hy does God let bad things happen to good people?
e there any good people? Am I asking the wrong
uestions? Why does God let good things happen to
ad people? How do I explain God’s goodness in light
human suffering? Does evil disprove God’s
istence? Is God willing to stop evil
but
nable? Or is God able but unwilling? Are
y choices the cause of my suffering? Is God
punishing me? Does God care about me in
the pit of my suffering? Such are
the questions that we are faced with
when encountering
suffering.
“The problem of evil
is the most serious
problem in the
world.”
-Peter Kreeft, Philosopher
Earthquake in China, Chile
Al-Qaeda -- Osama bin Laden,” We love
death. The U.S. loves life. That is the difference
between the two.”
uotes/quotes/o/os
amabinla406581.html
http://www.brainyquote.com/q
Hexbollah
"Rwanda is clinically
dead as a nation.”
http://africanhistory.about.com/b/2007/05/13/quotes-about-the-rwandangenocide.htm
Black Death
Virginia Tech
Hurricanes
Jordan NGU
My friend, Dylan: died in a car accident at 18 years old
Elie Wiesel, Night
“How in a time in which Auschwitz existed in any
life with God possible? The strangeness has
become too cruel, the hidden ness too deep.
One can still “believe” in the God who
permitted to happen what did happen, but can
one still speak to him? Can one still call upon
him? Do we dare to recommend the Job of the
gas-chambers to the survivors of Auschwitz:
“Call upon him, for he is good and his
mercy endureth forever?”
– Kornelius H. Miskotte, When the Gods are Silent, translated by John W.
Doberstein, (London: Collins, 1967), 248-249.
Elie Wiesel, Night
Auschwitz survivor Elie Wiesel remembers, as a
sixteen year old, his reaction upon seeing Nazi
guards hang a seven year old boy:
“Some of the men spoke of God: His mysterious
ways, the sins of the Jewish people, and the
redemption to come. As for me, I had ceased to
pray. I concurred with Job! I was not denying
His existence, but I doubted His absolute
justice.”
– Elie Wiesel, Night, translated by Marion Wiesel (New York: Hill and
Wang, 1958, 2006), 45.
The Problem of Evil:
2-fold
1) Logical Problem of Evil:
How to give a rational explanation of the co-existence
of God and evil. - Greg Welty
2) Emotional Problem of Evil:
How to comfort those who are suffering and how to
dissolve the emotional dislike people have of a
God who would permit such evil. - William Lane
Craig
Greg Welty, “The Logical Argument-01,” God & Evil-PHREL 4383 (Fort Worth, TX: Southwestern
Baptist Theological Seminary, 2007), 3.
Logical Problem of Evil:
Epicurus
“God either wishes to take away evils, and is unable;
or he is able and unwilling; or he is neither willing
nor able, or he is both willing and able. If he is
willing and is unable, he is feeble, which is not in
accordance with the character of God if he is able
and unwilling, he is envious, which is equally at
variance with God; if he is neither willing nor able
he is both envious and feeble, and therefore not
God; if he is both willing and able, which alone is
suitable to God, from what source then are evils?
Or why does he not remove them?”
– Epicurus, Greek Philosopher (341-270 B.C.)
–
William Dyrness, Christian Apologetics in a World Community (Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity, 1983), 153.
Logical Problem of Evil:
David Hume
“Epicurus’ old questions are yet
unanswered. Is he willing to
prevent evil, but not able? Then is
he impotent. Is he able, but not
willing? Then he is malevolent. Is
he both able and willing? Whence
then is evil?”
–
Richard Popkin, Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion (Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing,
1980), 63.
Logical Problem of Evil:
J.L. Mackie, former atheist
philosopher (1917-1981):
• “In its simplest form the problem is this: God
is omnipotent; God is wholly good; and
yet evil exists. There seems to be some
contradiction between these three
propositions, so that if any two of them were
true the third would be false. But at the same
time all three are essential parts of most
theological positions: the theologian, it
seems, at once must adhere and cannot
consistently adhere to all three.”
