Defining evil
Evil is “a term used to describe
something that brings about harmful, painful, and unpleasant effects” (https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/evil).
All “harmful, painful, and unpleasant effects” are simply not good. So
throughout this study, evil is defined as force or action opposed to good.
Human beings from the ancient time are puzzled by the existence of evil in this world. Humans will always struggle with the problem of evil. We were trying to live good, propagate good, punish evil and eradicate evil. But still evil exists and is increasing in proportion. The Religious sects, political ideologies and World Wars have unleashed the horror of evil on innocent humans. In spite of all human efforts to eliminate or at least weaken the horrors of evil, various atrocities and horrors, such as genocides, terrorist attacks, tortures and mass murders continue to happen in this world.
Philosophers are uncertain about
whether we should use the term “evil” in our moral, political and legal
discourses. Or shall we dismiss it as an outdated and empty concept. What
should we call evil? What is the basic criteria of evil? Is it a human
character, human action or an outcome of a system? Can we formulate a universal
definition of evil? Or is it relative to the social or cultural background.
In philosophical and Christian
perspective, three kinds of evil exist.
1. Moral
evil is committed by humans. It
volitionally and intentionally originate in human beings. It includes various
forms of sin, war, murder, theft, lying and cruelties. Human beings commit
these evil because they have free will to choose good or evil.
2. Natural
evil occurs independently of human beings.
It also causes pain and suffering. This includes all natural disasters. Some
philosophers consider natural as simply part of nature and not evil at all.
3. This
finite (limited) condition of the temporal world is the metaphysical evil.
This world is limited in matter, space and time. So it is limited or finite. Metaphysical
evil is the lack of complete being. Every creature falls short of infinite
being. That short fall causes defects such as we see in moral evil. It is, in
and of itself, not evil. Dharma religions such as Hinduism and Buddhism explain
this as something humans cannot avoid.
Evil
is relative
C.S. Lewis (Clive Staples Lewis) was a
British writer and Anglican lay theologian (29 November 1898, Belfast, United
Kingdom - 22 November 1963, Oxford, United Kingdom). In his book, The
Abolition of Man, he states that certain human behavior and acts are
universally considered evil, such as treachery, rape and murder. Some other
acts are considered evil in certain historical and social era. The same may be
accepted as normal human behavior in another period in history or in another
society. The ancient Greeks found no evil in homosexual relationships. For 400
years, the United States of America, Great Britain, and many other countries
practiced slavery of the African race. Nazis in Germany, under Adolf Hitler, committed
genocide of Jews. It was not evil then for the Christians in Germany,
neighboring countries and many in USA and Britain. Nanjing Massacre of the
Chinese citizens by the Imperial Japanese Army, in 1937, just before the World
War II, was the worst atrocity occurred during the period. (December 13, 1937 – January 1938). More than
3,00,000 innocent people were murdered within six weeks. It was also justified
at that time.
Today, the world and the Christian
church are divided about homosexuality and abortion. Wars and genocides are
defended by nations, races and religions.
But according to the Bible, evil is not
defined by human beings, Satan or the world. Evil is measured against God’s
glorious standard. Compared to His holiness, justice, purity, and
righteousness, we all fall short.
Romans
3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, (NKJV).
Everything that is not in par with
God’s goodness and holiness is sin and evil.
Human beings everywhere and always do
not profess the same understanding of Evil. The three monotheistic religions of
Judaism, Christianity, and Islam have different interpretations. Even people of
the same faith have different understanding of evil. Many people believe that
some evil is good as long as it serves a good purpose. Evil, whether it is
given as a punishment or a test, can help people to grow to become more mature
before God.
Skeptics believe we should abandon the
concept of evil. They give three main reasons to abandon the concept of evil:
1. The
concept of evil accepts the existence of metaphysical dark spirits, the supernatural,
or satanic powers. These creatures possess powers and abilities that defy
scientific explanation and perhaps human understanding. We do not have proven
evidence for their existence. So it is rational to dismiss the term “evil”.
2. The
concept of evil is a useless concept. It lacks explanatory power. We cannot
explain why certain actions were performed and why these actions were performed
by some humans or nature. We cannot explain why many others are not doing evil
actions. To say that an event is a mystery is not a genuine explanation. An
action or incident is not evil only because an explanation or information is unavailable
now.
3. The
concept of evil can be harmful or dangerous when used in moral, political, and
legal contexts. It can cause harm or danger when it is misapplied or used
perniciously. It is harmful to use the concept without sufficient understanding
to complicated historical or political contexts. The metaphysical and
psychological explanation about evildoers are not always correct. The only
solution we practice in order to escape or avoid evil doers is to isolate them
(put in prison) or to have them executed. So the concept of evil itself is
harmful or dangerous.
The problem of
evil
The problem of evil is the question of
how to reconcile the existence of evil and suffering with an omniscient, omnibenevolent
and omnipotent God. The Darwinian problem of evil is extended beyond humans to
animals and nature.
Epicurus and evil
Epicurus was an ancient Greek
philosopher who founded Epicureanism, a highly influential school of philosophy
(born 341, Samos, Greece –270 BC, Athens, Greece). Epicurus’s statement of the
“problem of evil” is the most famous philosophical argument against the existence
of God. Though these arguments are attributed to Epicurus, scholars are
doubtful about its real author.
He reasoned that, if God knows about
our suffering (all-knowing), cares about our suffering (all-loving), and can do
something about our suffering (all-powerful), then there shouldn't be any
suffering. Therefore if evil is a reality in this world, God does not exist.
Epicurus’ logical arguments about the
existence of God and evil are as follows:
Definition 1 - God is omniscient, omnibenevolent
and omnipotent.
Definition 2 - Evil is a force or action
opposed to good.
Premise 1 - An omniscient, omnibenevolent
and omnipotent God exists.
Premise 2 - An omniscient being
knows every way in which evil can come into existence, and knows every way in
which evil can be prevented.
Premise 3 - An omnibenevolent being
would want to prevent and eliminate all evils.
Premise 4 - An omnipotent God has
the power not to create evil or to prevent evil from coming into existence. He
must have the power to eliminate evil.
Premise 5 - So an omniscient,
omnibenevolent and omnipotent God surely would not create evil or He would
prevent the existence of it.
Premise 6 - But evil exists in
this world. God has neither prevented its coming into being nor has eliminated
it. This is a logical contradiction to premise 1 to 5.
Conclusion 1 - Therefore an omniscient,
omnibenevolent and omnipotent God does not exist.
Conclusion 2 - Since God cannot be anything
else than an omniscient, omnibenevolent and omnipotent being, He does not
exist.
The whole argument can be condensed
into two divisions: the logical problem and the evidential problem.
1. The
logical problem poses the question, “how” - how can a good God and evil
coexist? The logical problem argues that the co-existence of God and evil is a
logical impossibility. The co-existence of two contradictory concepts are
logically impossible. An example is that, an immovable object and irresistible
force cannot co-exist. If the force is irresistible, the object cannot remain
immobile.
The
logical problem is that a good God and evil are contradictory concepts. So they
cannot co-exist. The logical argument is as follows: If God is omniscient
(all-knowing), then He possesses knowledge of evil. If God is omnibenevolent
(all-good), then He desires to eliminate evil. And if God is omnipotent
(all-powerful), then His ability is sufficient to permanently annihilate all
evil. Therefore, evil cannot coexist with an omniscient, omnibenevolent and
omnipotent God.
2. The
evidential or existential problem poses the question “why”? Evidences prove
that there is evil in the world. So it is improbable that there is an
omnipotent, omniscient, and wholly good God. It asks, why is God allowing evil?
Why is He not rescuing humans from evil? If God exists why He is ignoring human
suffering?
