EvilEvil. If God were all powerful, He could destroy evil If God were all good, He would want to...

Evil

Deliver Us From

• If God were all powerful, He could destroy evil

• If God were all good, He would want to destroy evil

• But evil is not destroyed

• Therefore, an all-powerful and all-good God does not exist

- J. S. Mill

“Is He willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then He is impotent. Is He able, but not

willing? Then He is malevolent. Is He both able and willing? Whence then is evil?” –

David Hume

“But our God is in the heavens; He does whatever He pleases. ” (Psalm 115:3)

“‘Ah Lord God! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and by Your outstretched arm! Nothing is too

difficult for You, ” (Jeremiah 32:17)

“The Lord our God is righteous with respect to all His deeds which He has done” (Daniel 9:14)

“For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor

height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. ”

(Romans 8:38–39)

the·od·i·cyA vindication of the divine attributes, particularly holiness and justice, in establishing or allowing

the existence of physical and moral evil.

The Problem of Evil and God

Evil?

What is

Evil is a privation or

corruption that exists in

something that was originally

good and perfect.

- Augustine

Evil is signified by the absence

of good. - Thomas

Aquinas

Darkness is the absence of light

Sickness is the absence of health

Hate is the absence of love

“This doesn’t mean it’s in any way nebulous or vague or not to be worried about. If

there is a hole in the road where I expected solid

stone, the fact that there is ‘nothing there’ is very dangerous whether I’m

walking, cycling, or driving a car. The fact that a rung is missing halfway down the

ladder into the basement is neither nebulous nor vague

when I’m feeling my way around in the dark. Evil is

then the moral and spiritual equivalent of a black hole.”

- N. T. Wright

www.confidentchristians.org

“The good man brings out of his good treasure what is good; and the evil man brings out of his evil treasure what is evil. ” (Matthew 12:35)

ponēros

Word Study - Evil

① Morally or socially worthless② wicked, evil, bad, base, worthless, vicious, degenerate③ deficient in quality in a physical sense; being in an unhealthy condition physicallyArndt, W., Danker, F. W., & Bauer, W. (2000). A Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament and other early Christian literature.

Greek Meaning

Interpretation & Application

All definitions of the term point to something that has lost is value; there appears to be nothing of worth; nothing to redeem. Part of the word meaning implies a sickness, much like a malignancy that has attached itself to something of worth and is destroying it. Scripture warns many times for a person not to be overtaken and overrun by evil, else it will destroy what goodness is there and leave the person

in a state of total destitution.


Evil cannot exist on its own

Just as rust on a car cannot exist

without the car or rot on a tree cannot

exist without the tree, evil cannot

exist by itself. Like a wound, it can only exist in something

else.


Evil?

What are the Types of


Two broad types of evil

1. Moral evil - manifests itself in the way humans choose or choose not to do something

2. Natural evil - realized through natural disasters and human disease and sickness


Moral Evil

“When the chips are

down these civilized

people … they’ll eat

each other!”


the privation that causes moral evil

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. ”

(Galatians 5:22–23)


Natural Evil

“For the creation was subjected to futility, not

willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also will be

set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of

the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and

suffers the pains of childbirth together until now.”(Romans 8:20-22)

Notice how the world has been ‘corrupted’ because of sin.


Evil?

Did God Create


“A good tree cannot produce

bad fruit” (Matthew 7:18)


•God created every substance.•Evil is not a substance (but a privation in a substance).•Therefore, God did not create evil.


•God is perfect.•An effect must resemble its cause.• Evil is an imperfection•Therefore, God could not have caused evil.


The Problem of Pantheism & Evil

Pantheism says all is God (‘pan’=all,

‘theism’=God). But if all is God, that ‘all’ must include

evil. This equates to the conclusion of God having evil in

His being.


God Creating Evil…?

“I am the Lord, and there is none else. I form the

light, and create darkness: I make peace,

and create evil: I the Lord do all these things. ” (Isaiah 45:6–7, KJV)

The verse seems pretty clear that God does

create evil…


God Creating Evil…?Knowing the various literary

techniques used in the Bible helps solve this problem. This is a case of antithetic parallelism; the first is set

against the second. What is the opposite of light? Darkness. But

what is the opposite of peace? Evil? No. This leads us to consider that the KJV has a poor rendering of the Hebrew word ‘רע’. The NASB and other versions properly render the

word in this verse ‘calamity:

“I am the LORD, and there is no other, The One forming light and creating darkness, Causing well-

being [peace] and creating calamity; I am the LORD who does

all these. ” (Isaiah 45:6–7)


Another Problem…

“I am the LORD, and there is no other, The One forming

light and creating darkness, Causing well-being and

creating calamity; I am the LORD who does all these. ”

(Isaiah 45:6–7)

If darkness is the absence of light and evil is the absence of something, then the verse

still says God created evil (darkness).


Aquinas Tries to Help…

“Not every absence of good is evil. For absence of good can be taken (1) in a privative and (2) negative

sense. Absence of good, taken negatively, is not evil; otherwise it would follow that what does not

exist is evil, and also that everything would be evil, through not having the good belonging to

something else; for instance, a man would be evil who had not the

swiftness of the roe, or the strength of a lion. But the absence of good,

taken in a privative sense, is an evil; as, for instance, the privation of

sight is called blindness…” - Thomas Aquinas

But … let’s look at these next examples


But we Still Have a Problem…We have this from Exodus in God’s

discussion with Moses:

“The Lord said to him, “Who has made man’s mouth? Or who makes

him mute or deaf, or seeing or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? ” (Exodus

4:11)

And this from Job:

“The Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one like him on the

earth, a blameless and upright man fearing God and turning away from

evil. And he still holds fast his integrity, although you incited Me against him to ruin him without

cause.” ” (Job 2:3)


… which leads to more insight

“As He passed by, He saw a man blind from birth. And His disciples asked Him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or

his parents, that he would be born blind?” Jesus answered, “It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents; but it was so that the works of God might be

displayed in him. ” (John 9:1–3)

Behind this man’s blindness was a purpose – to glorify God. God is sovereign over everything, including this

man’s blindness, so while an absence of good existed, it existed for a higher purpose than mere sight alone.


