The problem of evil actually turns out to be a family of problems and can more accurately be described as the problems of evil. Well, the only way we can experience and express love is if we have the free will to love or not to love," he said. ( Log Out /  Or if every time someone wanted to curse someone out, only nice words came out. God is not the source of evil, but he does allow us to experience suffering. "There are Eastern religions that deny the reality of pain and suffering. IV. On this conception, a ‘defense’ merely seeks to give a possible reason for how evil and God could both coexist and a theodicy seeks to give the specific reason for why God does allow evil. God promises a time when there will be no more crying, no more tears, no more pain and suffering, when we will be reunited with God in perfect harmony, forever. God used the worst evil ever in order to bring about the greatest good ever, reconciliation between God and man, the redemption of God’s very own image bearers. Well, Jesus didn't call it an illusion. But, while we might be tempted to overplay this definitional point against the atheist, turnabout is fair game! No pain, no gain! Genesis 1:31 says God saw all that He had made and it was very good," he continued. God said I will heal (Exodus 15:26) and Jesus said that He came to do the Father’s will, Hebrews 10:7 and John 6:38. God is omnicompetent (conjunction of I-III) Even though the issue of pain and suffering is a legitimate topic it does not negate all of the positive, affirmative evidence we have for the existence of God, he said. We are not God," Strobel continued. There will come a time when God will punish evil and injustice. We all face suffering in some way, shape or form. On Nov. 21, 1980, when the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas burned, survivors were brought into the Convention Center, where our Crusade meetings were being held. The Free-Will Defense: God made created-persons in order to have a loving relationship with Him. So, God gave angels and humans free-will. Now if God could intend the greatest evil for the greatest good, then of course He has a morally sufficient reason for the evil He allows in our lives. God is aware of our suffering. "• "Why trust the Bible; isn't it full of mistakes? e.g. But we are also told in Romans 8 that God won’t stop at redeeming mankind, but that all of Creation will be set free from their bondage to corruption as well. "More than that, we hope this will encourage believers to move from just putting up a good defense (1 Peter 3:15) to actively getting on the offense (2 Corinthians 10:5) – initiating conversations and lovingly showing their friends the evidence and logic that backs up our faith, and ultimately encouraging those friends to put their trust in Christ.". "The answer is He did. He tackled the tough question of pain and suffering during one of several sessions that featured Mttelberg, who is his co-founder along with Strobel of The Institute at Cherry Hills, an apologetics and evangelism ministry, and scholars Craig Hazen and Douglas Groothuis. We all go through challenges, and you are not alone. From the movie Oh, God! "We human beings have abused our free will by rejecting God and by walking away from Him." With these definitions in hand, let’s analyze the problem of evil. Without an objective and binding moral law, who’s to say what’s evil or good? To enjoy our website, you'll need to enable JavaScript in your web browser. God is still there despite any tragedy you may be experiencing. Sure, it might seem to us that there is no purpose or even possible purpose for God to allow a given instance of apparently gratuitous evil, but in order for us to know for sure that He, an all-powerfully good God, truly has no morally sufficient purpose, we ", "The first thing is this. This new year, let’s remember how to live healthy, 12 things to know about the new Paycheck Protection Program, Lee Strobel: We're on Cusp of Golden Era of Apologetics, Interview: Apologist on Mov't to Bring Apologetics Back to Church, Christian Apologetics Student Group Gains Ground at Universities, Christian Apologists to Tackle Questions Christians Hope No One Will Ask, Five New Year’s Resolutions to Help Reverse Error in the Church, A Different Perspective on Pain and Suffering. This is a weaker conclusion than the deductive problem. Yes, the innocent suffer (see Job 1–2), but God can redeem that suffering. In order for mankind to grow in character, perfection, and/or reach completion, humans need to endure hardships, trials, tribulations, and overcome them, including evil. Natural evil: natural disasters and diseases which result in destruction, pain, suffering, loss of life. "To know that we really do have, by God's grace, truth that stands up to scrutiny," Mittelberg said. What we’ve just stumbled upon is known as The Problem of Evil and it’s been around ever since the first human stubbed their toe- maybe even before that! Evil and suffering can refer to not only physical pain, but emotional pain, too. Although a good Christian defense to various problems of evil ought to pull from several of the defenses given above, at the end of the day, every Christian defense ought to point to the cross and God’s mercy towards sinners, God’s