“How” is an intellectual question and
“why” is an emotional question. According to the above arguments, if God is not
omnipotent or omnibenevolent or omniscient, there is no problem of evil. If God
lacks any one of these three attributes, the problem of evil is resolved.
The “problem of evil” is the seeming
contradiction between an all-knowing, all-loving and all-powerful God and the
human experience of suffering and evil in the world. Critics claim that the
existence of evil is proof that the God of the Bible logically cannot exist. They
argue that, since “bad things happen to good people” God is either nonexistent
or less good or less powerful than Scripture suggests.
Theodicy (θiːˈɒdɪsi)
Theodicy (θiːˈɒdɪsi) is a branch of
philosophy and theology that discusses the issue of evil in the light of the
existence of God. The word “theodicy” is a combination of two Greek words.
“Theos” means God and “dike/ dikaios” means righteous. Thus theodicy means, a
justification of the ways of God towards humans. Theodicy is an attempt to
justify God for the existence of evil.
Theodicy discuss the question, is God
logically possible against the fact that evil exists in this world. If God is
just and holy and good, then how do evil and misery exist? This is the question
theodicy wrestles with. Theodicy explains what is evil and God’s reasons for
permitting evil. By allowing evil God attains greater good than possible
without evil.
Theodicy is not an attempt to make God
appear as palatable as possible to us. Our dislike of something does not make
anything false. God in the scripture is not always compatible with our personal
preferences. God does not act according to our moral preferences. God never
promises to make everyone’s life easier or better. He never promised to alter logical
principles behind the universe according to our demands. He has not promised to
alter the cause and effect principle as we wish.
Theodicy logically proves that the
Christian God exists even while there is evil in this world. God does not have
to create evil in order for there to be evil. There is an eternal and spiritual
context to suffering and evil in this world. This is a key part of any
reasonable theodicy.
Theodicy presupposes three assumptions:
1. God
is all knowing, all good and all powerful (omnibenevolent, omniscient and
omnipotent).
2. The
whole created universe exists in contingent (depending) relationship with God.
3. It
is a fact that evil exists in the world.
Before we go to the discussion of
Biblical defense, let us go fast through the concepts and theories of some
ancient religions, philosophers and scholars, about the co-existence of God and
evil.
Ancient religions
The ancient Egyptian religion absolved
their gods from any blame for evil. They followed a negative cosmology and the
negative concept of human nature to explain evil. The Pharaoh was an agent of
the gods and his actions as a king were aimed to prevent evil and curb evilness
in human nature.
Ancient Greeks acknowledged the fact
that evil was present in the world. But they didn't believe in any
"evil" gods. Incidents, both good and evil, were caused by Fate who
was more powerful than gods. In Greek mythology, Fate was represented by three
very old women who spin the threads of human destiny. Greeks justified all
unfortunate events as the random works of these goddesses. They spin, dispense
and cut off the thread of human fate.
In Roman mythology, the goddesses of
fate were known as Parcae (singular Parca). They were also three in number.
They directed lives and death of humans and even gods.
Neo-platonists
Neo-Platonism, a school of philosophy, started with Plotinus,
who was a philosopher in the Hellenistic tradition. (born 204/205 AD,
Lyco, or Lycopolis, Egypt—died 270, Campania, Southern Italy, lived in
Rome). Plotinus initiated a new phase in the development of the Platonic
tradition.
According to the Neo-Platonists, evil
does not exist as a substance or property. It is a privation of substance,
form, and goodness. (Plotinus, Enneads, I, 8; See also O’Brien 1996). For
instance, the evil of disease consists in a privation of health, and the evil
of sin consist in a privation of virtue. Since evil is a privation of goodness,
it is not created by God. All of God’s creation is good, evil is the lack of
being good.
Dualism
Dualism is the belief in two supreme
opposed powers, God and devil (Satan). In dualism, both these powers have
active part and contribution in the creation of the universe.
Zoroastrianism
is an Iranian religion and one of the world's oldest organized faiths. This
religion was founded by an Iranian prophet Zoroaster. He was also known as
Zarathustra. Details about his birth and death are not clearly available. It is
reckoned that he lived before 500 BC and died at the age of 77. Some historians
believe the religion had been practiced from 2nd millennium BC, though recorded
history is available from the middle of the 6th century BC only. It has a
dualistic cosmology of good and evil within the framework of a monotheistic
ontology and an eschatology. It predicts the ultimate conquest of evil by good.
Zoroastrianism attribute evil
in the world to the god of evil as opposed to the god of good. They believe
that the struggle between good and evil in the world will eventually come to an
end. Zoroastrianism talks about our moral evil as something avoidable.
Manichaeism
was a dualistic religious movement founded in Persia in the 3rd century AD. The
basis of this religion is the revelation received by a person known as Mani. It
was first considered to be a Christian heresy, but later identified itself as a
different religion.
According to Manichaean dualism, God
and the Prince of darkness are two co-equal and co-eternal powers. God is nor
the sole creator of the world. God created all good and the Prince of darkness
created all evil. Humans have a good soul and evil matter. There is an ongoing
battle between these two powers. God is not all-powerful. So He cannot prevent
the devil.
Other religions, such as Hinduism and
Buddhism teach that evil unavoidably manifests in the world because of karma.
Taoism (also spelled Daoism – an ancient Chinese religion) views evil as
basically unreal. Thus it resembles the Dharmic religions. Confucianism talks
about moral evil as good in society.
Gottfried Leibniz
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz was an 18
century German polymath. (1 July 1646 – 14 November 1716). A polymath is a
person who knows a lot about many different subjects. He was active as a
mathematician, philosopher, scientist and diplomat. He coined the term
"theodicy" in 1710 in his work Théodicée.
He has presented a complex
philosophical theory to explain the problem of evil. Leibniz framed three types
of evil: metaphysical evil, moral evil and natural evil.
In this three-fold schema, Leibniz
argued that moral evil is an inevitable and necessary consequence of finitude.
Finitude is a metaphysical lack of complete being. All creature falls short of
infinite being. This shortfall causes defects such as we see in moral evil.
Leibniz’s arguments fails to the Biblical
notion of evil. If evil is a metaphysical necessity for all creatures, Adam and
Eve had to have been evil before the fall. And all humans have to continue to
be evil even after glorification in heaven.
Leibniz believed that despite our
sufferings, we live in the best of all possible worlds. God is in control. God
allows sufferings in order to prevent the occurrence of a worse terrible event.
God is able to anticipate and prevent consequences that we cannot see. Since
God is good and loving, we can trust that God creates and sustains the best
possible world.
Friedrich Nietzsche
Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche was a
nineteenth century German philosopher, prose poet, cultural critic,
philologist, and composer whose work has exerted a profound influence on
contemporary philosophy. (born 15 October 1844, Röcken, Lützen, Germany – died
25 August 1900, Weimar, Germany).
Nietzsche argued that the concept of
evil is dangerous and so it must be avoided. It does not describe a moral
reality. It is used to demonize enemies. The concept exercise negative effects
on human potential and vitality. It promotes the weak in spirit and suppress
the strong. In On the Genealogy of Morality: A Polemic, he contends that
the powerless and weak created the concept of evil to take revenge against
their oppressors. Creative self-expression and accomplishment is more valuable
than a relief from suffering.
Monotheistic religions
Monotheistic religions believe only in
one God. They are Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. All monotheistic religions
agrees that evil exists, but none of them glorifies it. But they differ in
explaining the origin and purpose of it. They attribute three qualities to God:
absolute knowledge (omniscience), absolute goodness (omnibenevolence) and absolute
power (omnipotence)
God cannot and has not created evil.