Darkness can have a purpose

“He made the moon for the seasons; The sun knows the place of its

setting. You appoint darkness and it becomes night, In which all the

beasts of the forest prowl about. The young lions roar after their prey And seek their food from God. When the

sun rises they withdraw And lie down in their dens. Man goes forth to his

work And to his labor until evening. ” (Psalm 104:19–23)

“He sent darkness and made it dark; And they did not rebel against His words. He turned their waters into

blood And caused their fish to die. ” (Psalm 105:28–29)


Evil is a violation of God’s purpose.

- Ravi Zacharias


A More complete definition of Evil

Evil is an absence of good, resulting in a violation of God’s

purpose.

A mere absence of good is not evil as Aquinas points out, however it cannot be defined to just be an

absence in something that should be present by default. God,

through His own good purpose, may will such a privation to bring

about a greater good.


• An Omnibenevolent God has a good purpose for everything

• There is some evil for which we see no good purpose

• Therefore, there is a good purpose for all evil, even if we do not see it

- Norman Geisler


“The Lord has made everything for its own purpose, Even the wicked for the

day of evil. ” (Proverbs 16:4)


No Good or Evil in Atheism?

“Humans have always wondered about the

meaning of life...life has no higher purpose than

to perpetuate the survival of DNA...life has no design, no purpose, no evil and no good,

nothing but blind pitiless indifference.”

- Richard Dawkins


No Good or Evil in Atheism?

If there’s such a thing as evil, you assume there’s such a thing as good.

If you assume there’s such a thing as good, you assume there’s such a thing as an absolute and unchanging moral

law on the basis of which to differentiate between good and evil.

If you assume there’s such a thing as an absolute moral law, you must posit an absolute moral law giver, but that

would be God – the one whom the atheist is trying to disprove.

So now rewind: if there’s not a moral law giver, there’s no moral law. If there’s no moral law, there’s no good. If

there’s no good, there’s no evil.


“The problem of evil, for instance, can hardly be

separated from the problem of goodness. Were there no

goodness in the world, we would not even be considering the

problem of evil. It is a strange thing. Dozens of times I have

been asked by patients or acquaintances: ‘Dr. Peck, why is there evil in the world?’ Yet no one has ever asked me in all

these years: ‘Why is there good in the world?’ It is as if we

automatically assume this is a naturally good world that has

somehow been contaminated by

evil.” - M. Scott PeckPeople of the Lie


No ‘Good’ or ‘Purpose’ in Atheism

You cannot define good without defining ‘purpose’

You cannot define purpose without defining ‘cause’

The atheist’s /philosophical naturalist’s worldview has no ultimate purpose or cause behind anything, therefore they have no way of

determining good.


“Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven. ” (Matthew 5:16)

kalos

Word Study - Good

① pert. to being in accordance at a high level w. the purpose of someth. or someone, good, useful. ② free from defects

Arndt, W., Danker, F. W., & Bauer, W. (2000). A Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament and other early Christian literature.

Greek Meaning

Interpretation & Application

Again, you cannot call something bad without knowing what good is. And ‘good’, as defined in God’s Word, corresponds both to purpose (God’s) and speaks to their being no ‘lack’ in the object in question. Both (purpose and completeness) are embodied in this statement from James: “And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you

may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. ” (James 1:4)


Evil?

Whence came


“God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good [no

privation]. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day. ”

(Genesis 1:31)


The first Acts of Evil

“You were the anointed cherub who covers, And I placed you there. You were on the holy mountain of God; You walked in the midst of the

stones of fire. “You were blameless in your ways From the day you were created Until unrighteousness was found in you. “By the

abundance of your trade You were internally filled with violence, And you sinned; Therefore I have cast you as profane From the mountain of God. And I have destroyed you, O covering cherub, From the midst

of the stones of fire. ” (Ezekiel 28:14–16)

“And his tail swept away a third of the stars of heaven ” (Revelation 12:4)

“When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her

husband with her, and he ate. ” (Genesis 3:6)


The Root Cause of Evil

Every drop of evil – both moral and natural – can be traced back to one thing: the misuse of freedom. God

Himself is free, and He created free creatures. Freedom is a very good thing, however freedom allows the ability to

act contrary to the good purpose of God. This is what Satan and Adam/Eve did.


Defining ‘Cause’

What ‘caused’ evil? There are three possible options:

1. Determinism: something outside of Satan/man caused them to sin. Ultimately this would have to be traced back to God. But God is perfect, cannot sin, and does not tempt anyone to sin (cf. James 1:13)

2. Indeterminism: nothing caused evil; it just arose. Impossible because God will not hold a being accountable for something that just ‘happened’; no accountability without responsibility

3. Self-determinism: the evil in Satan and man was self-caused.


Evil?

Conclusions Regarding


Conclusions

• The attempt to reconcile an all-good and all-powerful God with the reality of evil is called a theodicy

• Evil is an absence of good, resulting in a violation of God’s good purpose

• The two major types of evil are moral evil and natural evil

• God did not create evil but created the possibility for it• The root cause of evil can be traced back to the misuse

of a very good thing – free will• Evil came about from the self-determined actions of

creatures created with free will


Evil

Deliver Us From

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