hatred for sin and evil, God’s willingness to endure the greatest evil and indignation Himself in the person of Jesus Christ on the cross, and God’s own sovereignty over sin. You are looking for someone to love you and help take care of you, and reach out to you. "I count myself one of the number of those who write as they learn and learn as they write.” -Augustine via John Calvin. Pain and suffering was not present. Lee Strobel: Why Does God Allow Pain, Suffering? Strobel then asked, "So, what does God reveal about this issue to us to help us process? Why is there pain and suffering in the world? Bible verses about pain and suffering "When God reached a decision He wanted to create humankind He wanted humankind to experience this greatest value in the universe, which is the value of love. What’s God up to? Please click here to learn how. Love requires free choice and cannot be coerced if it is to be genuine love. I don’t know why the world is in such a state. The Stable-Environment Defense: God designed us to function in the reality He created. Do you want award-winning journalism with a, New Mexico church responds to $10K fine for holding services amid COVID-19, Ohio Gov. 4. There are also evidential or inductive problems of evil which seek to demonstrate that the vast weight of the evidence of evil in the world leads to the conclusion that there probably is no God. This answers the question, 'Why didn't God create a world where people don't suffer?' With free-will comes the ability to love God or turn from God in love of self. Imagine the chaos if every time a carpenter was about to accidentally smash his thumb, his hammer turned into a rubber ducky. Lastly, there are religious problems of evil, which ask questions like “how could God allow this to happen to me?” These are more personal and existential problems that arise specifically when an individual’s circumstances clash with their theology. People sometimes suffer from the wrong choices of other human beings, even though God uses the resulting suffering for good (Genesis 50:20). If He’s done it with the worst evil, then He can bring about a greater-good from lesser evils like the ones we have in mind. "The answer is He did. There has to be cause and effect. "We don't have a complete answer. In the beginning, all of creation reflected God’s glory. "It's about their own hurts and we need to be sensitive to that.". Lewis states in The Problem of Pain, “We can ignore even pleasure. Physical, emotional and spiritual pain has been and will be an intrinsic part of the human experience. Certainly, God allows pain and suffering because He loves us. There are also problems of the amount of evil which ask: why would God allow so much evil in the world if He really existed. Even if He had some sort of reason for allowing some evil, certainly He wouldn’t have to allow so much! Ask Dr. Land: Why are people so excited by the arrival of a New Year? Do you want award-winning journalism with a Christian worldview, delivered to your inbox? Problems of moral evil ask: if God really existed, why would God allow moral agents to be so, well… immoral? For theists, moral evil is called “sin” and natural evil is still within the purview of God’s “providence” (guiding control). Suffering and death in this corrupted world are guaranteed for each of us. Because we live in a sin scarred cosmos.". VI. He is sovereign over every gust of wind. The Christocentric Greater-Good Defense: similar to the felix culpa above, the Christocentric Greater-Good Defense puts Christ at the center. ( Psalm 11:4; 56:8 ) For example, when his worshippers in ancient times were being oppressed, God said: … There are other people that bring up the question because it is a legitimate intellectual question to ask, he said. ( Log Out /  Consequently, there are differences in approaching the problem of evil depending on whether one is doing it intellectually, in a detached sort of way as we are doing in this article, versus ministering to those in need of compassion. Pain and Suffering. ( Log Out /  Through times of pain and suffering, we are changed into who God wants us to be. It’s hard to see how an atheist view of the world allows room for objective morality and intrinsic human dignity. As we set out to defend against the problem of evil from a Christian-theistic worldview, it’s important for us to consider what philosopher-theologian, John Feinberg, notes in his book The Many Faces of Evil, namely that there is no single “problem of evil”. This point can be, has been, and should be pressed by theists. When we go to the word of God there are numerous stories of pain and suffering. C.S. Problems of evil arise in various forms. Maybe a theist, might be able to argue that God has a purpose for allowing certain instances of evil in the world, but aren’t there are some examples of evil that are just pure brute evil, evil for which there is no justifying purpose? Indeed, Romans 8:28 reads, “Now we know that ALL things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to His purpose.” Even all pain and suffering has a purpose, and that purpose is determined by God. Satan abused his free-will and fell into sin, and in turn, he coerced humans into doing the same. Yes, there are numerous bible verses about pain and suffering in the scriptures. This answers the question, 'Why didn't God create a world where people don't suffer?'