Why Is There Evil in the World?

John 3:16. "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."

The question of why God who is good would allow evil in the world has been the subject of numerous books and an untold number of discussions. There is no simple answer, but there are points to be considered. Several of these are summarized below, and some quotes are taken from C.S. Lewis and Tim Keller. Take some time to reflect on these. Some speak to the heart, and some to the head. Hopefully they will help you understand this complex topic.

– The innate sense in humans that there is good and evil, and right and wrong argues for the existence of God; else we would be content with a “survival of the fittest” view which is characteristic of the animal kingdom.

– God’s “divine goodness” and love are far above what we can comprehend. “Love may cause pain to its object, but only on the supposition that that object needs alteration to become fully lovable… We have used our free will to become very bad.” (Lewis) We all have heard stories of how a profound illness, broken relationship, death of a loved one, or other “bad” thing drew someone closer to God. “Though none of these people are grateful for the tragedies themselves, they would not trade the insight, character, and strength they had gotten from them for anything. With time and perspective most of us can see the good reasons for at least some of the tragedy and pain that occurs in life. Why couldn’t it be possible that, from God’s vantage point, there are good reasons for all of them?” (Keller) We should not be surprised that the cure may be painful given the extent of our sickness. God’s standard is love – perfect love.

– Most evil is caused by people, either directly or indirectly (we could have used the trillions of dollars we have spent on wars to find cures to diseases and protect people from natural disasters). “When souls become wicked they will hurt one another; and this, perhaps, accounts for four-fifths of the sufferings of men. It is men, not God, who have produced racks, whips, prisons, slavery, guns, bayonets, and bombs; it is by human avarice or human stupidity, not by the churlishness of nature, that we have poverty.” (Lewis)

– The depth of our suffering on earth makes our eventual experience in heaven all the greater. “The biblical view of things is resurrection – not a future that is just a consolation for the life we never had but a restoration of the life you always wanted. This means that every horrible thing that ever happened will not only be undone and repaired but will in some way make the eventual glory and joy even greater.” (Keller)

– God understands our suffering. He allowed his son Jesus to suffer in order to justify us and enable us to establish a right relationship with himself. He cares for us and comforts us when we go through hard times. While he allows suffering to occur, he understands that we struggle when we suffer and he loves us through it.