The presence of evil is due to the moral downfall of human beings. Humans were
tempted to disobey God’s command by the fallen angel, Satan. This disobedience
is sin. And sin caused all evil to enter into world. Thereafter God permits
evil either as a punishment for humanity's moral downfall, as a test for their
growth of for any other divine purpose.
Monotheistic religions blame a personal
identity called Satan as an agent of temptation. But they do not consider Satan
as powerful or equal to God.
Judaism
In the Old Testament, through the life
of some persons who suffered evil assert the view that, God is greater than
suffering, He is powerful, creative and committed to His creation. He always
has the last word in everything that happen in this world. Genesis says that
all God's creation were "very good" and later evil entered into the
created world as a result of human choice.
Islam
The holy book of Islam, Qur’an, teaches
that evil originates from the rebellion of Satan (Shaytan) against Allah. Allah
asked Satan to bow down to Adam, but the devil refused. So Allah cast out Satan
from heaven. In revenge, Satan vowed to tempt humans to commit sin.
Muslims believe that all human beings
are born with an instinct to live according to the laws of Allah. Humans are
responsible for everything they do. Human beings choose right, by the guidance
of Allah, or wrong by falling into the temptations of Satan (Shaytan). However
Muslims do not believe in absolute free will. Allah can intervene in their
lives at any moment.
This short life on Earth is a test from
Allah where they must endure evil and suffering as preparation for Paradise.
Muslims believe that suffering is caused by the selfishness and evil of human
beings. This selfishness and evil leads to bad decisions. Human beings can
overcome suffering in their own lives and help to ease the suffering of others
by following Allah’s path.
Allah has forgiven Adam and Eve, who
fell into the temptation of Satan (Shaytan) to eat the forbidden fruit. And he
shall also forgive anyone who sincerely repents from their wrong doings.
They believe that Allah is in overall
control. Muslims often try to see a purpose in suffering. Suffering may be
Allah’s way of educating, a retribution for a wrong action or a test. If humans
are patient and remain faithful, they will have increased reward in the
afterlife.
Jehovah's Witnesses
Jehovah's Witnesses believe that Satan
is the original cause of evil. Satan was once a perfect angel. But he developed
feelings of self-importance and craved worship. He challenged God's right to
rule. Thus Satan posed a competing claim against God (Jehovah) for the universal
sovereignty. So God cast him out of heaven. Some angels sided with Satan and
became demons. When Adam and Eve disobeyed God by the deceit of Satan, humanity
became participants in the challenge.
Jehovah’s Witness believers explain God's
subsequent tolerance of evil by the value of free will. They also hold that
this period of suffering is one of non-interference from God. This age of
sufferings demonstrate that Jehovah's "right to rule" or “universal
sovereignty” is both correct and in the best interests of all intelligent
beings. This age also offers humans the opportunity to willingly submit to
God's rule.
At some future time known only to God,
He will settle forever, the issue of the right to universal sovereignty. "Faithful"
humankind will be reconciled through Christ and non-conforming humans and
demons will be destroyed. Thereafter evil will be summarily eliminated.
Evil as illusory – Christian
Science
According to Mary Baker Eddy (1821-1910),
founder of Christian Science, evil is ontologically unreal in the world created
by God who is absolutely good and perfect. (Ontology - branch of metaphysics concerned with
the nature and relations of being). Evils such as suffering and disease
only appear to be real, but in truth are illusions. So in reality evil does not
exist.
The theologians of Christian Science
posit that the spirit is of infinite might. Mortal human beings fail to grasp
the infinity of the spirit. Instead they focus on evil and suffering, that have
no real existence as "a power, person or principle opposed to God".
The illusion theodicy has been
critiqued for denying the reality of crimes, wars, terror, sickness, injury,
death, suffering and pain to the victim. If evil is simply ontologically
unreal, how can one explain Hitler killing six million Jews? Didn't it truly
cause substantial pain and suffering to them and also to others who survived
the Holocaust? Why God would create this "illusion" of crimes, wars,
terror, sickness, injury, death, suffering and pain; and why God does not stop
this "illusion". The illusion argument merely shifts the problem to a
new problem, as to why God created this "illusion" and why He does
not stop it.
Christianity
In Christianity, scholars generally
agrees that the Bible does not admit a singular perspective on evil. The Bible
focuses not on rational or logical justifications about the problem of evil,
but on moral and spiritual remedies. Sin is a moral evil. The spiritual world
contains hostile spiritual forces. Suffering and misfortune are, sometimes,
represented as evil in the Bible. But Christianity mainly focuses on "the
salvific value of suffering".
The Bible does not leave the problem of
evil unaddressed. The Bible, in both testaments, acknowledges that evil does
exist. Scripture speaks about evil, God responses to the problem and offers
solutions to it. The Bible argues that, freedom of human choice allows for the
possibility of moral evil. Moral evil leads to physical and natural evil. God
has always acted to restrain, eradicate and soften the effects of evil on
humanity. Salvation through Christ is the only way to escape from evil. One
day, God will defeat and destroy evil forever.
Who created
evil?
Who created evil is the “how” question
of the problem of evil. In order to defend the existence of an all knowing, all
good and all powerful God, theodicy has to answer three important
questions:
1. Who
created evil or how and why evil originated in the world?
2. Why
God did not prevent the origin of evil?
3. Why
God permits or causes evil to happen today?
These questions are answered in
different ways.
1. First
way is to qualify or negate the total goodness of God, that is, to say that God
must be evil as well as good. This position has been taken by Christians like
Frederick Sontag, a professor of philosophy and author. (October 2, 1924 – June
14, 2009, California, USA).
2. Second
way is to qualify or deny the omnipotence of God, that is, to regard God as a
finite God. If God is not omnipotent, there may be another power equal or
lesser to God. This theory is proposed by dualistic religions like Zoroastrianism
and Manichaeism. Even some Christians theologians like Edwin Lewis have taken
this dualistic position. Edwin Lewis (1881–1959) was an American Methodist
theologian.
3. A
third logical way is to qualify the existence of evil, by saying that evil is
just non-being or privation of good. This theological and philosophical concept
was proposed by Saint Augustine and later followed by Saint Thomas Aquinas. Aquinas
defines evil in his Summa Theologica Aquinas, as the absence or
privation of good. This is a commonly accepted theory in Christianity.
Evil as a deviation from God’s
goodness
There are more than once theory about
how evil came into existence. God is a perfectly good. He is the only perfectly
good being. So not only that God cannot create evil, but also nothing different
from Him cannot be perfect or good. If the absolute and complete perfection is
changed, God extinct to be absolutely and completely perfect. That means, if
absolute goodness is changed from God, He cannot and does not exist.
Anything that God creates is different
from Him and so it must be less than perfect. This world and everything in it
is a creation of God. So it cannot be perfectly good. Human beings are also
created by God, hence not perfectly good. Thus, evil is not a creation of God,
it is simply a deviation from God’s goodness.
After creating everything in this
world, God said “very good”. Adam and Eve were created without sin, in God’s
image and likeness. They were perfect beings without lacking anything as human
beings. But they were humans not equal to God. They are created “a little lower
than the angels”
Psalms
8: 4, 5 (Hebrews 2: 6, 7)
4
What is man that You are mindful of
him, And the son of man that You visit him?
5
For You have made him a little lower
than the angels, And You have crowned him with glory and honor. (NKJV)
Evil as disunity with God
Christianity teaches that evil is a
result of disunity with God's will. The Mosaic Laws in the Old Testament era
and the teachings of Jesus in the New Testament era reveals the will of God. But
people continues to commit moral evil (sin) by disobeying God's will.
God created angels, the universe and
humanity as good (Genesis 1:31). Angels and humans were gifted with free will
to choose between obedience and loyalty to God or rebellion against Him
(liberum arbitrium). Satan was created as a good angel. However he rebelled
against God, fell into sin and thus became an evil spirit called Satan. A host
of angels aligned with Satan also fell from the glory of heaven. They were cast
out of heaven by God.