–
J.L. Mackie, “Evil and Omnipotence,” in, The Problem of Evil: Oxford Readings in
Philosophy, ed. Marilyn McCord Adams and Robert Merrihew Adams (New York: Oxford
How can God exist when
there is so much suffering
& evil?
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
Evil exists
God is all-powerful
God is all-good
Yet evil still exists
God is either not all-powerful or fully
good. For if he had the power to stop
evil and He doesn’t, then He is not all
good.
6) Or if God desires to stop evil but
cannot, we must assume He is fully good
but not all-powerful.
- Rabbi Harold Kushner, When Bad Things Happen to
Good People. (1981), concludes that even God cannot
Preeminent question:
What is the purpose of life?
If circumstantial happiness
then God has failed.
However, if it is the
knowledge of God and a
relationship with God, then
suffering is not necessarily a
defeater for God’s existence.
It is possible for God to use
evil for this latter end.
The Purpose of Life
• Crucial questions on the logical problem of evil
1) Who determines the purpose of life? Ecclesiastes
12:11-12
• The character/attributes of the Creator of life
determines the point of life – 12:11
• Education without God ends in hopelessness &
depression – 12:12
2) What is the purpose of life? – Ecclesiastes 12:13
• If happiness, then suffering is evidence against
God’s existence. Happiness = God has failed
The Purpose of Life
• “There are certain instances of
suffering that are utterly
impossible to produce
happiness that are not useless
in producing the knowledge of
God.” – William Lane Craig
“Mankind is in a state of rebellion against God – thus,
the Christian is not surprised at the terrible evils in the
world because of man's depravity as evidenced by
Scripture and common experience…Christian
theology reports doctrines that significantly increase
the probability of evil and suffering coexisting with the
existence of God. The point of life is not happiness
but the knowledge of God which, in the end, will
produce ultimate human Flourishing. There are
certain instances of suffering that are utterly
impossible to produce happiness that are not useless
in producing the knowledge of God.”
- William Lane Craig
“The Problem of Evil,” ibid.
Christian theology provides the most accurate
picture of humanity & the world. If
Christianity properly diagnoses the problem,
if we’re open-minded, it may be that
Christianity provides insights into and even
answers to the problem of evil. Simply put,
the Christian answer is crucifixion and
resurrection of Jesus. Hinduism denies evil.
Buddhism recognizes it but directs one to
look internally and thus, severs one from the
outside world. Animistic religions are in
enslaved magic and the bizarre chain of
•
Another stumbling block for many
Westerners is the presupposition that the
point of life is circumstantial happiness. If
this is true and such a telos was by God’s
design then atheist and theist would be
compelled by a basic kind of intellectual
honesty that God has epically failed. A
cursory reading of world history or a
glimpse of the nightly news adds towards
the cumulative case that the overwhelming
majority of persons who have existed could
not be considered as having lived happy
“The primary reason we feel so
much emotional pain when these
things occur is because of our
beliefs about what happened to
us. Correct beliefs promote life,
help, and peace. Incorrect (often
called ‘irrational’) beliefs eventually
cause great pain and suffering.”
- Gary Habermas
Gary Habermas, Why is God Ignoring Me? (Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale, 2010), 109.
• If holiness/knowledge of God is the
point of life then suffering is not
necessarily evidence against God’s
existence.
• The writer of Ecclesiastes summarizes
the point of human life as, “Fear God &
keep His commandments” (Ecclesiastes
12:13). The Westminster Confession
expresses the same thought as follows?
Q: What is the whole duty of man?
A: To glorify God & enjoy Him forever.
