Why Does God Allow Evil In The World?

There is no wisdom nor understanding nor counsel against the LORD.  Proverbs 21:30

There is an answer

If God is omnibenevolent, why is there suffering in the world? If God is omnipotent and omniscient, why doesn’t He prevent and stop all evil in the world? If God is omnipresent, why is there pain, and suffering and evil in the world? GOD DOES NOT EXIST!

It is one of the arguments many non-believers in God make against the claim that God exists and is real and that it transcends the Universe. I must say, these are all questions any worldview must answer, and Christianity is not the only one compelled to answer them. Because the problem of evil and suffering still remains when God is removed from the picture. Therefore, my answer to many atheists is to return these questions and ask them If there is no God, why is there suffering in the world? As an atheist, it is illogical to blame God when the belief is that He does not exist. At the core, you may find the problem is not whether God exists or not. It is why there is suffering and evil in the world. However, no matter what answer is given, the objection will mostly be, GOD DOES NOT EXIST! Then, we are still left with the problem of evil and suffering, with no satisfactory answer. Or at least some attempts to answer them, such as Richard Dawkins said,

“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 that 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 pitiless indifference.” — Richard Dawkins, River Out of Eden (1995)

What does this mean? There is no explanation of why there is suffering and evil in the world from a naturalistic view. Suffering and evil exist, and it is neither moral nor immoral, nor just or unjust. And yet, it is a moral question, “Why is there evil and suffering?”, which believers and non-believers ask. Both seeking justice and comfort, and hope. Sadly, for the atheist, there is nothing. For the Christian, there is at least Christ, who suffered the cross and didn’t keep distant from pain. Therefore, in the Christian worldview, suffering is not nothing, but rather something real for which God provided more than hope, but eternal redemption. But I also think, before raising the question above the sun, we ought to look at what is under the sun. As many times, when I go out there to provide an answer to the many objections the world has against Christianity and God, suffering is produced. I find myself many times in the middle of swearing, mocking, being beaten with mean words and hysterical laughter. If humanity desires a world free of evil, why this behaviour? I am hurt in those situations, and I suffer. Therefore, why?

The point I am trying to make is that people persecute people, and suffering is not caused by God. The root of all evil is the sin which has corrupted the human being. Only in Christianity is there a solution for sin the evil, and suffering. God sending His only Son to suffer unjustly, providing humanity with the way out of suffering and escaping evil, is beyond our mere understanding. Yet, when no other worldview provides an answer to the evil and suffering, the only solution that is out there is rejected by laughing at it. Which logically does not make sense. Why have people lost their common sense? But I guess it is evidently even more, that sin has corrupted so much, that it goes deeper than we think. King David makes this argument so eloquently and clearly in Psalm 51, verse 5 “Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.” (KJV)

We ought to have a heart full of compassion towards the people actively rejecting God and Christ for whatever reason. May we train ourselves in prayer and submission to the Lord, so we can provide an answer to their questions and objections. An answer which will eventually bring them to the feet of our Saviour, Jesus Christ, the Son of God and God Himself.

Not against God

When the human was created in the image of God, free will was one of the characteristics which was given by God to man. Therefore, when the man chose to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, God did not stop the man. Because God didn’t build in the man only freewill, but a conscious to know how to use freewill. Moreover, God gave a specific command not to eat. Above all, it was evidence to trust in God and choose not to eat. What is more, God told Adam what would be the consequence if he ate: thou shalt surely die. (Genesis 2:7) Did the man become corrupted and evil after eating? We already know the answer. Did God retract his goodness and power, and knowledge from human existence?

This argument that because there is evil and suffering in the world, there is no God, is not against the existence of God, but for the existence of God. Taking the Bible account of human history and God’s intervention into it, from Genesis chapter 3, we can see God working against sin and evil and suffering, to redeem humans from the fallen and corrupt state. Yet, I cannot see God causing the evil or the suffering. I can see God’s heart being hurt and saddened by the depraved state the human has sadly achieved. I can see God calling to repentance and blessing abundantly each human who turns to Him.

I can see God’s intervention in punishing evil. When Cain murdered his brother Abel, Cain was punished for it in order to prevent any future evil. Later on, when the whole of humanity was in such a low state, “And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” (Genesis 6:5) God sent a great flood to wipe out all the evil in the world. There were only eight souls who found grace: Noah and his wife. His three sons and their wives. But it proved that this intervention did not solve the core issue: the sin.

Because there is evil does not make an argument against God’s character or existence. It actually provides the evidence that there is a God. Without blemish and remaining constant in his power, knowledge and presence in the Universe. It does not prove either that God is the author of evil; it rather proves that in the presence of evil, God kept His integrity and holiness. Even if we say that the man created by God became evil, it does not make God the cause of it. When God created all things, including the angels and the humans, they were all very good. God designed a perfect and sinless world in which free will and consciousness were built into humans and the angels. I kept thinking about these objections against God, yet I concluded that the existence of evil is not an argument against God. Throughout the Old Testament, God kept calling his people to come to Him. Yet they refused. God promised Christ since Genesis 3, and kept His promise, against all odds, despite the evil state the human has reached. Christ was given, and today we live in times when evil is thriving. Is the cross still powerful enough to overcome evil? Very much so! Just think about how murderers, drug and alcohol addicts, promiscuous individuals and many other examples, including myself, have been changed into good through the faith in Jesus.

The answer

Personally, I do not have an issue with the evil existing in the world, because I cannot do much about it. I can only stop myself from being evil. Of course, I can control as much, but with Christ living in me, much more is achieved. It is unimaginable to think, how the grace works in our lives and characters. Therefore, why does God allow evil? It is a question which we ask under the sun and are unable to raise it above the sun. God’s thoughts are not our thoughts, and his plans are not my plans. There is a limit which we can achieve, and beyond that is impossible to go because it is God’s realm. Does God allow for evil to happen? God was not taken by surprise when Adam and Eve ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. He is omniscient after all. I guess we have a pretty good reason why there is evil in the world; however, I think we ought to ask ourselves if we pose the right question. I would suggest another approach. Is there any evidence that God does something about evil?

One of the most important pieces of evidence would be the cross. Christ took upon Himself all the evil in the world, past and present and future. That is what sin is. It only produces evil works. Through His blood, all evil is blotted out and washed away. There was no other solution in order to spot the evil doing, but by becoming a human, leaving behind the Heavenly glories and upon His shoulders, the Son of God, took all the evil and paid the full price. So that whoever believes in Him, shall not perish – as a result of sin and its evil – but be redeemed into eternal life.

Therefore

God did not create Satan. God created Lucifer. God did not create the world we live in today. God created a perfect and sinless world. What we live in today is an abnormal world which was never intended for humanity. God is not the cause of evil in the Universe. But God became the solution to redeem humans from evil.

So, Why is evil allowed in the world?, does not diminish God, nor does it stand against Him being real. So far, no human has been able to stop any evil. Wars upon wars and countless battles have been fought in the name of peace. God came to be crushed under all humanity’s evil, but not destroyed or defeated. Because He is holy, He did not cause any evil; justice stood for God and against all the evil in the world. God already did something to stop and prevent any evil, through the death and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Whatever objections and arguments we may find against God, there is no wisdom nor understanding which can stand against Him, the Lord and almighty God.