DEALING WITH THE PROBLEM OF EVIL

This post was taken from the final chapter of my book New Evidence for Two Human Origins: Discoveries That Reconiles the Bible and Science (2009 edition).¹

Once we see that our source of knowledge concerning morality and the problem of evil is not human reasoning but divine revelation, the problem of evil is suddenly reduced in size from a major giant to a problem with which God has already given us assistance. The Bible teaches that God is righteous and that He is the source of all wisdom. Our logical response should be like that of Abraham, who said, “Shall not the Judge of all the earth deal justly?” (Gen. 18:25).² Nevertheless, because the problem of evil can torment people’s minds and even keep them from coming to the Savior, I must make an attempt to address it here. But remember ultimately we are not relying upon human reason but upon God’s revelation to deal with the problem of evil. Therefore, my answers to the problem mainly come from the Scriptures.
It is true, on the one hand, some people simply refuse to admit that they are sinners; they will not come to the Savior for forgiveness and help to change their lifestyle (Matt.3:19). On the other hand, some people find it hard to believe in God, especially as He is revealed in the Bible, because they cannot reconcile in their minds the problems of natural disasters, disease (such as cancer), genetic problems (which cause premature births, prenatal deformities, and other diseases), starvation, disappointments, and more. No one can completely explain how to reconcile these problems, but I shall offer some comments as I obtain insights from the Bible.
My seminary apologetics professor, Dr. Stanley Obitts, helped me deal with the problem of evil. He explained that if you set up the problem of evil in the form of a logical classical dilemma, you can escape from a logical contradiction by “taking the horns of the dilemma.” You take the horns of the dilemma by including in the structure of the dilemma our limited knowledge. Having such a limited perspective and understanding of all things, we would be unjustified to conclude that the loving God of the Bible does not exist. The apostle Paul would answer this disbelief with his statement found in his epistle to the Romans:
Even so our minds still long for a little insight into a solution, a little ordering of the factors involved.

On the contrary, who are you, O man, who answers back to God? The thing molded will not say to the molder, “‘Why did you make me like this?’ will it?” (Rom. 9:20)

Let us take a glimpse through the crack into the dazzling light of God’s revelation; this may help us perceive a little better why God permits evil in this world. The problem of evil is addressed in Romans, chapter 8. Paul faces the issue directly in verses 19 and 22:
Here we learn who subjected this world to “futility”—it was God. We also learn that its subjection is only for a period of time, not forever, because the text says that it was subjected “in hope.” We learn what must occur for the creation to be freed from this pain—“the revealing of the sons of God.” In context we can discern that the “revealing of the sons of God” is speaking of the resurrection of the saved. Therefore, Paul is speaking of the end of this age. Verse 23 (quoted below) makes it plain that he is speaking of the future resurrection of the saints. God will liberate His creation just as soon as His goal of bringing His sons and daughters to glory occurs. Wouldn’t this indicate to us that the creation was subjected to futility to reach that very goal—the spiritual maturity and complete salvation of all believers [at least basically all believers of this present age]?

For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now.

Believers are not excluded from the miseries of life:
The creation is held in vanity until the sons of God receive their resurrected bodies. We can deduce from this passage of Scripture that the good and the evil that we see in this world is somehow required for God to properly reach His goal, which is to bring certain people (God’s elect) to a resurrected state of righteousness in a relationship of sonship with the Father.

And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body. (Rom. 8:23)

This conclusion is strengthened from the Scriptures themselves later in the chapter where Paul is still within the general context of the problem of evil:
So we find that at the present time that God “causes all things” (good and evil) to exist in this world so that God can reach his goal of saving and sanctifying a group of people, whom he calls “sons.” Now that we know the general purpose for the existence of evil, maybe we shall have a better opportunity to make some sense of it.

And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. (Rom. 8:28-29)

Because we are treading on the ground of divine election, we need to be reminded that God’s outstretched arms are extended toward all who will come to Him. Even though God elects individuals to salvation, no one can say I desired to come to God, but God rejected me because I was not one of the elect. The Bible plainly gives an invitation to all races, to all classes, to all individuals upon the globe to come for salvation: “The Spirit [of God] and the bride [the Christian Church] say, ‘Come.’ And let the one who hears say, ‘Come.’ And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost” (Rev. 22:17).
Here are just some ideas that may help us understand why we see so much evil in this world along with the good:
We should remember that God daily gives many of us our food, our clothing, and our relationships for which, according to the Bible, we should be thankful. Our knowledge of both good and evil should cause us to be thankful for the good, which comes from God. Remember the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil from which Adam and Eve were forbidden to eat. After they ate of this tree, they were plunged into a world of good and evil.