What the atheist must
demonstrate to prove a logical
problem from evil:
I. Prove that God and evil are incompatible.
•
At the forefront of Plantinga’s argument is
the tacit assumption of atheists who
uncritically accept the inherent
contradictoriness of God and evil and
“make no attempt whatever to show that it
is.” . . . The atheist must first show why God
and evil are incompatible in order to argue
from that premise.”
–
Alvin Plantinga, God, Freedom, and Evil (New York: Harper and Row, 1974), 22-23.
John Feinberg writes, “Theists should require
atheists to offer an instance of suffering which
they can prove is genuinely pointless. That will
be a hard challenge to meet, especially because
of our limited knowledge. Atheists won’t likely
do better than produce some evidence that a
specific evil is probably genuinely pointless, but
“probably pointless” isn’t enough to answer
Reichenbach’s objection about question
begging.”
•
–
John S. Feinberg, The Many Faces of Evil: Theological Systems and the Problem of Evil
(Wheaton: Crossway, 2004), 235.
Presuppositions
•
•
•
•
Probability and the problem of evil,
probability depends upon what background
information you consider:
A. God’s existence provides the best
explanation as to why the universe exists.
B. God’s existence provides the best
explanation to the order found in the
universe.
C. God’s existence provides the best
explanation for moral values in the world.
Question: What is the
burden of proof for
the argument from
the logical problem of
evil?
You must prove the
impossibility of God
using evil to bring about
a greater good.
Q: What was the result of
Jesus’ suffering?
A: According to the Christian
gospel, Jesus’ suffering
resulted in redemption for
sinners.
What the atheist must
demonstrate to prove a logical
problem from evil:
II. Prove that God could have no
reason for allowing suffering.
Inscrutability: Do we have the access to enough
information to make that judgment?
• Alvin Plantinga, “The theist believes that
God has a reason for permitting evil; he
doesn’t know what that reason is. But why
should that mean that his belief is improper
or irrational?”
–
Alvin Plantinga, God, Freedom, and Evil, 11.
What the atheist must
demonstrate to prove a logical
problem from evil:
• “We are not in the position to be
able to assess whether God has
sufficient moral reasons for
allowing suffering to exist.”
- William Lane Craig
“The Problem of Evil,” ibid.
The human condition and
Epistemic Access
Claim: Just because we can’t see God’s
reasons for allowing evil doesn’t mean there
aren’t reasons.
Q: How much information must you have in order to
say that God COULD NOT justify allowing evil
to exist?
A: Total knowledge/every bit of data in the universe.
Q: Why doesn’t God let us know why He allows
certain things to happen?
A: Our finite minds probably would not be able to
William Alston’s List of Cognitive
Limitations: upon our cognitive powers,
opportunities, and achievements
i) Lack of data – of the natural laws
ii) Complexity greater than we can handle – total
systems of natural law seem extremely
complicated.
iii)Difficulty of determining what is
metaphysically possible or necessary – could
you have conscious life without hydro-carbons
or without pain?
William Alston’s List of Cognitive
Limitations: upon our cognitive powers,
opportunities, and achievements
iv) Ignorance of the full range of possibilities – means
to ends. Atheists admit that it is possible for God to
bring about the greater good without these
sufferings.
v) Ignorance of the full range of values – the progress
of human knowledge in respect to science. If there
can be ignorance for centuries of the physical
universe, surely there could be complex goods from
evil that we have not yet realized.
vi) Limits to our capacity to make well-considered
value judgments
07 - The Evidential Argument (Alston) “God & Evil” Welty, p.4.
Think about the following scenario…
1. Fact: I am a good person.
2. Fact: I often inflict pain on little children,
voluntarily, and people pay me to do this, and
they often watch me do this.
3. Fact: I am a dentist who does his job.
Point: Without point 3, we could only conclude that
the person is a moral monster who needs to be
imprisoned, or worse.
Greg Welty, ibid, 3.
What the atheist must
demonstrate to prove a logical
problem
from
evil:
III. Prove an instance of suffering that is definitively
•
•
pointless.
