By Nick Brzozowski
If God had a website and an FAQ page, I know which question would show up at the top. For thousands of years, people have been grappling with this particular challenge to faith, especially Christianity.
The question could be stated this way: “If God is all-powerful, all-good and all-knowing, then why is there suffering and evil?”
The question could be stated this way: “If God is all-powerful, all-good and all-knowing, then why is there suffering and evil?”
Pretty quickly, you can see the apparent logical impossibility of God holding these three attributes while there is the existence of suffering. An all-powerful God is able to stop suffering. An all-knowing God is aware of all suffering. An all-good God wants to stop suffering. Then, why is there so much pain and evil and suffering — even hell? Either God isn’t all he’s cracked up to be, or there is no God.
Not only does this question carry a logical load, but it is deeply personal and emotional. Philosophers, sipping their afternoon tea, are not the only ones grappling with this challenge. This is also a question for the son whose prayers for his dad to survive cancer seemed to fall on deaf ears. It is a question for the woman who discovered her husband’s affair had been lasting for years. It is a question that a dazed and confused, post-COVID world asks.
It is the question I had to face when I was in middle school, attending my 19-year-old cousin's funeral, after dying of a drug overdose. There are few times in my life when I stepped into a room so devoid of hope, where everyone questioned if there could be a good God out there.
So, the chances are good that this question has crossed your mind a time or two. In this post, I will provide three of my favorite responses to what has been traditionally called, the Problem of Evil. May God give you wisdom and comfort as you explore this difficult challenge.
Philosophers, sipping their afternoon tea, are not the only ones grappling with this challenge. This is also a question for the son whose prayers for his dad to survive cancer appeared to fall on deaf ears.
Response 1: The Greater Good Defense
A surgeon may cause more trauma to the patient in order to restore them. In a nutshell, that is the Greater Good Defense. God does not allow evil, flippantly. Rather, evil and suffering are necessary to bring about a better world.
Within the Greater Good Defense, there are multiple versions. We are going to explore three that I find to be the most compelling. Afterwards, we will address one objection for this defense.
Version 1: The Free Will Defense
This might be the most popular response to the Problem of Evil. When God created humanity, he made us with the ability to do right and wrong. Our own personal agency is a gift from God, that has come with some devastating consequences.
After Adam and Eve committed the first act of rebellion against God, there was a chain reaction that cursed the ground. Now, all of creation groans for God to bring restoration.
Having the choice to love God or reject him may be humanity’s greatest dignity. It is also the cause for humanity’s greatest fall.
Now, some theologians will reject this defense because it leans too heavily on our free will. Theologians have been debating for hundreds and hundred of years the question of free will. In what way are we free? And if God is sovereign over everything, how much freedom does that leave us?
Romans 9 may be the most shocking of chapters in the entire Bible, where Paul makes a case for why God would reject some people opposed to others. He uses the analogy of a potter and clay to argue that we have no real standing to question God. He is the Creator and has the right to do whatever he deems right.
All that to say, the Free Will Defense does not stand alone.
Having the choice to love God or reject him may be humanity’s greatest dignity. It is also the cause for humanity’s greatest fall.
Version 2: The Soul Making Defense
This version of the Greater Good Defense may be the most intuitive. Just reflect on your life. What are the circumstances and events that have caused you to grow the most? Were they comfortable and pleasant?
Of course they weren’t. The achievements that you are most proud of are the ones that were the most difficult to attain. Mustering the courage to ask that her out on a date. Completing an exhausting semester. Doing five more push-ups. Reading one more book. Making ten more calls. Pain is the number one ingredient for our growth.
In his book, Leadership Pain, Samuel Chand puts it like this: “Pain is a part of progress. Anything that grows experiences some pain. If I avoid all pain, I’m avoiding growth.”
Later in his book, he shares how our lives are like keys. Starting out, there is no cut. But, the problem is that it doesn't function very well without a cut. Rather, it is the cuts in life that shape us into people who are prepared to open doors.
That is why James challenges us to "consider it an opportunity for great joy" when trials come our way.
Rather, it is the cuts in life that shape us into people who are prepared to open doors.
In fact, pain is the only teacher that I know of that Jesus needed.
Still, some would argue that soul-making isn’t a knock-down defense. Hank Green argues that if the intentions of suffering are to grow us in our character and competence, then that still doesn't explain the severity of the pain that is inflicted on us. Famine, war, tsunamis. Couldn't a little heartburn or diarrhea do the trick?
All that to say, the Soul Making Defense does not stand alone.
Version 3: Second Order Goods
Everyone loves second orders. Extra fries. Extra grilled chicken on your burrito. Extra whipped cream. Some of the best things in life are extra.
But, seriously, could it be that there really is enough good to justify all of the moral and natural evil in the world?
Some of the best things in life are extra.
I remember my professor warning us about praying for patience. What do you think God is going to do, zap you into a more patient person? No, he is going to use people to test your patience.
In the same way, there is no compassion without deep hurt.
There is something inside of our consciousness as a society that longs for justice. The righting of wrongs. The reversing of hundreds of years of oppression. And when we see glimpses of justice, it is so gratifying that it almost feels as though justice itself is a gift. But, there is no justice without injustice. The glory of the righting of wrongs would never exist if it were not for wrongs.
In Hamilton, I get choked up every time I hear the song