How Can God and Evil Both Exist? (an email response for a "thinker")

Returning from the first year at the university, a friend is now questioning many aspects of the faith, including the existence of God, especially in light of evil in the world. 

How would you respond?

Here is an email response I would offer too a particular friend f mine just stating university. (He know of my degrees of sarcasm, pun, and getting at the roots of things).

Friend,

So, you’re battling with God’s existence, especially given the presence of evil in the world?  Your professors and friends have you thinking?  Good ;).  Consider this the beginning of your journey to a stronger, more fortified faith in the Lord who is.  I look forward to your faith and confidence blooming as we go through this together.  My guess is that soon you’ll be showing others out of their darkness.

Without God, There Is No Ultimate Standard of Good or Evil

First off, there are many great arguments for God’s existence: from creation, order, logic, etc.  All are convincing.  If you want these, great.  We will need to set up a time to talk, not because they are complicated necessarily, but because concepts new to you may need explanation.  I will be coming more straightforward: from your moral conscience.  We all believe in certain things being right or wrong.  For instance, torturing people to death for fun is always wrong.  Why do we believe this?  The theory most compelling to me for the nature of these beliefs is one involving God’s existence, and “wrongs” being inconsistent with His nature and character, will, or commands.1  Universal moral beliefs, and universal morals themselves, can only exist if God exists. Without God, there is no ultimate measure or standard for good/bad and right/wrong. Without God, these are reduced to useful or preferable depending upon circumstance, perspective, and/or one’s goal.

What is That “Inner Voice” We Sometimes Battle?

The Bible teaches that apart from God, there is no forgiveness, hope, or lasting fulfillment.  Does experience agree?  People chase ever-fleeting happiness everywhere, from sensuality, to beauty, to intellectuality.  Christianity maintains the reason for this is we were not created to be whole apart from God.2  Nothing finite can fill the eternity God has set in all hearts.3  Could it be that we are not designed for this place?  Apart from God, how else do we explain experience’s telling us that we long for something unattainable in this world.  C.S. Lewis said, “If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.”4  Completeness can only come from God.

Lewis also told a story about someone’s call for help eliciting two desires.  One is to help, the other to run away for one’s own safety.  But there is this third thing saying you should repress the desire to run and follow the desire to help.5  What is this third thing? It is obviously not us, or we wouldn’t be struggling against it.  The “something” outside us urging us to a moral standard external to ourselves can only be God.

Even Hume mused, “Supposing there were a God, who did not discover himself immediately to our senses; were it not possible for him to give stronger proofs of his existence, than what appear on the face of nature?”6  God has made His existence evident through creation, but there are other evidences, like this whole idea of “right and wrong”, and the belief that we need to be better, or forgiven, or something.  Richard Swinburn spoke of this being a reasonable expectation from God’s existence saying, “If there is a God who wills men to seek [him] or not, there is reason to expect that he will take steps to ensure that they acquire information as to how to attain that well-being...So there is a priori reason to suppose that God will reveal to us those things needed for salvation.”7  This begins in the conscience.

God is there.  We have this innate sense of human value, right and wrong, the “ought” that comes to mind when we don’t want it to, etc.  Where else would it come from?  The whole “problem of evil” is usually a smokescreen covering people's sin.  Present evil is a proof of the truth of His Word.  But again, there are more detailed answers.

Aspects of Evil and God’s Goodness

Three main aspects of this reputed conflict of God’s goodness with the reality of evil seem to be defining evil (What is the necessary standard?), man’s freedom (how is “freedom” to be understood?), and God’s sovereignty (what kind of power does God exercise?).  “If all human actions are causally determined, then no one is ever morally responsible for any action.”8  If no true freedom exists, then God is the source of all evil.9  But, if man’s choices can thwart God’s perfect will, God may seem less sovereign and man deemed a sort of “god” since he decides the future.

To define “evil”, one must have an ethic or standard of reference.  Those who are absolutely sure there are no absolutes :), or there is no God, really have no basis for using such language.  With no ultimate standard there is neither right, wrong, good, nor evil.  Furthermore, evolutionists should be fine with human atrocity playing out natural selection.  Compassion for the weak, oppressed, poor, etc. is inconsistent with their view, which has no basis for the innate value of life.

Like Marilyn Adams—although disagreeing with her universalism—I prefer to bring out first that God’s existence is compatible with present evil if that evil can, in fact be defeated in an individual’s life.10  First, let’s assume there is no God.  At whose feet does the blame for evil fall?  The blame sets squarely on mankind; there is no one else to answer for it.  With that in mind, let us assume now that God does exist.  Does His existence alone change the state or nature of mankind?  No.  The existence of God is a largely separate issue from the presence of evil.  The problem is not God.  As Pogo said, “We have found the enemy and it is us.” :/  However, guilt and praise are only reasonable if there is freedom and responsibility. 