After the creation of humans, Satan deceived
them to follow his path in rebellion against God. Thus humans disobeyed God’s
command. The fall of Adam and Eve was caused not by free will but by their volitional
disobedience. Their sin has been inherited to all their offspring as
"original sin". So all humans are depraved, have lost their ability
to choose to follow God, and are inclined to use their free will to choose
evil.
The origin of evil lies not with God
but with humanity. When God created human beings He gave them a choice to obey
or disobey. When Adam and Eve chose to disobey God they brought evil into the
universe. Evil is an action or relationship, not a created substance.
Pandora box
The disobedience of Adam and Eve was
like opening the Pandora box. The story of Pandora is a Greek myth.
Greek poets, Homer and Hesiod lived in
about 750 - 650 BC. They were credited with establishing the customs and myths
of the ancient pagan Greek. Hesiod in his poems Theogony and Works and Days narrates the story of
Pandora.
Prometheus, the Greek god of fire, stole fire from heaven and gave it to
humans. So Pandora was created by gods to counteract the blessing. Pandora was, according to the myth,
the first woman on Earth, created by gods. Her name means “the one who bears
all gifts”. Prometheus brother, Epimetheus married
her. As a wedding present, Zeus, the supreme Greek god, gave Pandora a box (a
jar) called
“pithos” in Greek. Zeus told her that the box contained special gifts from them
but she was not allowed to open the box ever.
Out of curiosity, Pandora opened the box. And
all illnesses, hardships and sufferings that was in the box sprang out of it.
Pandora became afraid and closed the box, shutting in Hope. Thus everything in
the box came out of it into the world except Hope. According to the poet
Hesiod, Hope stayed inside because that was Zeus’ will. Zeus wanted to let
people suffer in order to understand that they should not disobey their
gods.
Disobedience of Adam and Eve was like
opening the Pandora box. All evil sprang out automatically and filled the
world, as they committed sin. Disobedience was sin that contained all evil. Adam
and Eve were forbidden by God to yield to disobedience. But they chose, by exercising
their free will, to disobey God. As the consequence, they fell into sin. Thus
the whole world was filled with evil. Every moral decision thereafter became a
struggle between doing what’s righteous and doing what’s sinful.
Did God Create Evil?
Critics of Christian faith often cite two
verses in the King James Version of the the Bible to argue that God created
evil. One is from Isaiah 45 and another is from Amos 3.
Isaiah
45:7 I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I
the LORD do all these things. (KJV)
Amos
3: 6 Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? shall
there be evil in a city, and the LORD hath not done it? (KJV)
In Isaiah it is said, “I (God) make
peace and create evil” and in Amos it is “shall there be evil in a city, and
the Lord hath not done it?” These sentences give us the notion that God created
evil.
However, “evil” is not the word used in
the original Hebrew text. The word translated "evil" in Hebrew is
“ra” (rah) both in Isaiah and Amos. “ra” is noun and rāʿaʿ - raw-ah' is the verb
(ra-a). “ra” means, natural or moral evil, distress, misery, injury, or
calamity. “raa” means to spoil by breaking to pieces. This words speaks about
what we consider “bad” because they hurt us or they are inconvenient for us in
some way, like calamity, disaster, misfortune or hardship.
There is another word used in the
Scripture for “evil”
Genesis
18: 23 And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt thou also destroy the righteous
with the wicked? (KJV)
The Hebrew word used for “wicked” in
this verse is “rāšāʿ” (raw-shaw' - rashaa). It means, wicked, evil in the moral
sense or criminal. So it is translated without any change in NKJV also.
Genesis
18: 23 23 And Abraham came near and said, "Would You also destroy the
righteous with the wicked? (NKJV)
Since the translation of Isaiah 45:7
and Amos 3:6 in KJV does not align with the Biblical perspective about God and
evil, modern translations have corrected the word “evil” in these verses, as
“calamity”.
Thus the verses in NKJV reads:
Isaiah
45: 7 I form the light and create
darkness, I make peace and create calamity; I, the LORD, do all these things.'
Amos
3: 6 If a trumpet is blown in a city, will not the people be afraid? If there
is calamity in a city, will not the LORD have done it?
If God permits to happen “rah”, or
“calamity,” it is always for a good and righteous purpose. He may sometimes use
affliction to compel people to seek His face. God always have reasons for permitting
“rah” or hardships to happen inhuman life. But He is not and cannot be the
author of rasha’. Scriptures do not teach that God was the originator of evil.
Hosea
5: 15 I will return again to My place Till they acknowledge their offense. Then
they will seek My face; In their affliction they will earnestly seek Me."
(NKJV)
This may be further explained by a
correct rendering of the verse in 1 Samuel 18:10.
1
Samuel 18: 10 And it came to pass on the morrow, that the evil spirit from God
came upon Saul, and he prophesied in the midst of the house: and David played
with his hand, as at other times: and there was a javelin in Saul's hand. (KJV)
The verse, in KJV says that “the evil
spirit from God came upon Saul”. When we read this verse, we naturally think
that evil spirits can come forth from God. But the real meaning of the verse
does not bear that sense.
Hebrew for “evil spirit from God” is “ra
ruwach 'elohiym”. “ruwach” is spirit and “elohiym” is God. “ruwach elohiym” are
words used for the Holy Spirit, not for evil spirit.
Genesis
1: 2 The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the
deep. And the Spirit of God (ruwach 'elohiym) was hovering over the face of the
waters.
The Hebrew word “ra” in Isaiah 45:7 and
Amos 3: 6 means simply disturbing or hurting. That means, the Holy Spirit from
God came upon Saul and disturbed or hurt him. So this verse is NKJV is:
I
Samuel 18:10 And it happened on the next day that the distressing spirit
from God came upon Saul, and he prophesied inside the house. So David played
music with his hand, as at other times; but there was a spear in Saul's hand.
Here the Hebrew word “ra” is used in
the sense distressing, troubling or hurting. From God came the Holy Spirit, but
it disturbed or hurt Saul, may be because of his evil intentions against David.
Let us discuss one more verse from
Proverbs.
Proverbs
16:4 The LORD has made all for Himself, Yes, even the wicked for the day of
doom. (NKJV)
Critics often this verse to argue that
God has created some people as wicked with the sole aim for a day of evil. But
the exact meaning of this verse tells a different message.
God does not create people as wicked or
with the sole aim to destroy them. The word “made” in the above verse is
“paw-al'” (p̄āʿal). This Hebrew word means, to do or make
(systematically and habitually),
commit, ordain etc. Proverbs 16: 4 does not mean that God has created some
people as wicked. Because everything that was created Him was “very good”
(Genesis 1: 31). God cannot be author and creator of anything evil.
So the meaning that fits to the verse
is “ordain”. God has ordained everything according to His purpose. And the
wicked is ordained for the day of doom. The doom is the doom of the wicked
people. The meaning is clearer in some other versions of the Bible.
Proverbs
16:4 The LORD works out everything to its proper end— even the wicked for a day
of disaster. (NIV)
Privation theory
Evil does not exist without something
to counter it. Evil cannot exist without good. The highest standard of goodness
is in God alone.
God created the angels and the universe
as “very good”. One of the good things about His creation was that they had freedom
to choose good. God’s intention in bestowing freedom of choice was to choose
good, not to choose evil. But in order to have a real choice, God had to allow
something besides good. So, God allowed the angels and humans to choose good or
reject good (choose evil). And some angels and human beings choose to reject
good.
Thus a bad relationship came to exist
between God and some angels and humans. When a bad relationship exists between
two good things we call that evil. But evil does not become a “thing” that is
created by God.
