain of separation from Him.
Let me be clear, again: though decreed evil is necessary, and though all the actions of people, both good and evil, are foreordained by God, it does not excuse the act of committing sin, just as it does not make God the direct author of sin.
Ultimately, we must still acknowledge that there is a great mystery involved in the subject of God and evil. However, if the chief end of God in the creation of all his works is to reveal his moral excellence, it must be so with evil. Evil is a work of God, though not directly, which results in the manifestation of the wisdom, holiness, grace, and wrath of God. Wisdom; since only God truly knows the full mystery behind evil’s existence. Holiness: for the true holiness of God to be manifested, there must be something so antithetical to His nature in existence, so that it may reflect how awesome His holiness is. Without evil, God would have no holy law to set forth, for there would be no reason to give commands to show the difference between what is good and evil in the sight of God. Grace; were it not for evil and the terrors of sin, death, and hell, the elect of God would have no appreciation for the unmerited favor of God which draws one to Christ, unites him with the Beloved, and secures for him an eternal place where there will be no more sorrow, pain or death. The great goodness of heaven will be even more appreciated by the saint because of the great evil which he endured while on the earth. Wrath; without sin, there could be no justice. If there were no breaking of God’s law; no moral sin and accountability for wrong actions, words, or thoughts, then the wrath of God against all ungodliness would not be revealed from heaven. However, because of the entrance of evil, the wrath of God will indeed fill its measure on the wicked to the uttermost.
This subject is vast, and deep, and we have only scratched the surface when it comes to the sovereignty of God, human responsibility, and evil. At this point, I want to get practical, and talk about how we as Christians should respond to evil.
- Take and Offer Comfort in Christ- One of our most powerful consolation in the face of evil is that God became man and suffered like us in the person of Christ. Jesus lived a human life and endured evil, suffering, and death. The greatest agony for Jesus was his temporary separation from the fellowship of God while he was on the cross. Jesus underwent this suffering willingly, because he loved his Father and loved his people. Tim Keller states, “Christianity alone among the world religions claims that God became uniquely and fully human in Jesus Christ and therefore knows firsthand despair, rejection, loneliness, poverty, bereavement, torture, and imprisonment. On the cross, he went beyond even the worst human suffering and experienced cosmic rejection and pain that exceeds ours a infinitely as his knowledge and power exceed ours. In his death, God suffers in love, identifying with the abandoned and godforsaken.” Christ is the only hope for human sin and consolation in the face of evil.
- Weep with Those Who Weep- Paul says in Romans 12:15 that we are to “weep with those who weep.” We grieve along with those who suffer evil. We grieve along side of those in Newtown. We take on their pain, their grief, and their longing for justice. We come along side of them and offer prayers, compassion, and the gospel.
- We Hold Out Hope- The great hope of Christianity is the final restoration of all things. There is coming a day, when all things will be made new, and evil, pain, and suffering will be no more. Wickedness will be judged, justice meted out, and eternal righteousness established. This is the hope we have in Christ. We offer the comfort and hope of the gospel to those who are going through tragedy, extending Christ to them and inviting them to come into the joy of Christ. As Jesus says, we will have tribulation in this world, but he has overcome it (John 16:33). In Christ, there is a joy unshakable; a joy that neither the world nor evil and take away. Through the gospel, and through the repentance of sin, we invite people to come into this joy that we now have in Christ.