One of the questions we Christians are very often asked is “Why does evil exist? If God is so great, why does he allow so many terrible things to happen?” Whenever I personally get asked such a question, the very first thing I do is to run away. Oh, sure, people follow you for a while, but they peter out pretty fast. Most people’s desire to learn the answer to a question like that is not as strong as my desire to avoid answering a question like that. So I’m usually at home enjoying a pizza, while they’re still out there huffing and puffing on the street somewhere, going, “That’s it. I’m joining a cult.”
But I jest. (God, if you’re reading this: Please think I’m funny. Because, you know … I get heat rashes.)
No, but here’s the answer I Actually Use for that question: The reason God allows evil to exist is because he allows people to exist—and people do evil, not God.
Then I bolt.
No, but that’s the key: It’s people who do evil, not God. What people almost always mean when they ask, “Why does God allow evil to exist?” is “Why doesn’t God stop evil from happening?”—which, in practical terms, inevitably translates into, “Why doesn’t God stop people from doing evil things?”
And a fine question that is! Totally legitimate! And it’s one for which we Christians better have a clear, rational answer.
We do, and it’s this: The reason God doesn’t stop any person from ever doing anything they want to do is because doing so would necessarily mean violating that person’s free will. And that’s not something God is going to do—and it’s definitely not something we’d like him to do. Our free will is what makes us human. It’s God’s ultimate gift to us; it is the quality that finally defines us as truly free, independent beings. Our free will is the proof that God loves us. It means he loves us so much he’s endowed us with the ability to completely ignore or deny him if we want to. That’s love. God would have to hate us to start violating our free will.
It’s an extremely safe bet that if God ever decided to stop people from doing evil—which of course would mean stopping people from thinking about doing evil, which would mean stopping people from ever having the negative thoughts that proceed evil actions, which would have to amount to full mind control—not a person on this planet wouldn’t yearn for the days when they were free to do whatever they wanted, evil or not. Not that any of us would be able to have such a thought, since God determining that we can’t think about or do anything he doesn’t want us to would have turned us all all Zombified Automatons.
What a nightmare that would be.
So remember: God doesn’t do evil; people do evil. And God doesn’t stop people from doing evil because that would mean violating their free will, which God won’t do out of his deep and abiding love for us.
Bottom line: That evil exists doesn’t prove that God is not benevolent. It proves just how benevolent he is.
Posted by Kerri B on July 10, 2007 at 7:51 am
“Penguins…” is on the way to my house at this very moment…I think I’ll have to stop reading your blog until it arrives, lest I spoil the whole thing!
I’ll pray that God thinks you’re funny too, because if he does, then there’s hope for me.
Great stuff, John.
Posted by John Shore on July 10, 2007 at 7:58 am
Thanks, Kerri; I appreciate these encouraging words. And don’t worry: my blogs DEFINITELY won’t wreck “Penguins” for you, if for no other reason than the whole opening of that book is a two-person PLAY, featuring God and the archangel (sp??) Michael. (It takes place in God’s workshop, the night before he’s going to introduce the first human–Adam–onto earth.) That whole mini-play is, I know, as good as anything I’ll ever write.
Posted by Ray Searan on July 10, 2007 at 10:00 am
Another good article here John. Like I said before keep using your gifts to challenge the Body of Christ. This article is soooooooooo relevant for the Kingdom of God today because it never ceases to amaze me at how many Christians have absolutely no idea why God allows evil to exist in the earth.
Until He comes keep the Son in your eyes,
Ray
Posted by nisperos on July 10, 2007 at 12:32 pm
Not only does creativity involve free-will, it also involves struggle, just as there is struggle and pain when a child is born. So, being like the creator allows us to witness power and experience pain and struggle.
(Of course, we also have the creation story in Genesis where knowledge of good and evil is what results in pain and struggle. Basically, it seems you can’t have one without the other one.)
Pain and struggle are not in themselves evil. Evil is the misuse of creative powers which include free will. Evil is false pride (what made Satan fall) and greed and theft from others (what Jesus hated when He cleared the money changers out of the temple).
We have Paul reminding us in 1 Tim 6: 9-10 of what, to this very day, remains an evil; the love of money. This is also one of the greatest heresies in some churches; the false gospel of financial prosperity. Those who value religion only as a means of personal gain are like the money changers in the temple.
“But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.”