We innately know that people deserve rewards for good and punishment for evil.11  But, one can do neither without genuine choice.  No response-ability, no responsibility.  Even Steven Cahn who believes God’s existence is “highly improbable” says evil character can only be meaningful if it is freely chosen, being best accomplished by quenching one’s conscience through consistent evil choices.12  There can be no true love or obedience apart from the choice to rebel.  God does not will for evil, but allows its possibility.13  It is not God’s will that any perish, but that all come to repentance,14 but many will end up in Hell despite His wishes.15

It has been said, “The most important issue is not that God exists, but what He is like.”16  One of God’s unique, yet oft misunderstood attributes is His sovereignty.  God is sovereign over everything; “everything” includes His own sovereignty.17  He is, therefore, able to choose to limit His choices so we may have free will.18  God desires a genuine personal relationship.  And, although God knew man would go wrong unleashing much evil, He granted free will anyway because, “a world of free creatures with a meaningful range of choice is more valuable than a world of automatons,”19 or there being no world at all.

God's Grace

Wesley’s paradigm of prevenient grace, human will, and responsibility alleviate theistic “problems” of evil and human suffering.  Along with God’s existence and sovereign nature, which includes necessity for at least a degree of human freedom, Wesleyan theology includes prevenient grace.  This grace is irresistibly given to all people everywhere, but as mentioned earlier, we can harden ourselves to it.  Many call this “the conscience” or moral law.  It contains basic knowledge of, and ability to respond positively to, the things of God.20  It is like a plane ticket purchased in your name, necessitating its use it to get where it can take you.

Evil results when people disobey God and His ways.  Sadly, many use suffering to reject God’s existence notwithstanding it’s vivid testimony to the truth of His Word.21  Adam’s sin brought the curse on a once perfect world.  Sin and suffering cannot be separated.  With sin comes misery.  Ray Comfort summarizes our plight this way:

     We are like a child whose insatiable appetite for chocolate has caused his face to break out with ugly sores. He looks in the mirror and sees a sight that makes him depressed. But instead of giving up his beloved chocolate, he consoles himself by stuffing more into his mouth. Yet, the source of his pleasure is actually the cause of his suffering. The whole face of the earth is nothing but ugly sores of suffering. Everywhere we look we see unspeakable pain. But, instead of believing God’s explanation and asking Him to forgive us and change our appetite, we run deeper into sin’s sweet embrace.22

This is just a beginning; we’ll talk more through the summer.  Write down all your questions; God has answers...and better yet, wisdom.

In your corner; in His service, 

______________

1 Robert Adams, “Moral Arguments for God’s Existence.” in Michael Peterson, Philosophy of Religion: Selected Readings, New York:Oxford University Press, 2007), 246-257.

2 Jerry L. Walls, Heaven: The Logic of Eternal Joy (New York:Oxford, 2002), 117.

3 Ecclesiastes 3:11 NASB.

4 C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity (New York:Macmillan, 1960), 119-120.

5 Ibid., 22.

6 Hume, Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion, 215:cf. 202, 214, quoted in Jerry L. Walls, Heaven, 15.

7 Richard Swinburne, Revelation: From Metaphor to Analogy (Oxford:Clarendon, 1992), 72-74, quoted in Jerry L. Walls, Heaven, 28, 31.

8 William Hasker, Metaphysics, 46.

9 Michael Peterson, Philosophy, 380.

10 Jerry L. Walls, Heaven, 119 cf. note 16 p. 210.

11 William Hasker, Metaphysics, 31-32, 34.

12 Steven M. Cahn, “Cacodaemony”, Analysis 37 (1977) referenced in Jerry L. Walls, Heaven, 28.

13 Thomas C. Oden, John Wesley’s Scriptural Christianity: A Plain Exposition of His Teaching on Christian Doctrine, (Grand Rapids:Zondervan, 1994), 114.

14 2 Peter 3:9, NASB.

15 Ibid., Revelation 21:8, etc.

16 Jerry L. Walls, Heaven, 15.

17 C.L. Ramsey, “Sovereignty + Prevenient Gace = Freedom and Responsibility.”

18 James H. Railey, Jr. and Benny C. Aker, “Theological Foundations,” in Systematic Theology, ed. Stanley M. Horton (Springfield:Logion Press, 2002), 48n 23.

19 Michael Peterson, Reason and Religious Belief: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Religion, (New York: Oxford University Press, 2009), 160.

20 Kenneth Collins in Steven Tsoukalas, “Preveient Grace and Human Will.”

21 See Matthew 24, Luke 21, and 2 Timothy 3, Deuteronomy 28, etc.22 Living Waters, http://www.livingwaters.com/witnessingtool/whyistheresuffering.shtml (accessed April 11, 2009)