ARTICLE

Addressing the Problem of Evil

Article by William Lane

May 11, 2006

This is an essay Bill wrote for a secular college class that provides not only a solid Christian response to the problem of evil, but also represents a great example of how believers might bear witness to Christ in a college setting.

“And the Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground – trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil” (Genesis 2:9 NIV).

Good and evil are notions that have existed as long as mankind. One could even come to the conclusion that good and evil predate mankind. It’s very common among monotheistic religions to believe that God is inherently good, omniscient, and omnipotent. If God is indeed all of those things, how is it possible that evil and lawlessness exist?

One answer to this question could be that evil is a by-product of free will.

This notion centers on the idea that God created man, a freethinking being with an independent will. If man has an independent will, then he can choose contrary to that which God would choose for him.

“And he [God] said, ‘Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?’” (Genesis 3:11)

When Adam and Eve disobeyed God and ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil that is when evil/sin entered the world of mankind. If one agrees with this perspective yet would like to take it to a deeper level there is a small problem that arises. Adam and Eve’s sin is not the first account of evil in the Judeo-Christian scriptures.

“Then the Lord God said to the woman, ‘What is this you have done?’ The woman said, ‘The serpent deceived me and I ate’” (Genesis 3:13).

If one takes Genesis as a literal account of history, then the serpent that deceived Eve was evil before the fall of man, “…that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray” (Revelation 12:9).

Satan and the serpent were one and the same. If one intends to maintain the perspective that evil is a by-product of free will, then we must believe that Satan has free will.

When studying evil, one can’t get very far in the monotheistic Judeo-Christian tradition without giving the Devil his due. He is, in character, the very personification of evil. If Satan doesn’t have free will, then free will can’t be evil's origin. If we can’t find evidence to support the free will theory, then we are left to question God’s goodness.

The Judeo-Christian scriptures (that this author has read) do not have a specific account of the creation of angels, like they do in regards to mankind. Although, it seems clear that Satan was given free will.

“He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning” (1 John 3:8).

To sin is to exercise one’s will in a way that is contrary to God’s law or God’s will. Therefore, Satan must have an independent will with which he can choose contrary to God’s will.

As we continue contemplating this subject of evil, and explain its origin, maybe it would be best to establish what evil is. The most common understanding is that evil is something morally bad or wrong and or something that causes harm or distress. Evil seems to always be connected with morality. Most monotheists would argue that God is the standard for everything moral.

“For the divine mind cannot exist without reason, and divine reason cannot but have this power to establish right and wrong” (Cicero p178).

Therefore, to take our understanding of evil to the next level, according to monotheists, evil would be the very essence of disregarding or going against the intrinsic morality of God.

If God is good, we still have one problem yet to reconcile, why does he allow evil to exist?

If he is good, omniscient, and omnipotent why doesn’t he just eradicate evil before it even begins to manifest itself?

If God was evil we wouldn’t have this problem; it would make perfect sense for God to allow the existence of evil. Our problem would be how to explain the existence of good, assuming good and evil both actually exist. If we agree that God is good, and evil does exist because of free will or otherwise, then we must assume evil has some function or value.

“God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the citizens of Shechem, who acted treacherously against Abimelech. God did this in order that the crime against Jerub-Baal’s seventy sons, the shedding of their blood, might be avenged…” (Judges 9:23+24).

In the verses above God is using evil to punish evil. In these verses below God is using evil to test the righteous:

Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil. And he still maintains his integrity, though you enticed me against him to ruin him without reason.” “Skin for skin!” Satan replied. “A man will give all he has for his own life. But stretch out your hand and strike his flesh and bones, and he will surely curse you to your face.” The Lord said to Satan, “Very well, then, he is in your hands; but you must spare his life.” (Job 2:3-6)

In the Judeo-Christian tradition it’s clear that evil has value in God’s grand design; he allows its existence to punish the wicked and to test the righteous.

The possible explanation for the existence of evil contained in this paper happens to line up with this authors view. If there are other rational explanations for evil and lawlessness in view of monotheistic depictions of God as good, omniscient, and omnipotent this author doesn’t know them. For monotheists these ideas can satisfy the need for both reasonable and revelatory arguments. The ideas, that evil exists as a result of free will and that evil has a purpose, together seem to be a perfect fit as an explanation for evil.

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