Posted by Ruth on July 11, 2007 at 11:50 am
hey John…… given the way God found you in a supply closet… do you consider yourself radically saved-against your will-with your full consent? or do you think that God still would have let you walk away from that same closet? I search this out EVERYDAY and in the end I always come to: God will have His way. and the next day I am back at it….. what do I have to do with it-anything-something? nothing? predestined? on and on…… looking forward to the replies……. Peace IN !
Posted by nisperos on July 11, 2007 at 1:20 pm
Ruth!!!
That’s an interesting question you pose…
And Peace IN to you too!
John is supposed to be on deadline for his outline today, so I don’t even want to hear from him until it’s “mission accomplished”…
But I am interested in his response…
I’m with you in that I think there are definite points where God will have His way and other points where free will seems to be at play.
This seems to me to be another one of those FMs
(Fascinating Mysteries) in life. God’s creation has lots of mysteries, or perhaps paradoxes, if you will. For example, why does light behave as both a wave and a particle? Or, why when you flip a coin, each time there’s a 50% chance that it will come up either heads or tails, but the overall pattern with repeated flips might be an entirely different result? I think mystery adds depth to our experiences and reminds us that we don’t have all the answers…
I believe that in time and space, God will have His way. And, I too could share some rather out of the ordinary events where I feel I got jerked by the figurative collar, but I won’t.
What I will share is that early on in our marriage, we made a cross country road trip to visit family. At the time, we had no immediate plans of moving, though we had discussed wanting to. We were later to live close to 2 of the places we camped at and to live in the area we took a ferry across to. What’s strange about this whole experience is that, in one instance, we looked about a whole greater metro area and considered 2 other suburbs. We picked our location based on what we found in housing that we could qualify for and get the most value for our money. In another instance, we also looked throughout a whole general area before finding our home. In the current instance, we were actually looking at living in another state, before hubby found this job.
Oh yeah, God has a plan, but we don’t generally know it ahead of time. And yes, there are those “in your face” moments as well. Still, it’s kind of like having visitors: You want to be a good host and so you plan a few things. You also have a list of things you think they might enjoy which you have at the ready to suggest to them and ask them about. You also ask them when they arrive if there are things they’ve read about or know they want to do. The point is to set the stage, be flexible, facilitate fun, and enjoy your company. Things don’t have to go a particular way, though there might be constraints like when an event is going to happen or when someone is going to arrive or has to leave. Still, there’s a lot of room for play. Someone gets sick, a car breaks down, or someone has to go shopping for a particular item and shopping takes longer than expected. It’s all good if you have the right attitude that the relationship is what’s most important.
Posted by nisperos on July 11, 2007 at 5:16 pm
P.S. John, I hope you make your deadline, man!
But, go ahead and make plans for Colorado Springs… and see if you don’t just end up in Fort Collins instead ; – )
Posted by Ruth on July 12, 2007 at 2:05 pm
waiting……patiently……really really patiently.
OT: do you do the graphic design for your book covers?
Posted by Ruth on July 16, 2007 at 6:21 am
hmmmmmmmmmmm.
Posted by Ruth on July 24, 2007 at 11:43 am
hello….. bad subjects?
man’s free will vs. Gods sovereignty ? (July 11 here)
graphic design?
how about clay? (the mud stuff)
Posted by John Shore on July 24, 2007 at 1:31 pm
Oh, right: Sorry. Man’s free will vs. sovereignty: I’m afraid I just don’t have much to say about that. Graphic design: I did sketch out the cover design for “Penguins”; the only thing I added to the cover of “I’m OK” is the halo. And about “clay (the mud stuff)” I’m afraid I don’t to what that refers.
Sorry to be so awfully slow responding!!
Posted by Ruth on July 24, 2007 at 2:18 pm
hmmmm slowness is all good….
actually you mention free will quite often…… how is it that you walked away from that supply closet…. new or phooey?
the halo was an inspired addition…..
clay is a new subject-it is the way I want to make a living…..
graphics customers pay the rent!
Posted by John Shore on July 24, 2007 at 2:29 pm
Thanks about the halo. Nav gave me ONE shot to add/change ONE thing about the cover (they were in a hurry), so that’s the thing I chose to ask for. My second choice was to bump up the font size on the subtitle–but that’s a small one. Other than that small change–which might not even work–I think the design of the cover is brilliant. I was just exceptionally lucky with both those books. (Arvid Wallen is the genius at Nav who did “I’m OK.”)
Sculpturing is a fantastic art form, of course. Good luck with that.