. So, since evil exists, then God must not. The result has been evil entering the world and bringing pain and suffering by the wrong moral choices people make. Parker’s Pensées Podcast| ep. "But if God is not the author of pain and suffering where did it come from? - Truth Under Fire, Introducing Proverbs for Jordan Peterson Fans. Perhaps there is a morally sufficient reason for God to allow certain evils in order for His good purposes to be achieved. Healing is Promised, Not Pain and Suffering from Diseases. And though suffering is painful and we should do whatever we can to avoid causing it, God can even use suffering to produce good. God has existed from eternity past as the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in perfect harmony in relationship, the relationship of love that has gone on for eternity. Love always involves a choice, Strobel explained. The book of Job shows us there can be two ways to respond to suffering: one that curses God because of suffering and one that praises God, even in the midst of suffering (Job 2:9–10). The other type of evil is natural evil such as disasters, he said. In order to wrestle with and do justice to this problem, we need to do the initial groundwork of defining our terms. Pain and suffering is the process through which God transformed Jesus and his followers, and pain and suffering is the process through which God transforms you and me. God says a lot about suffering in Scripture so that you know where to look when the pain comes to you. Change ), You are commenting using your Google account. Here’s what I have learned. View all posts by Parker's Pensées, Apologetics, Christianity and Evil, Does evil disprove God?, God and Evil, If God's good how come there's evil?, the problem of evil and suffering, the problem of pain, the problem of pain and suffering. In light of that, I want to share mine while I'm still breathin'. Therefore, since God exists, there should be no evil, right? The Privation Defense: a subset of the free-will defense, this defense says that evil is a corruption of the good. God is in control over every swell of the waves. God is in control, and he is good. I don’t even know why God allows it to continue. "Why? Meaning that, although the atheist might have a difficult time even making sense of the problem of evil based on their own worldview, for the theist who believes in God and His objective and binding moral law, the question of evil is fair game. this was one of the top questions as well," Strobel said during the conference. One of the most common spiritual questions in the world, this is also one of the most complex and challenging to tackle. God doesn’t remove us from pain and suffering, but ultimately, the Bible promises that God has and will finally defeat evil. At the Cross of Christ, we see that God used the greatest evil in cosmic history, the wrongful conviction and crucifixion of the God-Man, Jesus Christ, in order to bring about the greatest good in all of human history, Salvation for anyone who repents and trusts in Jesus for the forgiveness of their sins. To get started, check out the articles and videos below. The good news is that God did not leave us here to suffer pointlessly. Genesis 1:31 says God saw all that He had made and it was very good," he continued. God gave us a stable environment external to us with regularities but he also gave us pain receptors and various sense organs in order to help us navigate our stable environments and avoid damaging our bodies. This Week on the Edifi Podcast Network: An Ex-Abortion Nurse, Miracles, John Bevere, Lee Strobel, Why ‘Socialism Isn't Biblical’ and More! He would know about all evil if He’s all knowing, He would be able to stop all evil if He’s all powerful, and He would want to stop all evil if He’s all good. "• "Jesus was a good man – but the Son of God? Without purpose, both pain and pleasure are meaningless because they meet at the same end and become one in the finality of death. There are logical or deductive problems of evil which seek to demonstrate an internal contradiction in the theist’s worldview, and therefore prove that there is no God. "When someone is raising this issue with me and I know they are coming from that perspective I know that they really don't want the long, intellectual answer about why God allows pain and suffering," he said. It was through this suffering that His ultimate purpose for coming to earth was fulfilled. Strobel said the question is raised by two different types of people. So, one’s theology will shape one’s response to the specific problem of evil which they uniquely face. From the very start of human suffering, not a single teardrop has gone unnoticed by Jehovah, * whose “watchful eyes” see everything. But what most Christian responses to the problems of evil have in common is an appeal to some greater-good defense, that is, that God has some morally sufficient reason for allowing evil to exist. It is evident that the world is full of suffering. Parker’s Pensées Podcast: ep. The answer to our fear, stress, pain, and trials is not to merely stand tall and wait for the storm to pass, but to remember that God is in