Even if you were able to “Prove” a situation of
pointless suffering, it would be outweighed by
all the other cases of suffering that 1) Did have a
point or 2) cases that we couldn’t rule out not
having a point.
If God isn’t in the equation then you can’t argue
for hope on any level. Ultimately, all is
meaningless.
Wait a
minute…what must
exist for evil to
exist?
Serious question for
Atheists: If God does
not exist then how can
evil…or good exist?
Moral Argument for
God’s ExistEncE
1) Without God, evil could
not exist.
2) Evil exists.
3) Therefore, God exists.
Moral Argument for
God’s ExistEncE
1) If God does not exist,
objective moral values and
duties do not exist.
2) Objective moral values
and duties do exist.
3) Therefore, God exists.
If God does not exist then
how can evil…or good
exist?
• The fact that you’re arguing
against God’s existence on
moral grounds is evidence that
objective morality exists & if
objective morality exists then
you’re arguing for God, not
against Him.
Meaninglessness &
atheism
•
Darwinism - Life explained
without God:
“In a universe of blind physical forces and
genetic replication, some people are going
to get hurt, other people are going to get
lucky, and you won’t find any rhyme or
reason in it, nor any justice. The universe
we observe has precisely the properties we
should expect if there is, at bottom, no
design, no purpose, no evil and no good,
nothing but blind pitiless indifference.”
What the atheist must
demonstrate to prove a logical
problem from evil:
IV. Prove the world would be
better without free choice or
natural law because much
suffering comes from both.
Q: Why couldn’t God create a good
world without the possibility of evil?
1. Ability to make free choices (The Free Will
Defense)
• Trans-world depravity - a necessary
byproduct of free will
• Objection: Why wouldn’t God stop the
abuse of Free Will?
• Because we would be Moral monsters.
Theistic Rebuttals
2. Natural Evil/Physical Laws
Objection: God should have created a
world insulated from natural evil
Q: Would a world w/o natural laws be
better or worse?
*Random acceleration of gravity. Imagine
the random acceleration of gravity…
Theistic Rebuttals:
The Free Will Defense
Plantinga also makes the case that “A really top-notch
universe requires the existence of free, rational, and
moral agents; and some of the free creatures He
created went wrong.” Simply put, a very strong
response to the question, “Why is there any evil at
all?” is Plantinga’s point that a necessary component
of the best conceivable world includes free creatures,
not robots, whose freedom carries the propensity for
almost certain abuse of that freedom in some cases.
The central value judgment of the argument is simply,
“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.” . . .
Theistic Rebuttals
Moral virtues such as love, loyalty, patience, self control,
and bravery would not be considered virtues if such
actions were the only option. The atheist is then left
with the option of arguing that God should not have
created any world unless there was a sort of “evilfree” guarantee, even if God could bring about a
greater good from the existence of evil. Plantinga
notes, “Some have objected to the free-will defense
on the grounds that it presupposes that there are such
things as counterfactuals of freedom, that they have
truth values, and that God can know them. It is the
atheologian, however, who really needs these
suppositions; things are easier, not harder, for the freewill defense if we reject these assumptions.”
Theistic Rebuttals:
The Free Will Defense
•
Imagine having a pain in your leg from a bruise. The
doctor says she could eliminate the pain by
amputating your leg. Yet, it comes at a price that is far
too high. He is not bad because he refuses to amputate
your leg even though he has the power to do so. He is
not evil because he refuses to do this.
•
Imagine the non-existence of virtues such as courage,
love, compassion, and generosity. These are virtues
that we must choose to exhibit, often against the grain
of our own self-interest. If choice is taken away, virtue
is also taken away. No one praises machines for doing
what they were programmed to do. A mechanistic
Could God have created a
world with no evil?
• If so, the world wouldn’t contain
humans because humans, by
nature, have the ability to choose
between moral and immoral actions.
