How do we approach the question of the existence of God in light of all the evil in the world?
The question as asked by the atheist and the skeptic attacks three biblical attributes of God and stresses that if God is omniscient (that is all-knowing), omnipotent (that is all-powerful) and omnibenevolent (or all-good) and yet does nothing about the evil in the world – He does not exist. But the word of God makes it clear that He IS the all-knowing (omniscient) God. For example, (Psalm 147:5) says, “Great is our Lord, and mighty in power; His understanding is infinite;” also (1 John 3:20) “For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things;” and also (Isa 46:9-10) “Remember the former things of old, For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me, Declaring the end from the beginning, And from ancient times things that are not yet done, Saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, And I will do all My pleasure… .’” The word of God also declares Him to be all-powerful (omnipotent); consider the following examples: (Isa. 43:13) “Indeed before the day was, I am He; And there is no one who can deliver out of My hand; I work, and who will reverse it?”” The Bible makes it clear that “nothing will be impossible for God” (Luke 1:37) because “with God, all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26).
Finally, the word of God declares Him to be an all-good or loving (omnibenevolent) God. (John 3:16) is one of the most commonly known supports for this truth: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” Three times in (1 John 4 [vs’s 8, 16 and 17]) we hear John say – “God IS love.” Certainly, this is not an exhaustive list of proofs but the scriptures chosen all support the three qualities identified by atheists in their argument against God.
They argue however that because evil exists, a God with such qualities cannot exist. Their argument might best be summed up by the words of the ancient Greek philosopher Epicurus:
“Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil? Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?”
What is evil? Is evil a thing or a person? No. Evil is a corruption or a perversion of something good. God declares in (Genesis 1:31) that everything He made was very good; that goodness however, was corrupted through the confusion Satan brought to the minds of the first human beings, Adam and Eve (see Genesis 3:1-6) concerning what God had said about their eating of the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Based on the account of original sin, what then is evil but a choice against the expressed will of God! Evil was not created by God because evil is not a thing, it is a choice to pervert something good.
Couldn’t God, being both all-knowing and all-powerful just have caused Adam and Eve to do right – to make a God honoring decision? Yes, He could have, but we also need to consider why the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was left in the garden to begin with. Adam was given authority over all that God had created (Genesis 1:28, 2:19) but the tree and the command remained to remind Adam, his wife and his children that they were NOT the ultimate authority. God left them a command and a consequence for rebelling. Satan, casted doubt about God’s goodness into the hearts of the pair and added the temptation to disobey God; and God in His role as Heavenly Father, allowed them the free-will or freedom to choose.
Did God give the command? Yes. Did He make the decision that they should sin? No. He tested them as He is prone to do with us all (see James 1:2-3); He is no more responsible for the choices men make than men are for the choices of their adult sons and daughters. So evil, exists not because God made it but because He allows people to make choices both good and bad. In His permissive will, God allows us to make choices that are even contrary to His Preceptive Will or what He desires for and from us. He wants us to live holy lives (1 Peter 1:16) , to be transformed by His word rather than conformed to this world (Romans 12:2) – He wants us to live lives led by the desires of His Spirit rather than by the desires of our own carnal hearts (Galatians 5:16). But sometimes we act in an unholy manner, sometimes we DO conform to the world around us and sometimes we do walk after the flesh – He allows these things as a part of His permissive will but He does NOT condone them, there are consequences for bad as well as good choices. Just as the parents of children who make bad choices nevertheless exist, neither God’s existence nor His goodness is nullified when those He created choose evil.
What has God done about evil? We will address that question briefly in the final segment of this short study next time….
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