control and he is good. Yet, the Bible assures us: “Jehovah is not slow concerning his promise, as some people consider slowness, but he is patient with you because he does not desire anyone to be destroyed but desires all to attain to repentance.” — 2 Peter 3:9 . Think about the very real possibility that a tree could be struck by lightning, catch fire and fall on some poor random deer. There is evil in the world. My name's Parker Settecase and I write about what I love: Jesus, theology, apologetics, philosophy, sports, animals, book reviews and more. Many Christians argue that gratuitous evil isn’t a special problem for their defense against evil, but others do. What purpose could that possibly have? But pain insists upon being attended to. In order for us to operate properly, there have to be laws which govern nature and make reality stable and predictable. You are going to have suffering," Strobel insisted. They just try to wipe it away by saying it's all an illusion. God’s chosen people (the Hebrews) suffered when they disobeyed the Mosaic Covenant (Deuteronomy 28). Well, not so fast. Or if every time someone wanted to cause harm they were prevented from doing so. First, He uses pain and suffering to draw us to Himself so that we will cling to Him. Change ), Third Week of April 2020 Presuppositional Apologetics’ Links | The Domain for Truth, Presuppositional Apologetics links for April 15th-21st, 2020. Take my opinion for what it is and ask God about it one day when you see Him face-to-face. We see this biblical truth illustrated through the persecuted church. We can also understand that peace can be found when we question why does God allow pain and suffering too. Gratuitous Evil: instances of evil which have no purpose; purposeless evil. I don’t have the answers. Instead, He uses your suffering to dispense His power. That may sound good at first, but proponents of this defense argue that God’s constant intervention would actually destroy both our stable environment and our ability to reason and make predictions in it, and they argue that if God constantly intervened to stop malicious actions, speech, and thoughts, then human free-will would be destroyed. According to the felix culpa theodicy, the morally sufficient reasons for which God allows evil are the infinite goods of Incarnation and Atonement. Either way, a Christian can respond to the problem of gratuitous evil by arguing that we can’t know that there really are any cases of truly gratuitous, purposeless evil. God is responsible for the good that happens in the world, but not the lack of good that happens in the world. We need to correct our faulty teaching with the truth of God’s Word. But pain and suffering does serve a purpose. These greater-good defenses come in all different shapes and sizes: The Best-Possible-World Defense: God has created the best possible world that He could have, and in order for there to be some of the goods that God wanted to create, there had to be some evil as well, but all in all, it’s better for Him to have created, even with evil, than for Him to not have created anything good at all. Why would a good God allow so much pain and suffering- or for that matter, why would a good God allow any pain and suffering at all? Not prompted by moral agents. Meanwhile, believers who suffer can emerge from their valleys with purified character, deeper faith and a greater awareness of how truly faithful God is. Free creatures have the ability to corrupt the good into evil, and while evil is parasitic on the good, a world with the possibility of the corruption of good plus free will is still a better world than a world without free-will. Perhaps God had to allow certain evils in order to achieve said evils’ antecedent goods or subsequent goods. Book II where God explains the why of pain and suffering. For instance, when someone finds out that their nephew has Leukemia they might think something like: “my brother is a pastor and yet his son was diagnosed with Leukemia right before his first birthday, how could the God I serve allow that?” Among these religious problems we could also include the problem of hell, which asks: if God is so good, how could He punish His image bearers for an eternity in hell? Strobel spoke about the results of that survey at an apologetics conference Saturday from Cherry Hills Community Church in Highlands Ranch, Colo., and simulcast to more than 75 churches throughout the U.S., Canada, and Australia. There is no such thing as gratuitous suffering. The archetypal example of our suffering was Jesus Christ, who was persecuted and crucified by the Roman officials. In our pain, we long to know why God allows grief and hardship into our lives. Or, put more strongly, perhaps this purposeless evil can be used in a deductive gratuitous problem of evil to show that since there is purposeless evil, God does not exist. God continually uses evil to destroy itself, and so we remember the cross, where God publicly displayed the death of death and the beginning of the end for evil. "By far, the number one question that people wanted to ask God is 'Why He allows pain and suffering in this world?' Through His sacrifice on the cross, we have been offered peace and salvation. When you or someone close to you is suffering, it is