God and Evil

How can a good God allow so much evil? A legitimate question. There is no doubt about it, there is much going on in this world that is obviously evil, sometimes sickeningly so. And don't even mention the lack of fairness we see every day. We find complaints about the abundance of evil and the obvious lack of fairness even in the Bible.
Psalms 37:8 (Revised Standard Version)
Be still before the LORD, and wait patiently for him; fret not yourself over him who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices!
Ecclesiastes 4:3 (Revised Standard Version)
but better than both is he who has not yet been, and has not seen the evil deeds that are done under the sun.
Ecclesiastes 9:3 (Revised Standard Version)
This is an evil in all that is done under the sun, that one fate comes to all; also the hearts of men are full of evil, and madness is in their hearts while they live, and after that they go to the dead.
Psalms 73:4 (Revised Standard Version)
For I was envious of the arrogant, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

The last example from Psamls 73:4 brings up a question still asked today: why do so many godless prosper while so many good men suffer?

First go here and read the Bible quotation. Then come back. I can tell you now that there are many more examples of this question in the Bible. The explanation is also given in more than one place that the wicked will only prosper for a short time. But you know, and I know, that there are many examples of the wicked prospering their whole lives and dying rich, maybe even happy. And there are many examples of good people struggling all their lives and dying penniless, maybe even miserable deaths. So, how come?

The quotation I asked you to read less than a minute ago (you do read at a reasonable rate, don't you?) gives the answer. Compare the average human lifespan with eternity. Now divide the average human lifespan by eternity. The answer is infinitely small. Yes, here on earth lawyers may prosper all their lives long and good people suffer all their live long. But this life is not all there is. In fact, as you have seen just now, it is an infinitely small fraction of all there is. Now which fraction should we give most weight to in our deliberations - the infinitely small fraction or the infinitely big fraction? Yes, the Bible's ultimately does not refer to the here and now. No, I cannot promise you a Porsche if you are a good Christian. Now all this is scant consolation to somebody who is struggling with the rent and who has problems threatening to swamp him, you say. I can't agree with you more. Not if all you are interested in is the here and now.

Matthew 6:19- 20 (Revised Standard Version)
"Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal."

I will refer to this evil condition of the planet earth and the glaring lack of fairness prevailing as the "status quo." Obviously, this has nothing to do with the British pop group of the sixties (still around in 2003) and their hit record "Pictures of match stick men." The writer of Ecclesiastes may have found the picture of match stick men living pitiful and quietly desperate lives on an evil planet an apt description of the status quo.

Many people find it hard, no impossible, to reconcile the status quo with the existence of an all powerful, good God.

For completeness sake let me point out that the above is used as an excuse by many who have decided that they want to do their own thing and not be constrained by the requirements any god may have. They don't really care if the status quo can be reconciled with an all powerful, good and merciful God, or not. They are too busy with life and trying to fill it up with as much sensual and emotional enjoyment as possible to have time for such mundane intellectual pursuits. They won't be reading this page.

So, how does one reconcile the status quo with the existence of an all powerful, good God? Can one?

First, let me point out that God is vastly different from anyone of us. Granted, YOU would have made things different. Much better for everybody concerned, you say. But your point of view is time and place constrained. So, to start off with, your "everybody" may be described by a much smaller number than the real "everybody," the one God works with. Simply put, your plans may not take the "big picture" into account because you are not aware of the "big picture."

Secondly, even given the same set of facts concerning a problem you may come up with a different solution than an infinitely knowledgeable and powerful being will come up with. Your solution is better, you say, your powers of reasoning sharper. Yeah, right.

Isaiah 55:8&9
For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, says the LORD.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

So first of all consider the possibility that you do not have all the facts regarding evil at your disposal. Coming to a conclusion from an incomplete set of facts will most likely lead to an invalid conclusion.

I Corinthians 13:12 (Revised Standard Version)
For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall understand fully, even as I have been fully understood.

Secondly, maybe, just maybe, the problem is too complex for us to solve, even if we had all the facts at our disposal.

Is God responsible for all the wrong that we see?
Matthew 13: (Revised Standard Version)
24 Another parable he put before them, saying, "The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field;
25 but while men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away.
26 So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also.

Let's take this a bit further. What is God like? When Jesus was on earth he repeatedly said He (Jesus) and God were extremely alike. Go here and read more about it. What was Jesus like? Did he do anybody any harm? Read the Gospels. The answer is no. Did he help people? Why, He raised more than one from the dead, he cured a great many diseases, he fed thousands who were hungry. Did he ever allow any harm to come to anyone. Yes, He allowed Lasarus to die. One of Lasarus's sisters said to him if He were there Lasarus would not have died. If you read the story you will notice that Jesus tarried on purpose on hearing that Lasarus was ill. Did He have a purpose with that? Yes. Read the story. Jesus convincingly demonstrated that He could raise people from the dead. Isn't that good news to everyone who follows Jesus?