Cold is the absence of heat. Darkness
is the absence of light. Evil is the absence of good. Evil is the absence of
God. God did not have to create evil, but rather only allow for the absence of
good or His absence. This is known as the privation theory.
Evil as privation of good
To understand the privation theory, let
us begin our discussion by reading Romans 3: 23 once again.
Romans
3: 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, (NKJV).
The verse says that sin is falling
short of the glory of God. Without God there is no ultimate standard for the
good. Sin is moral evil. Evil is not defined by human beings, Satan or the
world. Evil is measured against God’s glorious standard. Compared to His
holiness, justice, purity, and righteousness, we all fall short. Everything
that is not in par with God’s goodness, holiness, justice, purity, and
righteousness, is evil. That means, evil is the privation of the glorious
standard of God’s goodness.
Clement of Alexandria
In the second century, Christian
theologians answered the problem of evil by negating the existence of evil.
Among these theologians, Clement of Alexandria offered several theodicies, of
which one was called "privation theory of evil".
Clement of Alexandria (Latin name -
Titus Flavius Clemens) was a Christian theologian and philosopher who taught at
the Catechetical School of Alexandria. (born, 150 AD, Athens, Greece and died
between 211 and 215, Jerusalem)
According to Clement, God is completely
good and hence he could not have created evil. If God did not create evil, then
it cannot exist. Evil does not exist as a positive, but exists as a negative or
as a "lack of good".
Clement was criticized for his theory
by Gnostics and some others. If evil does not exist, how can we explain
sufferings in the world? Why God did not create creatures that did not lack the
good. Clement attempted to answer these questions by a theory found in the
Platonic tradition of philosophy.
Plato presented two realities, one of
God and Truth and another of human and perceived experience. Thus evil is only
a human perceived experience, not the Truth. According to Plato, evil resulted
from the human failure to pay sufficient attention to finding and doing good.
Evil is an absence of good where good should be.
Saint Augustine
Saint Augustine was a 4 century theologian and philosopher,
born in Berber (in North Africa, 13 November 354 - 28 August 430 AD). He
was the bishop of Hippo from 396 to 430 AD (Hippo Regius, Roman North Africa,
the modern city
of Annaba, Algeria). He was one of the Latin Fathers of the Church
and perhaps the most significant Christian thinker after St. Paul.
Saint Augustine started his religious
life in Manichaeism, but later converted to Christianity. He accepted the
Neo-Platonist theory to explain evil. Augustine believed in the free will of
human beings. He agreed with Clement of Alexandria and Neo-platonic philosophy
about evil.
Augustine posit the principle that
every cause is superior to its effects. God, as the cause of everything
created, is a sovereign spiritual being (not corporeal). His sovereignty is
absolute. God created all material reality ex nihilo. So God is innately
superior to his creation. Everything that God created is “very good”. (Genesis
1:31).
Augustinian theodicy stands in sharp
contrast to the Irenaen theodicy (Irenaeus of Lyon was a 2 century theologian
and church father). For Augustine, humans were created perfect but they fell to
sin. Thereafter humans continue to choose badly by exercising their freewill.
In his Enchiridion on Faith, Hope
and Love, Augustine maintained that evil exists as "absence of the
good". He taught that evil is
simply "privation of good" (privatio boni), "non-substance"
(non substantia), or "non-being" (non esse). Evil is a privation or
an absence of goodness where goodness might have been. Evil has no independent
being, it is not a substance that exists in its own right. Evil cannot be
defined as a thing or as a substance or as some kind of being. Rather, evil is
always defined as an action, an action that fails to meet a standard of
goodness. The absence of good is an act of the will, a rejection of the
infinite good offered by God. The act of rejection is a free choice of an
individual.
Evil, as understood this way, does not
contradict the goodness and omnipotence of God.
This view has been criticized citing
that murder, rape, terror, pain and suffering are real life events for the
victim, and cannot be labeled as a mere "lack of good". But Augustine
accepted that suffering exists and was aware that the privation theory was not
a solution to the problem of evil.
St. Thomas Aquinas
Saint Thomas Aquinas, was an Italian
Dominican friar, an influential philosopher, theologian and jurist in the
tradition of scholasticism. He was born in AD 1224/1225 at Roccasecca, Italy
and died on 7 March 1274, Abbazia di Fossanova, Fossanova Abbey, Italy.
St. Thomas’s spirituality may be summed
by a metaphysical axiom, “To take something away from the perfection of the
creature is to abstract from the perfection of the creative power itself.”
Saint Thomas Aquinas systematized the
Augustinian conception of evil and supplemented his own findings to it.
According to St. Thomas, evil is a privation, or the absence of some good which
belongs properly to the nature of the creature. There is no ontological source
of evil, corresponding to the greater good, which is God. Evil is not real but
rational - it exists not as an objective fact, but as a subjective conception.
Things are evil not in themselves. They are considered to be evil in relation
to other items or persons. All realities are in themselves functional; they
produce bad results only incidentally. Consequently, the final cause of evil is
fundamental 'goodness,' as well as the objects in which evil is found.
Luther and Calvin
Both Luther and Calvin explained evil
as a consequence of the fall of man and the original sin. Calvin, however, held
to the belief in God’s Sovereignty and predestination. He believed that the
fall is part of God's plan.
Luther saw evil and original sin as an
inheritance from Adam and Eve, passed on to all mankind. Sin has bound the will
of man to serving sin. God's just nature allows evil as a consequence for their
sin. Still God has a plan for the redemption of humans through Jesus Christ.
Humans are not able to understand and explain the whole plan of God for
redemption.
Arthur Schopenhauer
(shoh·puhn·hau·uh),
a 19 century German philosopher also emphasized the existence of evil and its
negation of the good.
Privation
The foundation of the privation theory
is that, evil is not a substantial thing like a rock, water or electricity. You
cannot have a cup of evil. Evil has no existence of its own. Evil in and of
itself, does not actually exist, except as the absence of goodness.
Privation is the loss or absence of a
quality or attribute that should be normally present. Privation theory argues
that evil is not a thing. Evil isn’t a “substance” that has a traceable
“source.”
For example, holes are real but they
only exist in something else. We call the absence of a concrete thing in
certain area as a hole. But it cannot be separated from a substantial thing.
Holes have no existence without being absent in another thing.
Evil has been defined in terms of its
being either a negation (negatio) of the good, or a privation (privatio) of the
good. The definition of evil depends upon a prior understanding of the good. We
think of sin as something that is unrighteous, involving disobedience,
immorality etc. All of these definitions depend upon the positive substance and
quality of the good.
Evil is an aspect of relationship. So evil
is not created. God created light, but did not create darkness. Darkness as
itself does not exist. Darkness is only a term we use to refer to a relative
lack of light. It’s entirely defined in terms of deprivation: the absence of
something else.
The same is true of physical heat. Thermal energy
(also called heat energy) is produced when a rise in temperature causes
atoms and molecules to move faster and collide with each other. All forms
of matter contain heat energy. When an object is cold it has less
molecular movement, relatively speaking. At absolute zero all molecular
movement would completely stop, theoretically. You cannot get any “colder” than
that, because there is no way to add more coldness. You can only remove heat. The
absence of heat is “cold”
The same basic law applies to many
descriptive words. Terms such as short or thin are all references to the
relative lack of something else. There is no such thing as “shortness,” and one
cannot “add” shortness. A line we draw is long if a shorter one is drawn beside
it. When you draw yet another shorter line than the second one, the second line
becomes less short. If you wipe away the first line, the second become the long
line and the third becomes the short line.
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A mathematical example is the number “0”.
