You could spend a lifetime exploring this topic and never reach a fully satisfying conclusion. That doesn’t mean it’s not worth some contemplation.
In this week’s issue, I want to provide resources on why we see things like murder happen in a world where God is in control.
Perspectives include:
A. We don't know because we only see a fraction of the full picture. Only God sees everything.
B. God allows us to have free will at the cost we will choose to do bad or good things.
C. In order to declare something good or evil you need to rely on a moral law given to you by a law giver. No moral law giver technically means good and evil do not exist. Evil’s existence is therefore a strong argument for the existence of God, even if we don't understand why God would not stop evil.
The best video I've found on this aspect of evil is a debate between apologist Dr. Frank Turek and an atheist, which I’ve summarized below.
Watch for 5 minutes:
Question from atheist: Why would God allow or endorse such evil as a woman being raped repeatedly for 24 years, which led to seven children due to sodomy.
Turek’s key points:
He doesn't know because he's not perfect, but the perfect God of the universe does know why.
If God always intervened then we would not have free will. Without free will we would no longer live in a moral universe where we could choose to love, or do anything else. We would be moist robots, not humans.
Sometimes God does stop evil, and often he is then criticized for that. Evil is allowed by God, not sanctioned, in the same way sometimes parents do not stop every action their children commit in order to help them learn valuable lessons.
How can an atheist call anything good or bad? Everyone feels like rape is bad. Turek postulates as a Christian he can objectively argue it is evil however, and that's because God has made the rules and declares it evil. As much as an atheist might not like rape being allowed, he or she has no standard by which to declare something good or evil.
Conclusion: God allows evil for reasons we do not fully understand, but does not endorse it.
Watch for 8 minutes:
Detective J. Warner Wallace during the second half of this 8-minute video also addresses the philosophical side of this question.
His take? We see an imperfect, sliver of time. God sees eternity. Issues like this will never fully make sense until we can see the bigger picture.
Read or listen to this book:
How can someone really say anything is evil unless you have a moral law giver who says what is evil or good?
I used to think this argument was silly.
Even if non-Christians don't have a reason for objectively calling rape evil, can't we all just oppose certain things because generally we as a society don't want people to be taking advantage of others?
As I study more of world history however, it is becoming increasingly obvious that being able to give a reason for why certain things are good or evil is critical to stopping awful ideas from becoming popular.
My most recent experience wrestling with this question came in listening to Hitler's First Hundred Days, by Peter Fritzsche.
This book showcased how bad ideas can take hold and spread if there are not clear moral lines. In part thanks to public relations efforts that painted a narrative of Germans as victims, the vast majority of Germans enthusiastically joined the Nazi cause. Many more simply went along because they didn't want to suffer the consequences.
In hindsight the world is appalled at what Adolf Hitler orchestrated. In just 100 days through a variety of maneuvers he and his team built the moral framework for the horrors that followed. They were successful because in part the German people collectively failed to take principled stands based on the Bible for objecting to his evil dictates. They decided for themselves what was good or evil.
Whether it is through becoming desensitized to the evil you are doing, or social pressure to conform, under the right circumstances unless you're holding on to a moral law given to you by a moral lawgiver, your internal definition of what is evil will drift like a boat in the cultural current.
Obviously this is not the kind of question that is ever fully answered, but I feel like these are ideas worth pondering when wrestling with this tough — perhaps the toughest — question that everyone ought to have to strive to answer, not just Christians. Please hit reply and let me know if you’ve found other valuable resources on this topic I might want to consult.