Posted by Ruth on July 24, 2007 at 2:51 pm
http://www.apibs.org/chs/0182.htm
food for thought……
Posted by Kerri B. on July 24, 2007 at 4:52 pm
Ahh, Ruth, you read my thoughts with the free will/predestination thing! I was wondering the same thing, John. And I say that in all kindness–not trying to ‘catch’ or ‘zing’ you on anything–just curious as to your viewpoint.
My husband and I have had this debate for years. At first it was him for free will and me for predestination…and then one year I decided it was both, all at once, and he said that was a cop-out, and I decided to stop debating him on it. Hmmmm, this could lead to my own blog post, I’m thinking…
Posted by In love with Nature on July 26, 2007 at 11:43 am
I stopped posting at “is there God ? There is God” but after reading this one i just can’t resist …
Dear John, “Evil” is not only a harmful action of a human against another human. It is any event that makes a human suffer.
Cancer is an evil thing. A Tsunami is an evil thing. Babies born without brains is an evil thing. You agree with me on that don’t you ? Why does your omnipotent, omnipresent God allow these
things to happen ? Has he given Nature also a free will ? and viruses ? If yes than can u tell me if there is anything that God has under control ? Because then it looks like that he just created things and doesn’t really care. Thats not really loving is it ?
But there is also another point. If God gave us free will didn’t he knew that some of us will misuse it ? I will not give my 2 year old son a knife to play with. Not because he is a bad boy but because he could use it in the wrong way … Am i really smarter
than your all-seeing all-knowing God ? Or couldn’t he figure out that the nazis would use the free will he gave them to burn 6 million people ?
(Most of them belonging to his beloved nation Israel)
Somehow it all doesn’t really makes any sense at all if our starting point is that God is loving and almighty. Maybe he isn’t that at all or maybe he just is not.
On the other hand if we say there is no god we are just intelligent animals but we still have strong animal instincts which our reason cannot always tame or control then everything is clear.
Or would you say that a Wolf is evil because he eats a rabbit ?
Posted by John Shore on July 26, 2007 at 12:14 pm
Yeah, I only dealt here with the kind of evil people do to one another. In my book, “Penguins…”, I also answer the problem of what you here refer to–of what I there call “natural evil.” You’re right: that IS a different kind of “evil,” and it has a seperate “solution.”
I’m not just … plugging my own book, or anything. I’m just saying that you’re right, that’s another legitimate argument against God, and there is a very real, very sound answer to it. (That answer, in its very essence, is this: We have no idea what, if we all banned together and accepted as our ONLY goal the betterment of all mankind, we might be able to do to mitigate the suffering caused by so much of what we now consider “natural” evil. The example I use in the book is of a little boy born in India who WOULD have cured cancer, if only he wouldn’t have died of starvation.)
The second half of your assertion here is all about free will vs. predestination. And that’s a whole … other thing.
Just so you’re clear (and I’m sure you are) no one here is telling you you need to, or should, believe in God. Listen to your own heart. If it’s telling you that, you know, you’re on your OWN out here in the world then … well, if I WAS in the advice business, then I’d say to keep listening. But I’m not. So I won’t.
(And no, I wouldn’t call the rabbit-eating wolf evil. It’s clear you’ve got a bit of chip on your shoulder toward Christians–and (as evidenced by my book “I”m OK–You’re Not: The Message We’re Sending Nonbelievers and Why We Should Stop”) I’d be the last to blame you for that. But if it’s possible for you to trust anything about Christians, PLEASE trust that we’re not all absolute morons.)
Posted by Ruth on July 26, 2007 at 1:21 pm
hey John- perhaps you could expound a bit further on what happened in that supply closet…. being drawn to your knees and salvation is really hard to explain to someone that hasn’t been drawn….. it is so astoundingly amazing…
ILWN – we don’t die on our own, God doesn’t cause us to forget anxiety, and fear of the Lord is not a one line answer……
Posted by Cliverty on March 7, 2008 at 5:45 pm
The Bible begins with a perfect God making a perfect sinless world – and “no evil” – no torture, rape, murder, etc….
(All the things we like to gloss over when talking about this subject).
The Bible does not present the notion that God had to endure evil because He accidently made evil people.
If we care about what the Bible has to say on this subject (and yes I suspect that is a BIG IF in certain contexts) then evil is “bad” and is about to be obliterated for it’s timeline has just about run out.
I don’t see God “bringing evil back for another encore presentation” once He wipes it out.
Bob