The term zero literally refers to that which does not exist. It is a reference
to nothing, to the absence of something. This is why adding or subtracting “0”
results in no change, multiplying “0” is still “nothing,” and dividing by “0”
is a logical contradiction. Is zero real? In the sense that it’s a term we can
understand and that has use, yes. But, “0” does not exist in any tangible
sense. It’s literally defined as the absence of something or everything else.
The same logic may be applied to the
term “evil”. The term has meaning and use, but we don’t have to assume that it
is an actual, tangible, created thing. Evil is a relative term used to mean
anything that lacks the moral perfection of God. Evil is the lack of goodness.
So evil is a non-being, privation of
good, absence of good, or diminution of good. Evil is non-substantial. Evil is
not some “thing” God created. It is not created by any other power outside God.
There is no creative power other than God. So all premises that God created evil
is invalid.
Why God allows
evil?
Why evil exist in this world? If God is
omniscient, omnibenevolent and omnipotent, why He is allowing evil to torment
humans, all living and non-living creatures? Why He is not stopping it? This is
the “why” part of the problem of evil.
If evil does exist, and if a sovereign
God is not stopping it, then obviously He has allowed it for His perfect plan
and purpose. We may not be able to know all purposes of God for allowing evil
to exist, but we can understand the mystery as much as humans can comprehend.
So let us go through some of the explanations offered by Church fathers and
theologians.
Irenaean theodicy
Saint Irenaeus was the disciple of
Polycarp, another Church father and the disciple of Apostle John. Saint
Irenaeus was a Greek bishop, born about AD 130, at Smyrna, Asia Minor, modern
day Izmir, Turkey and died in 202 at Lugdunum, Gaul, modern day Lyon, France. Polycarp
was the Bishop of Smyrna. He was born in 69 AD and died in 155 AD at Smyrna,
modern day Izmir, Turkey. He was Roman in nationality.
In AD 177, Irenaeus became the bishop of
Lugdunum (Lyon). He was an apologist, and leading Christian theologian of the
2nd century AD. His work Adversus haereses (Against Heresies),
written about AD 180, was a refutation of Gnosticism. In the course of his
writings Irenaeus advanced the development of an authoritative canon of
Scripture, the creed, and the authority of the episcopal office.
The Irenaean theodicy is also known as
the soul-making theodicy. His theories were accepted in Eastern Christianity. Soul-making
is the theory that evil has to exist so that humans can develop their souls by
living and becoming good, moral people. It gives humans a chance to learn from
suffering and develop moral virtues.
According to Irenaeus evil is necessary
for human moral and spiritual development and is part of God's purpose. God
created humans in a morally and spiritually imperfect state. Therefore, God is
partly responsible for the existence of evil. Perfection in humans would take
away their freedom to live in accordance with God’s will. Because humans are
imperfect, they must develop and grow through a soul-making process into the state
of perfection as "children of God". Irenaeus stated that eventually
good will overcome evil and suffering. This argument still continues to
influence Christian thoughts and beliefs.
The key points of the soul-making
theodicy are as follows:
1. The
purpose of God in creating the world was soul-making for rational moral agents.
2. The
soul-making process helps to develop
moral character. It is a human choice.
3. Human
choice is based on their free will. The free exercise of free will requires
that God remain hidden. God’s interference in everyday matter will compromise
the free will.
4. So
God has created an epistemic (knowledge) distance. He remains hidden and is not
immediately knowable. This distance is kept by the presence of evil in the
world. Humans must strive to know Him and by doing so become truly good.
Punishment theodicy
The punishment theodicy argues that
suffering is a result of God’s just punishment of evildoers. In punishment God
displays His judgment against sin. But this theodicy cannot explain all evil.
Some Christians believe that suffering
is a method of God to discipline us. Sufferings are God's ways to lead us to
repentance. It is a sign, a warning or a notice that tells us that we have gone
astray from His goodness.
Others believe that God uses sufferings
as a test of our faith in divine providence. Suffering makes faith stronger and
more constant. Another belief is that our suffering in our earthly life is only
temporary and will add radiance and joy to our eternal life.
Some other Christians do not believe
that evil is a part of God's divine plan and it does not serve any divine
purpose.
God’s sovereignty / greater good
defense
The response focusing on God’s
sovereignty and greater good is a good solution offered to the problem of evil.
God has all-knowledge, He is all-good and all-powerful. So He can determine or
control all evil for greater good on a personal, communal, or universal level.
Therefore, humans are responsible for the origin of sin but God determines or
controls evil. Evil is not an end, it is determined by God for a greater good.
God cannot actualize the existence of good of greater value without also
permitting evil. So God does not prevent or eliminate evil, but He controls it.
God’s omni attributes are the solution to evil, they are not the problem.
Pain and suffering in the world has a
role in bringing about greater good that could not be brought otherwise. Some
good can’t exist apart from the evil to which they are a response. There is no
courage without danger, no sympathy without suffering, no forgiveness without
sin, no atonement without suffering, no compassion without need, no patience
without adversity. God must often allow evil to make these good a part of his
world, given how these good are defined.
Skeptical theologians also agree to
this view. No one can fully understand God's ultimate plan. So no one can
assume that evil actions do not have some sort of greater purpose.
The biblical accounts of Job, Joseph,
and Jesus reveal the goodness of God in the midst of evil, weaving together
these three themes:
1. God
aims at greater good for Himself, humans or for both.
2. God
often intends these greater good to come about by way of evil incidents and
experiences.
3. God
leaves created persons in the dark about the reason and purpose of evil. Humans
may not understand what evil is indeed for good.
The Case of Job
The story of Job’s suffering is
narrated in the Old Testament book of Job. Job was a devout and sinless man who
led a good life. Satan argued at the presence of God that the only reason for
his piety was his prosperous life. Though God had another opinion about Job, He
allowed Satan to test Job. Satan tested Job through many calamities in his
life. Job’s sons and daughters were killed, all his wealth were destroyed and
Job became seriously sick. But he defended God in all these. Finally, God
appeared to Job, declared him victorious and blessed him with a double portion
of what he early had.
In the case of Job, God aims at a greater
good of His own vindication. God is defending His worthiness to be worshipped
by humans. He is more worthy than all earthly good He supplies. So God permits
a combination of moral evil and natural evil to come upon Job. God also leaves
Job in the dark about what He is doing, what is His purpose and what will be
the outcome. Job had no knowledge about the incidents happened in Heaven,
between God and Satan. And when God speaks to him “out of the whirlwind” he
never reveals to Job why he suffered. Instead, Job’s ignorance of the whole
spectrum of created reality is exposed and Job confesses his ignorance of both
creation and providence.
The book of Job expands the
understanding of divine justice. The story reveals God’s sovereignty over all
His creatures. It shows that the King has the right to test His subject's
loyalty. God can take away all prosperity that He has given to human beings and
can also reward in multiple. He is sovereign in doing so. At the end of the
story, Job himself corrects the rigid and overly simplistic doctrine of
retribution in attributing suffering to sin and punishment.
The Case of Joseph
In the case of Joseph, God aims saving
the broader Mediterranean world from a famine and preserving Israelites during
it. The preservation of Israelites was necessary to fullfil God’s plan of
restoring the Kingdom of God. A redeemer will be send to the world through Israelites
according to the Abrahamic Covenant. But Joseph had to suffer for the greater
good. Even Jacob had to go through many mental suffering for the fulfilment of
God’s greater plan. Finally Joseph understands and confesses that all evil
happened to him was for a greater purpose of God.
Genesis
50: 20 But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in
order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive. (NKJV)
We are not sure whether Joseph had this
realization when he went through all sufferings. But for sure, all others - Joseph’s
brothers, the Midianite traders, Potiphar’s wife, and the cupbearer - were in
dark about God’s purpose. They had no clue that their own evil behavior would eventually
bring about greater good.