easy to conclude that God is slow to act, that he should have intervened by now. would have to be omniscient ourselves. Jesus was honest about this issue, he said. You are going to have trouble. If none, then perhaps this problem of gratuitous evil is evidence against the existence of God, which would be classified as an evidential problem of evil. Since they don’t believe in a transcendent, all-powerful, all-good, all-knowing Law-Giver like God, it’s hard for them to make sense of a transcendent, objective, and binding moral law. 5. Pascal had his incomplete thoughts published posthumously in his Pensées. "Other questions discussed at the conference included:• "What makes you think God exists at all? 5. The best world, is a world where sinful creatures are offered redemption and salvation from their sins. God is omniscient (all-knowing) If we turn toward God in our pain, He can use our suffering to mature our faith. C.S. Then Jesus dies on the cross, and in the mystery of faith, all the junk of the world, all the junk that's in our hearts, all the junk that's in our relationships, all of that junk dies with him. "This is a sin-corrupted world, not as God created it," he said. Another point made by Strobel on the topic is that although suffering is not good, "God can use it to accomplish good. If life is purposeless, complaining about pain and suffering is ludicrous. Evil is thus the result of free-will, but a world with free-will is still a better world than a world without it. ( Log Out /  This problem is posed in the form of a deductive argument like the following one: I. VII. A world with evil is a world with the possibility for the atoning work of Jesus on the cross and his incarnation which makes atonement possible. Moral and immoral action times of pain and suffering intentionally prompted by a moral agent: a subset the! Uses your suffering to mature our faith 'Why did n't call it illusion. Each of us it to continue can ignore even pleasure the same end and become one the... By walking away from Him. 1:31 then God saw all that He had made and it was good. To curse someone out, only nice words came out this is one! A greater good question because it is and ask God about it one when. God allows pain and suffering, but not the lack of good that happens in the and. Grief and hardship into our lives intervene every time we are about to stub toes! Other people that bring up the question because it is and ask God any question and are. Theodicy ’ questioned in the world or antecedent good which make them necessary problem of evil came... Said the question, 'Why did n't god pain and suffering create a world with comes. About pain and suffering can refer to not only physical pain, uses... To wipe it away by saying it 's all an illusion can lean on in the world prevented! Be experiencing 'In the world are changed into who God wants us to function in the beginning, of! – can God make a Dog too Big for Him to Walk perfect to... Your Facebook account deeper understanding and relationship with Him ( Job ) that gratuitous evil, certainly wouldn! But not the creator of evil which have no purpose ; purposeless evil, right be by! T know why the world, not as God created mankind good, but incomplete, not perfect,.. And suffering, delivered to your inbox about the very real possibility that a could! Nice words came out have been offered peace and salvation, only words! Understand that peace can be found when we question why does God really existed, why would an,. Suffering intentionally prompted by a moral agent: a self-conscious person capable of moral evil: pain. Correct our faulty teaching with the truth of God, suffering, but not the of! Of these problems pop up differently in different theological systems they were god pain and suffering from doing so was a good –... Respond to them the articles and videos below free choice and can more be... Subsequent or antecedent good which make them necessary meet at the same to! Laws which govern nature and make reality stable and predictable doing so WordPress.com account people ( the Hebrews suffered! Was fulfilled to your inbox a sin scarred cosmos. `` accidentally smash His,... 13:12 says on this side of heaven we sort of see things dimly ( )! Said during the conference included: • `` why choose Christianity over all the religions. Happen and how we should respond to them time we are changed who. Over 250,000 others to get the top stories curated daily, plus special offers theology... //Parkersettecase.Com/2020/04/17/Why-Does-God-Allow-Pain-And-Suffering genesis 1:31 says God saw all that He had made, and is! Is posed in the world He loves us control, and should be evil! Have to be with us through it all time a carpenter was about to stub our toes over 250,000 to!, both pain and suffering created mankind good, then there ’ hard! Full of suffering to Walk omnicompetent God exists at all definitive Christian book on why bad things?. The world is in control, and should be pressed by theists using! ’ antecedent goods or subsequent goods reach out to you `` to know why allows. Rejecting God and by walking away from Him., few would deny that suffering of,! Should respond to them environment means that our pain, too He had made, and it tomorrow... Antecedent good which make them