• It would be a world with lower life
forms or humanoid-machines
incapable of giving or receiving
love.
Terminator: World of the robots
World of the robots: If you fall in love with, are
willing to die for, or have a romantic
relationship with a robot then you need
professional counseling.
Imagine by John
Lennon
Imagine there's no heaven,
It's easy if you try,
No hell below us,
Above us only sky,
Imagine all the people,
Living for today...
Imagine there’s no
choice…
How could love be possible without choice
(See, Ecclesiastes 12:13 and the
Westminster Confession, the purpose of
life)?
-
Maybe a world of choice & the possibility
of evil is better than a world of no choice
& no possibility of evil.
Free Will Defense
1.
God is omniscient, omnipotent, and wholly
good.
2. There is evil.
3. God’s nature leads us to believe that he has a
good reason for creating a world that contains
evil.
“The heart of the Free Will Defense is the claim that
it is possible that God could not have created a
universe containing moral good... without
creating one that also contained moral evil. And
if so, then it is possible that God has a good
reason for creating a world containing evil”
What Reason could God have
for creating a world
containing the possibility of
evil?
Definition before discourse:
• Moral Evil
What is good?
What does it mean to be
truly free?
•
•
•
•
A creature is truly free if they can
choose evil in any possible world.
A world with free creatures has more
value than a world without free creatures
who have choice.
Therefore, it is consistent to believe in
the existence of God and the existence
of evil.
But is it reasonable given the suffering &
evil in the world?
What does it mean to be truly free?
•
“What is important about the idea of
transworld depravity is that if a person
suffers from it, then it wasn’t within
God’s power to actualize any world in
which that person is significantly free but
does no wrong - that is, a world in which
he produces moral good but no moral
evil.”
- Alvin Plantinga
God, Freedom, & Evil, 48.
Implications of Determinism
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
7)
8)
No Free Will
No Responsibility
No Virtue
No Vice
No Good
No Evil
No Villains
No Heroes
Both would be morally equal
under Hard Determinism
because neither had free will
nor true moral responsibility.
Implications of Determinism
1) Human choice is either free, or it is not free
2) If it is free, then the law of causality is false
3) If it is not free, then people are not
responsible for their actions
4) Therefore, either the law of causality is false,
or people are not responsible for their
actions
How does Jesus
answer the
problem of evil?
Jesus - Luke 13:1-5
• There were some present at that very time who told him
about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled
with their sacrifices. 2 And he answered them, “Do you
think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all
the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way?
3 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all
likewise perish. 4 Or those eighteen on whom the tower
in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they
were worse offenders than all the others who lived in
Jerusalem? 5 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you
will all likewise perish.”
Jesus on The Problem
of Evil
• Jesus taught:
1) Suffering will come in a sinful world – Luke
13:1,4
•
Moral evil: Pilate’s slaughter of innocent people
– 13:3 (Moral evil is an abuse of the choice to
act morally).
“Half the harm in this world is due to people who
want to feel important” – T.S. Eliot
–
•
In, Norman R. DePuy, Christian Century, 108, S, 18-25, 1991, p. 843.
Natural evil: Collapse of a tower (Natural evil is
suffering coming from something outside the
realm of human choice or negligence)) – 13:4
Jesus on The Problem of
Evil
Natural evil: Hurricane, flood, wild animals, humanhating cats, etc.
• Objection: Couldn’t God have tweaked natural
law so that it would go into a different default
mode when human suffering was about to
result?
• Response: This would conceivably produce
more suffering because natural law would be
virtually unpredictable such as the random
acceleration of gravity, random voice pitch
inflection, random chemical compositions, etc.