The Case of Jesus
And in the case of Jesus, God aims at
the redemption of His elect by the atonement of Christ. Jesus’ suffering on
this earth glorified God, revealing His justice, love, grace, mercy, wisdom,
and power. But Jesus had to go through the greatest suffering a human can ever.
Satan’s temptations, Jew’s accusations, Judas’s betrayal, Roman injustice, Pilate’s
cowardice and brutality of soldiers. He suffered the most ignoble and cruel
death on the cross. But humans and demonic spirits were in dark about the
ultimate victory of God’s purpose in all these evils. Satan, Jewish leaders,
Judas, Pilate and the soldiers were all ignorant of the role they play in
fulfilling the divinely prophesied redemptive purpose of God. They all failed
at the cross and God alone triumphed there.
The case of
Apostle Paul
2
Corinthians 12:7-10 (NKJV)
7
And lest I should be exalted above
measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to
me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure.
8
Concerning this thing I pleaded with
the Lord three times that it might depart from me.
9
And He said to me, "My grace is
sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness."
Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of
Christ may rest upon me.
10
Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities,
in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake. For
when I am weak, then I am strong.
Paul was suffering from some ailments,
about the nature of which the scripture is silent. God knew that Paul was
suffering. Paul prayed to God three times to remove it from him. But God did
not remove it. Instead He gave Paul His grace. The word “grace” in verse 9
means, empowerment or enablement. Thayer’s Greek Lexicon gives the explanation
for “grace” as used here as, “the favor of Christ, assisting and strengthening his
followers and ministers to bear their troubles”.
Paul the Apostle served God faithfully.
He succeeded in planting churches throughout the Roman Empire, he wrote a good
portion of the New Testament. Yet through suffering, God always reminded him
about His Grace that empowered him to do all these. Paul wrote about this realization
in verse 10
2
Corinthians 12: 10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in
needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake. For when I am weak,
then I am strong. (NKJV)
So Paul said in Romans 5: 3 and 4:
Romans
5:3, 4 (NKJV)
3
And not only that, but we also glory in
tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance;
4
and perseverance, character; and
character, hope.
Apostle James encouraged his fellow
believers to rejoice in trials. Trials, James says, are testing our your faith.
James
1:2-4 (NKJV)
2
My brethren, count it all joy when you
fall into various trials,
3
knowing that the testing of your faith
produces patience.
4
But let patience have its perfect work,
that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.
Cognitive limitation
We can never know enough about a
person’s situation, or about God’s purposes. So we cannot propose a specific rule
in theodicy as God’s reason for permitting evil in a particular case. Though we
have studied, discussed and framed theories about the origin and existence of
evil, scripture does not promise to reveal all about evil.
We cannot understand and explain the
cause and purpose of all evil incidents. At the same time, we cannot argue that
there is no reason that would justify God in permitting suffering. That means,
we have cognitive limitations about God’s reasons and purposes.
For example, we give vaccines at regular
intervals to a new born baby. The baby does feel the pain and suffers some mild
effects, but he does not know why he is going through all these sufferings. He
does not know whether it is for good or bad. But his ignorance is not a reason
to argue that the pain of vaccine has no good purpose. His parents and doctors
who execute the vaccine has greater good intentions.
God is omniscient, which means He not
only knows everything that we are likely to guess at, but also every truth in
detail about whatever He knows. God knows the truth that we cannot even fathom.
So God’s divine plan does involve His knowledge of good and evil, and the
intrinsic relation between them. Our inability to grasp the understanding of
God is not a reason to think that God is not concerned about evil. Our
inability to understand certain incidents is not an evidence that those
incidents are wrong. It means we have incomplete understanding.
God is not silent
Evil exist in this world is not a proof
that God is silent or inactive. God does intervene in human history, from time
to time, to halt and eliminate evil. Examples are the great flood during the
time of Noah and the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. God’s action was a
response to the malevolence of the people. He drowned the whole world with
flood wiping away all living creations and re-forming the non-living things. He
burned down the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah along with its wicked citizens. It
was His divine justice and means of preventing more evil. God has done the same
thing against the Amalekites and Jericho. These are God’s ways to neutralize
and counter evil. God is the sole creator of the universe. So He has the full authority
to decide what should exist here and whatever must be annihilated. He wants
everything “very good” and He destroys everything else. He is progressing in
His plan to restore the perfect Kingdom of God.
Scripture shows that God did not create
evil and does not promote it. Scripture describes God’s actions in combatting
it. God limits the impact of evil and warns us of the dangers of evil, gives us
an escape from evil. God has given us spiritual power to combat and defeat the
devil. God intervenes in this world to stop the spread of evil. And, from the
very beginning of creation, God has set in motion a plan to make all wrongs
right and end all evil and suffering. And He will eventually defeat evil
forever.
According to the Bible, we are created
not for a mortal life alone. This physical world is not all there. The
afterlife is an intrinsic part of Christian theology. Christians believe that,
someday, all wrongs will be reckoned with. They believe that God is acting to
restrain evil now, just as He has done in the past. The struggles we experience
now are not the purpose for which we exist, nor do they define our value. There
is a divine plan to the suffering that will make all wrongs right. Though we
experience physical struggles in this world, we have a great hope for a
permanent state of being, where there is no mourning, curse, suffering and
death.
Free will
defense
The greater good defense is a response
to the evidential version of the problem of evil. The free will defense is
often discussed in the context of the logical version.
The problem of evil is also explained
as a consequence of human free will. Free will defense attempts to defend God's
omnipotence and goodness, placing the possibility of evil only in human free
will.
Free will is God given freedom of
humans to choose either good or evil. Humans may with free will take their own
decisions. Thus the whole responsibility of choice is placed on humans. God has
the authority and power to interfere in human life, but He never violates the
volition of humans. In other words, logically, God cannot prevent evil by
coercion (compulsion) on humans, because that will be violation of human free
will. If God interferes, humans will no longer remain free. Without free will
we will be like robotic, choice-less creations that simply do what He wanted
them to do because of a prior “programming”.
God did not create evil, but He does
allow evil. If God had not allowed for the possibility of evil, both mankind
and angels would be serving God out of obligation, not by choice. God allowed
for the possibility of evil so that we could genuinely have a free will and
choose whether or not we wanted to serve Him.
A world of creatures with free will is
innately more valuable than one with creatures without free will. All good
virtues and values such as trust, love, charity etc. cannot exist and
experienced without the freedom to choose them or not to choose them. Free will
is meaningless without emotions. The same free will has the potential for good
and evil. Without that potential no love or other good things can actually
occur. So evil has to be possible so that we have a meaningful free will.
God desires an authentic relationship
with humanity over a world without evil. Free will is necessary to initiate and
cultivate authentic relationships. Thus, God chose to create a world where the
highest good of real love is possible through humanity’s free will, despite the
risk of freedom resulting in evil. He cannot eliminate evil without dismissing
the possibility of real relationships anchored in genuine love.
Authentic love is a choice. There are
more than one word in Greek language to denote different kinds of love. The
word agape is used in the Bible to denote God’s love towards us and our love
towards God. Agape love is always shown by what it does. God’s love is
displayed most clearly at the cross.
Ephesians
2: 4, 5 (NKJV)
4
But God, who is rich in mercy, because
of His great love (agape) with which He loved us,
5
even when we were dead in trespasses,
made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),
We did not deserve a sacrifice by Jesus
for the atonement of our sins. But God chose to demonstrate his love for us
through the sacrifice. Even while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans
5: 8 But God demonstrates His own love (agape) toward us, in that while we were
still sinners, Christ died for us. (NKJV)
God’s agape is demonstrated towards an
unmerited person. Agape is a choice. We can choose to show agape or choose not
to demonstrate it towards a person. He may not deserve it or we may not be
obliged to show love towards him. Still, if when we choose to love a person, it
is agape. Agape is love that is demonstrated by choice.