Read the first few chapters of Job. Did God afflict Job? No, Satan did. Did God allow it? Yes. Why does God allow children to die of hunger and good people to come to horrible ends? So that everyone can see the effects of sin. Knowing sin for what it is - there is so much evidence of it - will help you make the right choice. If you did not know sin for what it is because God shielded us from its consequences, even though many of us choose consciously to sin, you will not be in a position to make an informed choice.

Freedom of choice

Now for another concept - freedom of choice. Again, maybe some of us would argue that freedom of choice is good only up to a point. If our behaviour was constrained by any means we would be like programmed robots in the respect our behaviour was pre-determined. There is much evidence in the Bible that God gave us total freedom as to how we would act, within the limits of physical possibilities, of course.
Genesis 2:16-17
16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, "You may freely eat of every tree of the garden;
17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die."
Adam was told what not to do, but he still had the power to do what he should not have done, as we all know. Similary, we too have the power to do what we know is wrong and refrain from doing what we know we should do.
Joshua 24:15 (Revised Standard Version)
And if you be unwilling to serve the LORD, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell; but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD."
Here we see that God did not even witheld the choice as to which god we will serve from us.

Tied to the concept of freedom of choice is the expectation many have that an all powerful and good God should reward the faithful, those who make the right choices, with lives of ease and plenty. Especially, they should not suffer in any way; their children should be obedient, respectful, diligent, healthy, death should come painlessly when sleeping, business ventures should be successful, etc., etc. Why did Samuel in the Bible have two no-good sons? There is no evidence in the Bible of him even marginally overstepping the mark. And Paul who worked so hard to spread the word, was beheaded on the order of Nero. And Peter was crucified upside down. Obviouly, this expectation is not being fulfilled.

Think what would happen if righteous living was so obviously rewarded with a life of ease and plenty that even the obtuse could see the link. And if wrongdoing was clearly associated with all kinds of bad things happening to the evildoer. We would all be conditioned like Pavlov's dogs and become beings as unnatural as a clockwork orange. This last is of course a reference to the book by Anthony Burgess an the movie directed by Stanley Kubrick, both called A Clockwork Orange. Our motives in obeying God's laws would, to put it mildly, be suspect.

Now, if God didn't want us to obey him and be loyal to him purely out of self serving motives the answer would be not to reward obedience with a life of ease and plenty. If God didn't want us to refrain from wrongdoing purely out of fear of reprisal the answer would similarly be not to repay transgressions with obvious reprisals.

I'm paying much attention to freedom of choice because, as you shall see, it is at the basis of the sad state the world is in. Note that I said it is at the basis, not that it is the cause of the status quo.

The origin of evil

The Bible has somewhat to say about the origin of evil.
Ezekiel 28:11-17
11 Moreover the word of the LORD came to me: 12 "Son of man, raise a lamentation over the king of Tyre, and say to him, Thus says the Lord GOD: "You were the signet of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.
13 You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering, carnelian, topaz, and jasper, chrysolite, beryl, and onyx, sapphire, carbuncle, and emerald; and wrought in gold were your settings and your engravings. On the day that you were created they were prepared.
14 With an anointed guardian cherub I placed you; you were on the holy mountain of God; in the midst of the stones of fire you walked.
15 You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created, till iniquity was found in you.
16 In the abundance of your trade you were filled with violence, and you sinned; so I cast you as a profane thing from the mountain of God, and the guardian cherub drove you out from the midst of the stones of fire.
17 Your heart was proud because of your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor. I cast you to the ground; I exposed you before kings, to feast their eyes on you.
Obviously, Satan was once a perfect, magnificent being. Vanity was his undoing.
Isaiah 14:12-14
12 "How you are fallen from heaven, O Day Star, son of Dawn! How you are cut down to the ground, you who laid the nations low!
13 You said in your heart, `I will ascend to heaven; above the stars of God I will set my throne on high; I will sit on the mount of assembly in the far north;
14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will make myself like the Most High.'
It is clear that Satan did not only sit in front of a mirror and admired his own beauty and told himself how clever he was. He actively planned rebellion. His ambition was to exalt himself above all created beings and be on a par with God.
Revelation 12:7-9
7 Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought,
8 but they were defeated and there was no longer any place for them in heaven.
9 And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world--he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.
Revelation of John 12:4 (Revised Standard Version)
His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven, and cast them to the earth. ..
Satan obviouly convinced a third of the angels to follow him. One can say that Satan was the first politician. When things finally came to a head in heaven Satan and his hangers on were defeated and cast out of heaven.

Why were they not annihilated there and then?