Jesus on The Problem
of Evil
•
2)
•
•
Jesus taught:
Resist the urge to give premature solutions – 13:2, 4
Punishment theodicy (the most prevalent view) : Most
people in Jesus’ day thought that there was a direct
correlation between extraordinary suffering and
extraordinary sin. Most thought if you were suffering
then God was specifically judging you for ‘super’ sin –
13:2,4
Jesus destroys this idea: You’re all guilty – 13:2,4
Jesus on The Problem
of Evil
Example of the Punishment Theodicy as the prevalent
view in 1st century Palestinian Judaism:
•
•
•
•
Job - “The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away” (1:21).
“The Sabeans attacked” (1:15); “The fire of God fell from
the sky” (1:16); “The Chaldeans swept down” (1: 17); “A
mighty wind swept in from the desert” (1:19).
“They comforted and consoled him over all the trouble the
LORD had brought upon him” (42:11).
Point: Job’s counselors erred not by attributing
Job’s suffering to God’s sovereignty but that
God did it to punish Job. They went beyond
their epistemic access.
Jesus on The Problem
of Evil
Biblical example of suffering not due to personal sin:
•
•
•
The man born blind – John 9:2
Paul bitten by a viper – Acts 28:3-4
Biblical counterexamples:
•
•
•
Sodom & Gomorrah – Genesis 18-19
Great Tribulation – Revelation 9:20-21 “The rest of
mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not
repent of the works of their hands nor give up worshiping
demons and idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone
and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk, 21 nor did they
repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual
immorality or their thefts.”
Ananias & Sapphira – Acts 5
The Fig Tree and You
Luke 13:6-9
6
And he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree
planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on
it and found none. 7 And he said to the vinedresser,
‘Look, for three years now I have come seeking fruit
on this fig tree, and I find none. Cut it down. Why
should it use up the ground?’ 8 And he answered him,
‘Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it
and put on manure. 9 Then if it should bear fruit next
year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it
down.’ ”
“Unless
you repent, you will all
likewise perish…”
“I
say to you that likewise there will
be more joy in heaven over one
sinner who repents than over
ninety-nine just persons who need
no repentance.” (Luke 15:7)
• Q: Is there a proper way to respond to tragedy?
3) Tragedy should point us to Jesus Christ, the
Savior – 13:3,5
Jesus does not deny human sin; He affirms it –
13:3,5 (para)
• For the unbeliever: Tragedy is evidence of God’s
mercy in giving you time to repent, be saved,
and live for Him – 13:3,5-8
• For the believer: Tragedy is evidence of God’s
mercy in giving you time to warn unbelievers
that time is short – 13:3,5-8
A. The example of Joseph:
• Psalm 105:17 He sent a man before them,
Joseph, who was sold as a slave.
• Genesis 50:20 You meant it for evil but God
meant it for good in order to bring about this
present result, to preserve many people alive.
• One event and two different sets of intentions!
• Joseph and famine. Had he not gone to Egypt,
Judah and his family would have starved and the
Messiah’s line would have been extinguished,
prophecy would have failed and God would lose the
B. The man who was born blind:
• “It was neither that this man sinned, nor
his parents; but it was so that the works of
God might be displayed in him” (John
9:3).
C. The Suffering of Job:
•
The reason for his suffering was never revealed.
•
The Key to Job’s Recovery - Job 42:10 “The Lord
restored the fortunes of Job when he prayed for his
friends, and the Lord increased all that Job had
twofold.”
D. The suffering of Jesus:
•
Provided salvation & forgiveness for all who would
believe.
•
•
Tragedy should cause us not wonder why
so many people died but rather, why the
rest of us are still alive.
When loved ones & friends die “early” we
should thank God for the time that we had
with them, not be bitter over the time we
think we deserved.
•
•
Q: Why doesn’t God just destroy evil?
A: He will but we must realize that destruction
of evil does not exempt us. God has chosen to
give the world time to repent. Seek His mercy
during this window of opportunity before it
closes.
Charles Spurgeon, “God’s mercy is so great that
you may sooner drain the sea of its water, or
deprive the sun of his light, or make space too
narrow, than diminish the great mercy of God.