God wants us to show agape towards him,
by preferring it. Our love towards God is a conscious choice. It is a result of
the exercise of our free will. That is what God values.
God is always consistent in his
decisions, proclamations and actions. God is consistent in His moral behaviors.
God is consistent about human free will. God is consistent in the natural
function of His creation. God’s consistency exists in contrast to human
preferences. We would like a God who bend or break His values to suit our own
preferences. But He cannot. He is an unchanging God.
Free will includes the freedom to
reject God’s will and spurn His commands. The exercise of free will to
rejecting His commands has its consequences. Often we are aware of these
consequences but willingly ignore it. And when bad things happen in our life,
we blame God for it. The consequences of the choice of disobedience of other
people may also fall on us. Thus we may suffer from the bad choices of our
family members, friends and religious and political leaders.
Saint Augustine proffered the theodicy
of free will in the fourth century. He proposed that, since God endowed people
with free will, we are able to freely choose to do evil as well as good. That
simply means that, there is evil in the world because humans choose to do evil
things. "Free" will is not free if we can only choose the good, so
God does not prevent us from choosing evil. Suffering is the price we pay for
this freedom to choose.
Westminster Confession of faith was
produced by the Westminster Assembly, which was called together by the Long
Parliament in 1643. The assembly was made up of 30 laymen (20 from the House of
Commons and 10 from the House of Lords), 121 English clergymen, and a
delegation of Scottish Presbyterians. They met regularly in Westminster Abbey
until 1649 and occasionally until 1652. The confession was completed in 1646
and presented to Parliament, which approved it after some revisions in June
1648.
According to The Westminster Confession
of Faith, the Lord “freely and unchangeably ordain[s] whatsoever comes to pass:
yet so as thereby neither is God the author of sin, nor is violence offered to
the will of the creatures, nor is the liberty or contingency of second causes
taken away, but rather established” (Chapter III, section 1).
Alvin Plantinga
A contemporary version of free will
defense is proposed by Alvin Plantinga. He is an American Christian
philosopher. (born - November 15, 1932 - age 90 in 2022). In 1980 Time magazine
called him "America's leading orthodox Protestant philosopher of God”.
Some of Plantinga's most influential works include God and Other Minds
(1967), Warranted Christian Belief (2000) that was simplified in Knowledge
and Christian Belief (2015).
Plantinga defends the logical
possibility for the co-existence of an omniscient, omnibenevolent and omnipotent
God. It is logically and philosophically premised that God possesses the
attribute of Free Will. Angels also has free will imparted from God through
their creation. When God created human beings in His image, according to His
likeness, His attribute of free will passed on to humans (Genesis 1:26). Though
God has free will, yet He is wholly good. Humans are also free moral creatures.
The omnipotent God created a world with free creatures who could choose good or
evil. God created a world which contains evil because moral goodness requires
free moral creatures. And free will is meaningful only where there is an
opportunity of choice.
The world is governed by the logical
principle of cause and effect. So freedom also has its own effect or
consequences. No freedom can exist without its effect. But free will is not a
cause, it is not an action. So free will itself does not effect any evil. Free
will is only freedom to choose good or evil. Choosing either is an action and
it is a cause which allows its effect. God has given humans not only free will,
but commandments and teachings to choose good. But humans often choose evil and
suffers from its consequences. So free will is not the cause of all evil, but
exercising it for choosing evil causes all bad effects.
And because God is love, He sent Jesus
into the world to help us deal with the consequences of the evil choices we
made yesterday, to help us to make better choices for ourselves today, and
ultimately to work through us to create a new world tomorrow.
Natural evil
A challenge to the free will defense is
natural evil which is the result of natural causes. Examples are a child
suffering from a disease, mass casualties from a volcano etc. Natural evil has
no apparent connection with the free will of human.
In response to this criticism, it is
argued that, we cannot justifiably differentiate moral from natural evil.
Because human beings and their choices are part of nature. Human’s moral evil
affects the nature also, causing natural evil. So all evils are natural.
That is why God, while pronouncing the
punishments for disobedience, told Adam:
Genesis
3: 17 Then to Adam He said, "Because you have heeded the voice of your
wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, 'You shall
not eat of it': "Cursed is the ground for your sake; In toil you shall eat
of it All the days of your life. (NKJV)
According to Saint Augustine, natural
evils take place as a rebellion of nature against humans because humans have
rebelled against God. This is the standard view in Christianity on the
relationship between moral and natural evil.
Weakness of free-will defense
The weakness of the free will defense
is that it places the possibility of evil only in free will. It neglects any
influence of temptation from outside. The Biblical account of the temptation of
Eve by the serpent to sin is an evidence of an efficient agent to choose evil. Adam
and Eve fell because some strong power of temptation prevented them from exercising
their God-given free will for God's purpose. They fell into sin because they
did not use their free will to align with God.
But the simple presence of free will is
not enough to explain the origin of evil. The question, how a good being would
be inclined freely to choose evil, still remains. The inclination for the will
to act in an immoral manner is already a signal of sin.
According to Saint Augustine, free
will's moral choice of evil has no efficient cause whatsoever. Its cause is
"deficient" in that it simply comes from the finitude of free will.
He said: "Let no one, therefore, look for an efficient cause of the evil
will; for it is not efficient, but deficient, as the will itself is not an
effecting of something, but a defect." In other words, free will is not
attached with an efficient agent to good. The absence of the efficient agent to
good caused the choice of evil.
Response to
Epicurus
The Bible makes it
clear that evil is something God neither intended nor created. Rather, moral
evil is a necessary possibility. If we are truly free, then we are free to
choose something other than God’s will. That means we are free to choose good
or moral evil. Scripture points out that there are consequences for defying the
will of God—personal, communal, physical, and spiritual.
God can be all-powerful and so can
choose not to act according to our preferences. God need not do things in our
way. That may make us uncomfortable. He is all powerful, but we are created
with free will. So He may allow evil in order to obtain the greater, eternal
good.
Scripture shows us that physical evils
are the result of moral evil. Human beings are responsible for all moral evils,
on a personal and a communal level. We suffer because of our own sins, because
of the sins of others and in some situations we suffer because of the logical
principle of cause-and-effect. And we sometimes suffer for a special purpose,
in order to bring hope, help or even as a warning to others.
We know for sure is that evil does
exist. It exists, if nowhere else, in us and in our behavior. Evil causes great
pain and sufferings in this world. But God is sovereign over it. Evil always
serves the ultimate best interest of God. God in His goodness and in His
sovereignty who has ordained the final conquest over evil and its riddance from
His universe. This glorious hope for redemption is our rest and joy.
And finally, this is our response to
the premises and arguments of Epicurus. The god Epicurus criticized is not the
God of the Bible. His criticism works only against the deities of Greek
polytheism and in the context of a dualistic view of reality. The Christian
respond to Epicurus is as follows:
Epicurus:
Is God willing to prevent evil, but
unable to? Then he is not omnipotent.
Christian:
God is willing to limit evil and has
acted to do prevent and limit evil. So, He is still omnipotent.
Epicurus:
Is he able, but not willing? Then he
is malevolent.
Christian:
God is able, but not willing to
eliminate evil now, because He is unwilling to abolish our free will. So, He is
still omnibenevolent.
Epicurus:
Is he both able and willing? Then
whence cometh evil?
Christian:
God has acted to defeat evil. The
crucifixion of Jesus was the defeat of evil. Evil came into existence when we fell
short of His will. Disunity with God caused evil to exist.
Epicurus:
Is he neither able nor willing? Then
why call him God?
Christian:
God is able and willing as we have
said before. Our disapproval does not make Him any less God.
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