Modern scholars have directed much attention to the problem of evil with a resulting body of work that is considerable, though the most prominent contemporary de facto objection of "the argument from suffering and evil goes all the way back to Democritus in the ancient world" (Plantinga, 2000, p. 4).
While philosophical debates on the problem of evil take the form of assessing categorical statements and their relationships using reasoning (Churchill, 1990), this essay merely introduces the topic to a general audience from an orthodox biblical perspective by which any incorporation of “theology proper” (the study of the creator God of the Bible, His attributes, and His activities) in this essay is understood (1 Joh 1:5) (see Geisler 2004, vol 2).
And as the book of Job implies, human cognitive abilities are limited in fully grasping God's eternal purposes in temporarily permitting the existence of evil (also Isaiah 55:8). However, some understanding may be had.
Evans (2002) described the theological and philosophical topic of the problem of evil as the “difficulty posed by the existence of evil (both moral evil and natural evil) in a world created by a God who is both completely good and all-powerful” (p. 42).
Moral evils “result from the intentions or negligence of moral agents” while natural evils are “are bad states of affairs which do not result from the intentions or negligence of moral agents” (Calder, 2022, para. 2). A moral agent is “a being who is capable of acting with reference to right and wrong” (Porter, 1913, p. 943).
Meister and Moser (2017) stated, “The problem of evil has two major theoretical versions: the logical problem and the evidential problem. The logical problem concerns whether the basic claims of theism about God are inconsistent with the reality of evil” (p. 20) and “the evidential problem of evil suggests that, given the reality of evil, theism is probably not true, even if it is logically consistent” (p. 21).
Theists rebut the logical problem by arguing that if God has a (possible) "morally acceptable reason for allowing evil to occur, the logical problem of evil fails to show the nonexistence of God"; while rebutting the evidential problem with various defenses (e.g. theodicies) (Mesiter & Moser, 2017, p. 21). Cary et al. (2017) examines four of the defensive views: the classical view, the Molinist view, the open theist view, the essential kenosis view, and the skeptical theist view.
A famous example addressing the logical problem is the Plantinga (2002) free will defense which asserts that the existence of God is compatible, both logically and probabilistically, with the existence of evil in which he stated:
“A world containing creatures who are significantly free (and freely perform more good than evil actions) is more valuable, all else being equal, than a world containing no free creatures at all. Now God can create free creatures, but He can't cause or determine them to do only what is right. For if He does so, then they aren't significantly free after all; they do not do what is right freely.
To create creatures capable of moral good, therefore, He must create creatures capable of moral evil; and He can't give these creatures the freedom to perform evil and at the same time prevent them from doing so. As it turned out, sadly enough, some of the free creatures God created went wrong in the exercise of their freedom; this is the source of moral evil.
The fact that free creatures sometimes go wrong, however, counts neither against God's omnipotence nor against His goodness; for He could have forestalled the occurrence of moral evil only by removing the possibility of moral good” (p. 30).
Geisler (2004, vol 2) conveyed both God’s incommunicable attributes (which cannot be transmitted to creatures as they necessitate infinitude) and God’s communicable attributes (which can be transmitted to creatures). With respect to the latter, “They include holiness, righteousness (justice), jealousy, perfection, truthfulness, goodness (love), mercy, and wrath (although these last two may be activities, not attributes as such, which flow from God's goodness and justice, respectively)” (p. 313).
In the Bible, (Gen 1:1; Job 38:4-7; Psa 82; etc.) God originally presides over an ordered heavenly host (Heiser, 2019; Geisler, 2004, vol 2, pp. 475-499) which exists in harmony with God’s divine law, of which divine morality is a form (NASB, 1997; Andrews, 2009, pp. 123-135, 264-278; Lewis 1974; Lewis 1996; etc.).
God made all things good (also very good) (Gen 1:31; 1 Tim 4:4). Geisler (2004) wrote that, “This would include the angel Lucifer, who became known as Satan [i.e. the devil]. In God and in His heaven, there was no sin (Hab 1:13; Jam 1:13), yet Lucifer sinned and rebelled against God (1 Tim 3:6), leading one-third of the angels with him (Rev 12:4).
God made Lucifer perfectly good; Lucifer made evil. God gave him the fact of freedom (which is good); Lucifer performed the act of freedom to rebel against God (which is evil). God provided the good power of free will, but Lucifer performed the bad action of free will.” (vol 2, p. 496-497).