•
–
300 quotations for preachers from the Modern church. 2013 (E. Ritzema & E. Vince, Ed.). Pastorum
Series. Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software.
•
•
Friday to Robinson Crusoe, “Why doesn’t
God just destroy the Devil and those who
do wicked things?” Robinson Crusoe
responds, “Why does God not destroy us
when we do wicked things?”
Jesus’ answer is simple: God is giving you
time to repent.
Jesus on Suffering & Evil:
Luke 13:1-9
1) Tragedy does not imply
“punitive/special” judgment
2) God is the judge, not humanity
3) Humanity is on trial, not God
4) We must give an account to God for our
continued existence
5) The forbearance of God circumnavigates
the law of sin and death
6) When seeing tragedy, one should not
ask, “Why did these people die?” but
rather, “Why are the rest of us still
alive?”
Action Steps
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
Understand God & man
Understand the purpose of life
Avoid being a witch doctor
Walk by faith
Examine yourself *What can I
learn from this that will make me
more like Christ?*
6) Repent
7) Cry out to Jesus
Donald Whitney: Pain, suffering and
evil can come from the following (10
possibilities)
1. Unwise choices or actions
– Proverbs 8:36
2. Sin – Proverbs 13.21; 14:14
• Drunkenness
• Worry, bitterness, gluttony
Pain, suffering and evil can come
from the following:
3. Chastisement & discipline from
God - Heb. 12:5-11
4. For the purpose of developing the
desire to pursue the Lord - Ps.
119:71; James 5:13
Pain & Suffering may come from:
5. For the works of God to be
displayed in us – John 9:3
6. For the purpose of perseverance –
Romans 5:3
7. For the purpose of developing the
ability to comfort others – 2 Cor.
1:3-6
Pain & Suffering may come from:
8. For the purpose of Proving the
genuineness of and strength of your
faith – I Peter 1:6-7
9. For the purpose of Bringing the
Gospel to others – Ephesians 3:13
10. For the purpose of an Ultimate Good –
Romans 8:28
Biblical Survey on God
using Evil & Suffering
Romans 11:33-36
Oh, the depth of the riches both of
the wisdom and knowledge of God!
How unsearchable are His
judgments and unfathomable His
ways!
Romans 11:34-36
34 For who has known the mind of the
Lord, or who became His counselor?
35 Or who has first given to Him that it
might be paid back to him again?
36 For from Him and through Him and
to Him are all things. To Him be the
glory forever. Amen.
Q# What are the
“all thinGs?”
God’s control over Natural
Evil
1. Life and death - Deuteronomy
32:39
‘See now that I, I am He,
And there is no god besides Me;
It is I who put to death and give life.
I have wounded and it is I who heal,
And there is no one who can deliver from My
hand.
2. Disease/Physical
affliction - Exodus 4:11
The Lord said to him, “Who has
made man’s mouth? Or who
makes him mute or deaf, or seeing
or blind? Is it not I, the Lord?”
Lenses of Suffering
- Sovereign God
- Cosmic Force (Karma)
- Weak God *Harold Kushner
When Bad Things Happen to
Good People
- Random chance
Paul’s “thorn in the flesh”
2 Corinthians 12:7
Because of the surpassing greatness
of the revelations, for this reason,
to keep me from exalting myself,
there was given me a thorn in the
flesh, a messenger of Satan to
torment me—to keep me from
exalting myself!
3. Natural Disasters
Psalm 105:16-19 - Joseph & the Egyptian
famine
16 And He called for a famine upon the
land;
He broke the whole staff of bread.
17 He sent a man before them,
Joseph, who was sold as a slave.
18 They afflicted his feet with fetters,
He himself was laid in irons;
19 Until the time that his word came to
pass,The word of the Lord tested him.
4. Destructive animals
2 Kings 17:25
At the beginning of their living
there, they did not fear the
Lord; therefore the Lord sent
lions among them which killed
some of them.
