For many today and throughout history, the problem of evil has presented a serious objection to the Christian faith. Atheists often argue against God’s existence for the problem of evil, while brilliant philosophers have concluded that this problem conclusively refutes belief in a loving, gracious God. But you don’t have to be an atheist or even a philosopher to feel some great distress when addressing this problem. Ordinary people deal with this problem on a regular basis when a loved one is going through terrible suffering. At such times the “problem of evil” is not so much a learned argument as it is a simple cry of the heart, “How could a loving God allow this?” Even though the philosopher states the problem in precise vocabulary he doesn’t state the problem any better and tends to loose the heart cry of ordinary people who long for a more simple answer. People who are faced with such great calamity often have an automatic reflex that says, “How could a loving God allow this?” So you see not only unbelievers that ask this difficult question, believers do too. There is almost something universal in this deep cry of the heart.
Is there an answer to the problem of evil? John Frame says it depends on what you mean by “answer” and what kind of “answer” are you willing to accept? If a person searches for an answer to where evil came from and how it arose and how it achieves God’s good purposes, he says, “that is the type of answer that is not available to human beings and God is not under any obligation to give us such an answer.” So this answer must simply be an encouragement to go on trusting an all-good, all-powerful, and all-wise God even while there is unexplained evil in the world He created.
It is probably no surprise in what position I would take concerning the problem of evil. I take the biblical one. The one that exalts God all the all-good, all powerful and all-wise glorious Creator who accomplishes all things for the pleasure of His own will (Ephesians 1:5). When a person believes, with the Heidelberg Catechism (Question 27), that “the almighty and everywhere present power of God…upholds heaven and earth, with all creatures, and so governs them that herbs and grass, rain and drought, fruitful and barren years, meat and drink, health and sickness, riches and poverty, yea, all things, come not by chance, but by His fatherly hand” – when a person believes and cherishes that truth, he has the key to a God-centered worldview that will supply the right answer to the problem of evil.
We are not in a position to ask the question, “Why did God willingly choose to allow evil into the universe?” “How is this consistent with His love and holiness?” I will argue as follows: If God is all powerful, He could allow evil without being guilty of evil Himself, and He could make evil work for the greatest good; therefore we have great reason to praise God! There are two errors that must be avoided when discussing the problem of evil. The first error would be to believe that God is the source of evil. This would be in itself blasphemy. It would conclude that out of the nature of God evil was created and it was therefore, produced by God. The second error believes that evil occurred apart from God’s sovereign plan. The position the Scriptures seem to teach is that mankind is to be blamed for and is the source of evil which occurred at the fall with the sin of Adam and Eve, while nonetheless the entrance of evil into the universe was ordained by God as part of His plan from the beginning. It would have been easy for God to prevent evil from entering into His universe had He desired to, but He chose not to prevent it for wise and holy reasons.
Filed under: John Frame, The Problem of Evil and the Glory of God