Wanting to be like God, Lucifer (e.g. Satan, the devil) rebelled against God (Isa 14:12-14; Eze 28:15-17) and disconnected from God’s divine law, of which divine morality is a form, falling into wickedness with those spiritual beings who chose to follow him (Mat 13:36-43; John 8:44; 1 Joh 3:4-10; Rev 20:10; etc.).
Jones (2017) noted how great their fall was and as the holy angels watched this “horror” of a rebellion “plunge into depravity,” it became a “heavenly education of good and evil” confirming that “God was right all along.” There was sin in heaven, before there was sin on earth (p. 214).
Concerning this origin of sin, Geisler (2004, vol 3) discussed topics such as God cannot produce or promote sin; however, God can permit sin. God can also use the problem of sin to accomplish a higher purpose of an eternal greater good than would otherwise have existed while preserving the gift of freedom to His creatures (also Corduan, 1993, pp. 123-145) (pp. 81-99).
In the sixth creation period (e.g. Yom, “day”) (Geisler, 1999, pp. 270-272; Whitefield, 2003), Genesis 1:26 states “God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them” (NASB, 1997).
The first humans find themselves in a refuge protected against natural evil which they are eventually expelled from as judgement for choosing to disobey God, at Satan’s enticement (Gen 2-3). They find themselves contending with moral and natural evil in a world that “lies in the power of the evil one [e.g. Satan]” (NASB, 1997, 1 Joh 5:19), until a future time when Satan will be cast out (Joh 12:31, 14:30, 16:11; 2 Joh 2:13-14, 4:4; Rev 20:10) and evil eradicated for eternity (Isa 65:17, 66:22; Mat 13:24-43; 2 Pet 3:13; Rev 20:11-15, 21:1-8) (Geisler, 2004, vol 4, pp. 557-558).
They can still interact with God, though not as before due to their new sin nature, yet with a promise of preservation (Gen 3:15) and a future victory through God Himself in Christ (Gal 3:16; Heb 2:14-15; 1 Joh 3:8; Rev 12:9). Things are much harder than before, yet the world contains provision and even death works to hold the extent of evil in check (Ross, 1996, p. 178).
Ross (1996) wrote, "God's purpose in the Incarnation goes far beyond breaking through the dimensional barrier to communicate with us face-to-face, to help us understand and believe His message, to show us His love, and to give us hope. He came to break the sin barrier, to repair the damage done in the Garden of Eden. Christ came in human flesh to be the second Adam... In perfectly obeying the Father, even to the point of death, He would finalize God's victory over the original and most powerful insurrectionist, Satan. The author of Hebrews explains at length why our Redeemer, the mediator between God and humankind, had to share in our humanity to be made like us in every way, tempted in every way as we are, and yet without any sin" (p. 120).
Romans 8 and Revelation 20-22 reveal that this temporary world (Isa 24, 51; Mat 24:35; 2 Peter 3; Ross, 2006, pp. 160-162, 70-71; Krauss & Starkman, 2000, pp. 22-30) is part of God’s divine plan to ultimately conquer evil forever and that this divine plan benefits all humanity redeemed, all holy angelic beings, and all future creation for eternity.
In Why the Universe Is the Way It Is, Ross (2008) maintained this writing the "present universe is ideally suited for bringing about an efficient and rapid end" to suffering forever (p. 24), within the context of biblical revelation. He discusses God's obscurity; the mysteries of life, death, and decay; the universe; the world; humanity, etc. all within the context of time, location, and intent. He dispels numerous misconceptions while articulating numerous purposes for why God made the universe the way He did which makes his book essential reading for those looking to delve further into those topics beyond this brief introductory essay. However, an example. A great deal of natural activity in this world is beneficial for the survival of life (Ross, 2006, pp. 125-175).
With respect to "natural catastrophes," Ross (2009) introduced the benefits to life on earth’s survival from events such as "hurricanes, tornadoes, volcanoes, earthquakes, wildfires, ice ages, floods, and droughts," despite "damage” and “suffering” to “plants, animals, and humans" while noting that a material amount of suffering caused by natural catastrophes can be prevented or minimized if humans adjust and modify their activities (pp. 204-208).