This is not from the Bible. It has been said that Satan, like any "good" politician, indulged in some mud-slinging against God. He was reasonably successful with this as a third of the angels believed him. (The "third" is from the Bible) He accused God of being an unfair tyrant who placed unreasonable constraints on his created beings. If Satan and his cohorts were vapourised there and then some of the remaining two-thirds of the created beings may have concluded that Satan had been right, after all. As hinted at in the part dealing with freedom of choice, God is not only concerned with the choices we make, but also very strongly with our motivations behind those choices. Evil had to run its course while the whole universe looked on to see what the ultimate result of evil would be.
I Corinthians 4:9 (Revised Standard Version)
For I think that God has exhibited us apostles as last of all, like men sentenced to death; because we have become a spectacle to the world, to angels and to men.
The above quote shows that the idea of the universe looking on to what is going on down here below is not as fanciful as some would imagine.

What next?

The next appearance of Satan is in the garden of Eden. This story is extremely well known. Again, Satan makes God out to be unjust.
Genesis 3:4-5
4 But the serpent said to the woman, "You will not die.
5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."
We all know what happened next. This act of disobeying God and obeying Satan, even though tricked, was enough for God to consider Adam and Eve, and their offspring, willing followers of Satan and rejecters of God. God thinks differently from the way we do.
Satan had found a home.
John 14:30 (Revised Standard Version)
I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no power over me;
It was Jesus talking in the quotation above. It is clear who He was talking about.
Job 1:6-7
6 Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them.
7 The LORD said to Satan, "Whence have you come?" Satan answered the LORD, "From going to and from on the earth, and from walking up and down on it."
From the above quotation it is clear that Satan still had power to appear before God. Notice how Satan emphasises his freedom to travel the earth. After all, it is his domain. If you read Job you will see that Satan said that Job's motives for serving God were self serving, as said in the part about freedom of choice. The other angels heard Satan's accusation. Job's motives had to be proved. Job passed with flying colours, never weakening in his loyalty to God, but complaining bitterly about all the catastrophes that had befallen him and seeing no reason for them. Job, too, believed that God had caused these catastrophes, as Satan would no doubt have us believe. It still happens today. Satan still loves people blaming God for whatever goes wrong. As if God were a puppet master and freedom of choice does not exist.
It appears that Satan lost the privelege of appearing before God while Jesus was on the earth.
Luke 10:17-18
17 The seventy returned with joy, saying, "Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!"
18 And he said to them, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.

The End, but read on...

Yes, how will it end?
Everybody in the universe will see the effects of sin. There will be no doubt in the mind of even the most slow witted being in the universe as to what sin leads to. A certain group of people will choose to be totally obedient and dependent on God. Personally, I think that is the intelligent choice. After all, God is all powerful, infinitely intelligent, totally good. What more can one ask for in a ruler? I'd rather leave decisions to such a being than make them myself.
There are also those who would not choose to belong to this group. In fact, this second group will by far be the biggest group.
Matthew 7:13-14 (Revised Standard Version) 13 "Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is easy, that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many.
14 For the gate is narrow and the way is hard, that leads to life, and those who find it are few.
This large group, with the many members will be blotted out totally and permanently.
Malachi 4:1
1 "For behold, the day comes, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble; the day that comes shall burn them up, says the LORD of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch.
After all this the group who will choose to follow God won't even entertain the idea of sin. They will have seen sin and what it leads to. This is the group that remained loyal to God in poverty and wealth, in sickness and health, those who could not be tempted away from loyalty to God by temporal gain, sensual or emotional gratification.
I Peter 1:7 (Bible in Worldwide English)
To believe is worth more than to have gold. Gold can spoil, but it is tested by fire to show that it is good. So troubles test you to prove that you believe. Then, because you really believe, you will be praised and made great and have honour when Jesus Christ comes again.
Nahum 1:9
9 What do you plot against Yahweh? He will make a full end. Affliction won't rise up the second time.

When all is said and done the status quo is what will reveal sin for what it really is and what it inevitably leads to. There will be not a shred of doubt in the minds of all those who inhabit the universe that God's way is best and that no one even comes close to knowing better than God does. Strange, people willingly put their destinies in the hands of democratically elected politicians, a profession extremely closely related to that of the con man, but are unwilling to trust an almighty and all knowing God. Freedom of choice will still exist, but nobody will be stupid enough to make the wrong choice again.

Yes, things are a bit hard on many, but what is an average lifetime of hardship (even if it is cut short in infancy by starvation) compared to an eternity of bliss? Again, it is a question of seeing the big picture and getting ones priorities right.

And that will be the end of sin. There will be no more disease, no more suffering, no more death, everything will go just unbelievably well for ever and ever.

If you still have questions, I may be able to help. Please e-mail me.