1. Since God has set out to influence many people toward belief and to sanctify for Himself many sons and daughters, the earth needs to be large and full of people. Since “all things work together for good” (Rom. 8:28) for the salvation and sanctification of the “called,” God must have plenty of room to work.
2. If people are to learn to be sensitive to harmful physical, spiritual, and emotional situations, they need to experience pain so that they correctly respond when they hear God’s warning for them to repent and believe. They need to fear Hell.
3. Since spirituality comes to us, partially through experiencing suffering and loss, problems and pain must be a part of our everyday life (1 Pet. 4:1).
4. Since salvation is “by grace…through faith” (Eph. 2:8), God must keep hidden from us, otherwise faith would become sight. Unbelievers could not exert faith to be saved and believers could not grow in their faith as the Bible exhorts them to if God continuously acted supernaturally to reveal Himself to us. The Apostle Thomas said that he refused to believe in Christ’s resurrection until he had the opportunity to see and touch the Lord. After this Jesus gave Thomas this opportunity to see Him and to believe. After Thomas saw and believed, the Lord Jesus said, “Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed” (John 20:29).
5. To make His “sons” become responsible, He would need to present them with needs which would test their response toward the needy. If God met these human needs, His “sons” would tend to feel like they really were not obligated to act in compassion. God tests a person’s true heart by placing human need in his path.

So far we have discovered God’s goal in creation. We have seen that the presence of both good and evil makes possible His reaching this goal. Now we must answer the question, why would God go ahead with such a creation when He knew that it would bring suffering, death, and Hell to many people? We have been taking account of what has been revealed in Romans, chapter 8; in the very next chapter Paul deals with the issue we are now addressing. He writes,
According to Paul’s inspired words, God has the right to make one “vessel” (human being), who ends in destruction, and to use this person’s life so that another may find God’s grace and mercy. We can see from these verses that God must show His righteous indignation upon those who willfully sin. He must do this as Judge of the universe. But in doing so, He demonstrates to the inhabitants of the universe His righteous wrath and His great power. By God’s doing this, He reveals Himself in love to His “sons,” that is, people on whom he has set His special love. It is not that God has no love for the whole world, but that He cannot do the job He must in showing His love to the saved without bringing judgment upon sinners who never are saved. God is love, but this love caused God to initiate a plan that included pain and suffering for some animals and people. We must never forget that His plan also required the Lord Jesus Christ to suffer and die for our sins.

Or does not the potter have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable use, and another for common use? What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction? And He did so in order that He might make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory, even us, whom He also called, not from among Jews only, but also from among Gentles. (Rom. 9:21-24)

Why would God proceed with this plan when some people would suffer who were involved in it? The answer I shall give is going to surprise some, but please let me explain. God went ahead with it because “God is love” (1 John 4:8). God’s kind of love must act: “If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,’ and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that?” (Jas. 2:16). If God were going to express his love beyond the angelic type of beings, He had to make a universe in which He could make people to whom He could express His love. However, flesh is seemingly by its very nature sinful. God had to find a way to save some of these creatures made of flesh. His method was to do it by grace through faith. He sent His own Son to die for sinners; then God could share His victorious Spirit with those who take up their cross and follow Him (Luke 14:27).
How can we justify God’s initiation of a plan that would include evil? My mother taught me that the end never justifies the means. Was she wrong? No. She was right in regards to the normal everyday life. But there appears to be situations where the end does justify the means. Society over the recent centuries has seen fit to experiment with animals in order to perfect helpful healing medicines and operating procedures. Many people feel this is justified. But whether you agree with it or not, you have no doubt benefited immensely from it. The justification behind such experimentation has been that the benefits from it to mankind are justified. Men are made in the image of God; God certainly wants what is best for mankind. Is God unjust because he causes someone who has been created a mortal physical sinful creature to enter a state of testing that will result in sin and judgment if this will make possible the transforming of another individual into a resurrected, glorified child of God? The comparison is quite obvious. God’s decision to proceed with His plan is comparable to man’s decision to proceed with experimentation with animals in order to benefit mankind. It becomes hard for us, under these circumstances, to be critical of God’s methods. Besides, can we, who are the created, find fault with our Creator? We must answer, “No.” Truly God is love. Truly God expresses His love. It becomes our place to humble ourselves and trust in Him.
Why does God permit this evil world to continue even at the present time? The Bible answers this question directly. Peter explains why the Lord Jesus Christ has not returned to terminate this present age:
God is holding off the termination of this age so that more will come to repentance. God has been keeping the world moving through history for thousands of years. If we are willing to justify His actions in the preservation of the world, it would seem that we must likewise justify His acts of creation at the beginning of time?

The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance. (2 Pet. 3:9)

[You probably have some helpful comments on the "problem of evil." If you do, please post a comment below.]

© 2010 Gary T. Mayer
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¹Gary T. Mayer’s book New Evidence for Two Human Origins: Discoveries That Reconcile the Bible and Science (Bloomington, IN, Milton Keynes, UK: AuthorHouseTM, 2009).
²Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture has been taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE, © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977 by the Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.