Daniel 6:22
“My God sent His angel and shut
the lions’ mouths and they have
not harmed me, inasmuch as I
was found innocent before Him;
and also toward you, O king, I
have committed no crime.”
5. Human depravity
(corrupt human nature)
1) Rebellion to God & parents: Example #1
Hophni & Phineas, sons of Eli the priest
I Samuel 2:22-25 But they would not listen to the
voice of their father, for the Lord desired to put
them to death.”
I Samuel 2:17 “Thus the sin of the young men was
very great before the Lord, for the men
despised the offering of the Lord.”
5. Human depravity
(corrupt human nature)
Rebellion to God & parents: Example
#2 Samson’s rebellion against parents
Judges 14:3 “Samson said to his father,
“Let her for me, for she looks good to
me.”
However, his father and mother did not
know that it was of the Lord, for He was
seeking an occasion against the Philistines
(Judges 14:3b-4a).
Thomas Aquinas
“Every natural doing and every
chance doing in the world and
every free doing of man is a
tool of the doing of God.”
–
Timothy McDermott, Aquinas: Selected Philosophical Writings (New York: Oxford University
Press, 1993), xxvii-xxx. Cited in The Great Theologians: A Brief Guide by Gerald R.
McDermott (Downers Grove: IVP Academic, 2010), 68.
Jesus - Acts 4:27-28
27 “For truly in this city there were
gathered together against Your holy
servant Jesus, whom You anointed,
both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along
with the Gentiles and the peoples of
Israel, 28 to do whatever Your hand and
Your purpose predestined to occur.
Once again there is one set of events, but
two sets of intentions behind the
events: human and divine.
God’s Plan: Jesus’ Death
Acts 2:23-24
23 “This Man, delivered over by the
predetermined plan and foreknowledge of
God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of
godless men and put Him to death.
24 But God raised Him up again, putting
an end to the agony of death, since it was
impossible for Him to be held in its power.
John Walvoord, on Acts 2:23
“The point of this verse is clear: the
Crucifixion was no accident. It was in
God’s set purpose (boulē, “plan”) and
was God’s determined will, not merely
His inclination.”
•
Walvoord, J. F., Zuck, R. B., The Bible knowledge Commentary: An exposition of the scriptures, Vol.
2 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), 358.
Just imaGinE…
Q: If the torture, scorn, punches,
flogging, and agonizing death of
Jesus was within the bounds of
God the Father’s control then
what reason do we have to doubt
that our present suffering is out
of God’s reach and power?
How can our sufferings
bring glory to God?
How should I approach the
suffering I encounter in life?
•
•
•
•
Believers: Be encouraged at what God has done
& have faith in what He will do.
1 John 3:8 The reason the Son of God appeared
was to destroy the works of the devil.
Ecclesiastes 12:14 “For God will bring every
deed into judgment, with every secret thing,
whether good or evil.”
The longer we spend an eternity the more
the sufferings of this life will shrink in
comparison – this is why the apostle Paul
could refer to his sufferings as "slight,
momentary, light afflictions"
How should I approach the
suffering I encounter in life?
•
•
2 Corinthians 4:17-18 For this light momentary
affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of
glory beyond all comparison, 18 as we look not
to the things that are seen but to the things that
are unseen. For the things that are seen are
transient, but the things that are unseen are
eternal.
Unbelievers: Look back in history at how God
logically solved the problem of evil with the
prophecy-fulfilling death & resurrection of
Jesus. Then ask if you’re ready to meet Him as
judge.
How should I approach the
suffering I encounter in life?
•
Heaven would not be heaven without
redemption. You cannot have redemption
without something to redeem sinners from.
However, do not focus on one section of
eternity. Rather, look at it from a holistic
perspective.
•
“God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks to us in our
conscience, but shouts in our pain: It is His megaphone
to rouse a deaf world” - C.S. Lewis, The Problem of
Pain