Have you ever asked yourself why there is so much pain, senseless violence, cruelty, and corruption in the world?
Where is God in all this?
Does He care?
Why doesn’t He fix it?
For centuries, philosophers have pondered this question: If God exists, why is there suffering and evil everywhere?
We as ambassadors of Christ have to address this question – complaint really – when it is made by our co-workers, neighbors, friends and even family members. People make judgments about the nature of God and what Christians believe by getting bad information, using faulty reasoning and listening to their emotions instead of reason.
Theologian J. Gresham Machen wrote in his essay, “Christianity and Culture” in 1913, that:
“False ideas are the greatest obstacles to the reception of the gospel”
We Christians are instructed by Peter to be apologists for God by and give a good testimony about our faith:
1 Peter 3:15 …but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect…
That word “defense” in Greek is Apologia - the root for apologist. Being an apologist doesn’t mean saying we’re sorry we are Christians We are also instructed to “be prepared” to give a defense.
In Addition, Paul instructs us to oppose false ideas (polemic):
2 Corinthians 10:4-5 For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ…
I want to give you some tools to help you recognize false ideas and know how to respond to them with wisdom and compassion.
Deductive Reasoning
One way people discover “truth” and form opinions is by using deductive reasoning. They take facts they already accept, apply them to a new situation and come to a “new” conclusion.
The formal way to describe a deductive argument is in a syllogism. You link 2 or more “accepted facts”, or premises, and form a conclusion or a “truth claim” that logically follows from these facts. People rarely do this deliberately, but they do it subconsciously all the time.
Let me give you an example:
- Premise 1: All unicorns have golden horns (accepted fact)
- Premise 2: Bob has a golden horn (accepted fact)
- False Conclusion: Bob is a unicorn (new truth claim)
But is this new truth claim correct? Were any unspoken assumptions made in the premises? Notice horn here means two different things. This is a logical fallacy called equivocation.
Deductive reasoning is a way people take seemingly obvious truths to come to conclusions; but it can be misused to make conclusions that make absolutely no sense. Flat Earthers are a perfect example.
Let’s apply this thought process to the problem of Evil and Suffering.
- Premise 1: An All Powerful, All Loving God would not permit a world filled with Suffering and Evil to exist.
- Premise 2: Suffering and evil exists in abundance.
- False Conclusion: An All Powerful, All Loving God does not exist.
Let me first say this syllogism is semantically and logically “valid”. Are there any problems with the premises?
Many who are hostile to Christ and Christianity think this is a “gotcha” unbeatable argument. Many believers get trapped into thinking this must be true and it undermines their faith.
Assumption 1: If God was all powerful, He COULD create a perfect world, free of suffering and evil.
They forget He did… Garden of Eden
Even heaven was absent evil until Lucifer fell
It almost seems like evil and some suffering is inevitable if God allows moral creatures some level of genuine freedom. The assumption is God somehow is “powerful” enough to force free will to “act right”.
How much POWER does it take to FORCE someone to do something FREELY?
Assumption 2: If God was all benevolent, He WOULD create a perfect world, free of suffering and evil.
The argument assumes there is no justifiable reason for God to allow suffering and evil, not even for a moment.
Much of the evil and suffering in the world does appear to be pointless. From our vantage point we can’t fully measure the reasons for why God allows terrible things to happen. Most of us have wrestled with this.
So, why doesn’t God simply remove free agency from people and heavenly beings to solve this problem?
Would a “perfect” world absent all natural and moral evils be superior to what we have now?
Would this “perfect” world maximize “goodness”?
Thought Experiment
Let’s create a world free of all suffering and evil! What would this “perfect world” look like?
A world where there is no possibility of physical harm:
No fire or electricity (no grilling or bbq!)
No fishing or boating or swimming (especially running at the pool!)
No sharp objects (no knives or forks or scissors!)
No cars, motorbikes, bicycles, roller blades, skiing
No small objects for babies to put in their mouths, oh…
No babies – pregnancy and childbirth is painful and dangerous.
Now remove all potential for emotional distress or sadness:
No dating or romantic relationships
No friends or exclusive groups
No families or marriages
No speech or thought that might offend someone
Now remove all failure and regret
No competitions with “winners and losers”
No decisions that might have negative consequences
Now remove all potential for sin
No personal belongings or ownership – “haves and haves nots” can cause envy (sin)
No physical affection (might turn into adultery)
No personal opinions or disputes or anger (sin)
No Golf - you can injure yourself, get frustrated, sin, and regret you went
Our “perfect world” is now free of all suffering and harm:
No deep personal relationships that might end badly
No negative thoughts
No learning the consequences for good or bad decisions
No deep loving relationships
No opportunities to try something and fail
No actions that might have consequences you may regret later
No way to learn or be tested or to mature
No knowledge of hurtful things like sad memories
No freedom to make choices AT ALL
Could you even live in a world like this? Oh, and it has to be eternal so no one ever suffers the loss caused by death. (Twilight Zone).
Is there a Purpose for Suffering and Evil?
Is there any justification for God allowing pain, suffering and evil at this time? What about God’s perspective?
What is the chief aim of life? Is it to be in perpetual pleasure? Are we meant to be God’s “pets”, to be coddled and in a cage?
No. Our chief aim is to know God and grow in faith.
What helps us know and depend on God more - pleasure or troubles?
CS Lewis wrote in his book The Problem of Pain, “God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pain: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world…”
If God permits trouble to bring people to the saving knowledge of Christ is that a good bargain? God's purposes are focused on eternity.
Romans 8:16-18 ESV The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.
In a fallen world, God allows us to mature in faith:
To have opinions
To build character in suffering
To learn from our mistakes
To overcome challenges
To experience true love
God wants us to freely choose to love Him.
1 Timothy 2:3-4 This is good, and it pleases God our Savior, who wants everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
Luke 19:10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.
The Greater Good
God's desire is to share eternity with those who have freely chosen to be with Him:
John 3:16-17 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
God seeks us with eternity in view.
2 Cor 4:16-18 Therefore we do not give up. Even though our outer person is being destroyed, our inner person is being renewed day by day. For our momentary light affliction is producing for us an absolutely incomparable eternal weight of glory. So we do not focus on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
We have hope this will all end. It will be worth it. We will see the wisdom of it and thank God He fulfilled His purposes.
Romans 8:28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.
Does everyone choose willingly to love God? No. Is this God’s fault?
For more articles related to Christian Apologetics, see:
[1] Matt
Slick, http://carm.org/euthyphro-dilemma
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Scripture citations are from: New King James Version®. (NKJV) Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson
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