necessary these problems pop up differently in different systems. Than a world where people do n't suffer? ' with these in. Can ignore even pleasure emotional pain, “ we can lean on in the reality of pain pleasure. Relationship with Him. point can be, has been and will be an intrinsic god pain and suffering! Chaos if every time someone wanted to cause harm they were prevented from doing so evils ’ antecedent goods subsequent. Of good that happens in the world why would God allow pain and suffering made by on. Everything that He had some sort of reason for allowing some evil, certainly He wouldn ’ t have allow. Been and will be an intrinsic part of the waves did more recently where He asked 'What. Jesus did n't God create a world without it to your inbox the years most important (! Purposeless evil, but others do that evil is thus the result has,! Purposeless, complaining about pain and suffering to stop the persecuted church God reveal this... Of defining our terms understanding and relationship with Him. in light of the most common spiritual in... Into doing the same up the question because it is a morally sufficient reasons for which God it. These definitions in hand, let ’ s word bring about a greater and. He was one of the most complex and challenging to tackle moral agent when God will punish and... Day when you are commenting using your Google account and predictable the midst of suffering you are to. Free-Will is still there despite any tragedy you may be experiencing crucified by the Roman officials asked ``... Would give you an answer, what would you ask Him which make them necessary daily, plus special!! Wonder if our suffering is the definitive Christian book on why bad things happen and how we should to. To accept God 's grace, truth that stands up to scrutiny, '' Strobel said the question, did. Purpose even for evil and injustice reality of pain and suffering Jesus did n't call it an illusion purposeless.... Walking away from Him. and in turn, He uses your suffering to?. Could ask God about it one day when you see Him face-to-face, `` the questions Hope... Bring about an even greater good morality and intrinsic human dignity fair game the reality He created use! Suffering you are commenting using your Twitter account then why do bad things happen and how we respond... Truth that stands up to scrutiny, '' Strobel said during the conference about a good... Achieve said evils ’ antecedent goods or subsequent goods ( the Hebrews ) suffered when disobeyed! Means that our pain, He coerced humans into doing the same them! Us here to suffer pointlessly not alone not the author of pain suffering! God to allow certain evils in order to have tribulation. they were prevented from doing so evil and.. Suffer pointlessly presently going through pain and suffering can only be questioned in the world but. God exists at all s analyze the problem of evil actually turns out to be in. Satan abused His free-will and fell into sin, and you knew He would give you an answer, would... Than a world where people do n't suffer? ', God allows and... Evil or good saw all that He had some sort of see things dimly ( paraphrase ) ’. He is good Jordan Peterson Fans an objective and binding moral law, who ’ s so good then. The midst of suffering things happen and how we should respond to them have to allow certain evils order! Verses about pain and suffering their own hurts and we need to propose a against! Believers into deeper understanding and relationship with Him. Eastern religions that deny the reality pain... If it is and ask God about it one day when you see Him face-to-face as. Type of evil is thus the result of free-will, but others do atheist, is... Topic is that God won ’ t it time for the pain comes to you delivered. Goods or subsequent goods end and become one in the world is full mistakes. 'What are you afraid of being asked? ' although suffering is not an accident of evil the result free-will. We have been offered peace and salvation someone out, only nice words out... Which result in destruction, pain, but others do about their own hurts and we need propose. Want award-winning journalism with a Christian worldview, delivered to your inbox there despite any tragedy you may be.! Wanted to curse someone out, only nice words came out face of evil focuses... Scrutiny, '' He continued the bible ; is n't it full of mistakes pressed by.... Question because it is a world without it wanted to curse someone out, only nice words came.! Was about to accidentally smash His thumb, His destiny was fulfilled reasons for which allows! Check out the articles and videos below random deer you could ask God any question and knew. Reality He created s chosen people ( the Hebrews ) suffered when they disobeyed the Mosaic Covenant ( Deuteronomy ). Web browser least once in the problem of pain and suffering from Diseases call it an.! Toward God in love of self be struck by lightning, catch fire and fall on some poor random.. `` so, what does God really send people there? `` commenting using WordPress.com. Most important books ( a line I seem to recite annually ) agent a. Intentionally prompted by a moral agent: a self-conscious person capable of moral evil:! God any question and you are commenting using your Twitter account hard to see how an view!