Human agency matters, as does correct correspondence. When humans do actual good while refraining from actual evil (also Gen 5:3-7), evil and human suffering can be lessened in the world; even when people are persecuted for actualizing good. God commonly works through human agency to accomplish objectively good purposes through people who choose to genuinely align with Him, which is not to be confused with those who merely exploit His name (Mat 7:15-23).
Geisler & McCoy (2014) is suggested reading concerning moral evil and human autonomy. They dismantle much of the atheist argumentation on that topic while analyzing the contradictory and impossible demands atheists make of God, and their unreasonable demand that God Himself resolve their inconsistencies.
And as Craig (2010) reminded us, “We are not God’s pets (see Imago Dei) … the purpose of life is not happiness as such but rather the knowledge of God which in the end will produce ultimate human happiness and fulfillment” (para. 35).
Contained in the knowledge of God that is available to humanity through natural and divine revelation is the knowledge needed for salvation, regeneration, sanctification, and ultimately glorification; the divine law, of which divine morality is a form, which can aid people and the societies they create to be godly, moral, and ethical; etc. and, so much more.
Craig (2010) continued, “God’s ultimate goal for humanity is the knowledge of himself, which ultimately can alone bring happiness to people, history cannot be seen in its true perspective apart from the Kingdom of God. The purpose of human life is the Kingdom of God. God’s desire is to draw as many people as possible freely into His Kingdom. And it may well be the case that suffering is part of the means by which God draws people freely into his Kingdom” (also see Craig, 2024) (para. 35).
While the Bible teaches that evil (biblically defined) is bad and to be prevented, mitigated, and eliminated where possible and that God has made provision available for that (including personal salvation, regeneration, and the divine law of which divine morality is a form); Craig (2010, para. 35) reminds that God is working out all things ultimately for a higher purpose, a greater eternal good for all humanity redeemed, all holy angelic beings, and all future creation (Romans 8, Revelations 20-22).
In the meanwhile, much natural evil presents itself as humans fail to accommodate nature and much moral evil arises as humans choose to disconnect from God’s divine law, of which divine morality is a form, and behave wickedly.
Examples are manifold and a comprehensive list would be long indeed. But for the sake of this discussion think along the lines of building in areas where severe natural catastrophes occur or failing to take care of one’s health in a consistent manner as inviting natural evil. An example of moral evil would encompass the genocidal and democidal depravity that occurred last century (e.g. twentieth century).
It was human agency that did that: not God. Humans chose to disconnect from the holy one true supreme God and His divine law, of which divine morality is a form, and plunged into depravity.
However, the Bible asserts that final justice is coming, when all accounts will be entirely settled. Jesus Christ sometimes put this in the form of parables. For example, in the book of Matthew (Mat 13:24-30), Jesus spoke of a wicked enemy sowing weeds in a righteous landowner’s wheat field. When the wheat sprouts, the weeds become evident. So, the landowner's workers ask him if they should gather up the weeds.
The landowner; however, says not to lest they harm the wheat in the process. He tells them to wait until the harvest and then first gather up the weeds and burn them, and then gather the wheat into his barn.
Later Jesus explains to His disciples that He is sowing good seed while the devil is sowing bad seed, and at the end of this age God's holy angels will gather those who chose the devil’s bad seed which includes "all stumbling blocks and those who commit lawlessness" and they will be thrown into an eternal fire while those who chose His good seed ("the righteous") will "shine forth like the sun in the kingdom of their Father" who is the one true creator God (Mat 13:36-43) (also see McDermott, 2007).
Interestingly, this parable also speaks of redemption: for sinners to repent and be forgiven, to become wheat. Though universalism, the idea that everyone will be saved, is false (see Geisler, 2004, vol 3); another important reason why both are permitted temporarily in the world is that God “wants all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim 2:4).
God wants everyone to choose His good seed during their life here, including those presently choosing the bad seed. The stakes are eternal and He is prepared to wait until the harvest to maximize the number of souls who choose God’s offer for salvation, for regeneration, for sanctification, and ultimately for glorification (Rev 21-22).
This brief introductory essay is not a typical philosophical examination of logical categorical statements with respect to the traditional problem of evil debate, which the reader is encouraged to explore. Rather this is a personalized introduction from biblical revelation emphasizing the provision God has made for humans in this world through Himself in the risen Jesus Christ which is available to all who choose it.
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