God, Evil, & Suffering

On Wednesday nights at (Re)Discovering Jesus, we’ve been discussing big questions about Christianity, religion, and life. This week we talked about God, evil, and suffering. Here are a few of the major points we covered in response: 

The problem: Why does God allow evil and suffering?

This world is full of evil and tragedy. All of us endure suffering (at least of some kind). Many of us are not transparent enough to be honest about this. Maybe we just haven't been told that it is okay to be honest - that it is okay to lament and grieve over our sorrows. Regardless, we cannot escape this reality: to live is to suffer. And that's where the nagging questions come in: "Why is it this way? Certainly it shouldn't have to be like this? If God is who He say He is (i.e. all-powerful, all-knowing, all-good), then why does He allow evil and suffering?" This has always been a fundamentally human question that still nags us today. And there are very different responses.

Claim #1: Evil and suffering exist, therefore it is impossible that God exists.

Some claim that the following two statements are logically inconsistent: 

1. God exists (and is all-powerful, all-knowing, and perfectly good).
2. There is evil.

In other words, it is logically impossible that these two statements are both true. An all-powerful, all-knowing, all-good being would have have no good reason for allowing evil. Therefore, God does not exist (Or he is not who Christians claim that he is. He must either not be powerful enough to create a perfect world, or he chose not to and so he is less than perfectly good. In any case, this leaves the Christian view of God indefensible). This argument rises or falls on a third statement also being true:

(3) We can know all the possible reasons that God might have for allowing evil & suffering (and we know that none of those reasons are good).

But can we know this? Should we expect to possess this kind of knowledge? The assumption is that if we cannot see a reason for something, then such a reason must not exist. Is this always the case? It does not seem so. For God's ways are beyond human comprehension (Isaiah 55:8-9; Job 28:12-28; Romans 11:33-36; 1 Corinthians 2:11-16). But we do not want to accept our limitations as finite creatures. Can we have the unlimited knowledge to be able to comprehend every possible reason that God might have for allowing evil? How can we be so sure? While people may find such a response unsatisfactory, in the least it can cause them to be somewhat uneasy about their bold claim that God's existence (or his power or goodness) is impossible.

We can also go a step farther. We can conceive of possible reasons that God might have for allowing evil and suffering:

1. Soul-making defense: The goal of this life is to be a certain kind of person - to be godly or virtuous. Virtuous character is developed especially through hardship (i.e. suffering). So then, maybe God allows evil and suffering in order to provide opportunity for us to develop virtuous character.
2. Free will defense: There can be no moral goodness without the freedom to also choose moral evil. In other words, moral goodness requires freedom. For example, if I pulled out a gun and shot someone, I would be condemned as a criminal. But what if I had been abducted by a terrorist regime and brainwashed to kill this particular person (i.e. really brainwashed, so that my will was overpowered and I did have any choice in the matter)? Would the response to my action be the same? Sure, my action would be evil. But would I be held responsible for something that I had no control over? Certainly situations like this are complex, but intuitively we know that the presence or absence of freedom  greatly affects the evaluation of any given action. Given the importance of freedom, maybe God could not have been able to create beings who are morally good (and thus free) without creating beings who are capable of moral evil. This does not mean that God is not all-powerful. Perhaps we have wrong assumptions about what all-powerful really means (i.e. God can do anything). Can God sin? No, of course not, because that would be against His very nature. So then, it is not true that God can do anything. It is more accurate to say that God is perfect with respect to power. In other words, there is no power that God lacks. And since the ability to sin is not a power, it is true that God is both all-powerful and yet cannot sin. Given this understanding of God's power, maybe God could not have created beings capable of moral goodness without giving them the freedom to choose otherwise.

Claim #2: Evil and suffering exists, therefore it is irrational to believe that God exists.

But someone might say, "Okay, I might admit that it's not logically impossible that the statements (1) God exists and (2) There is evil are both true, but the probability is surely very low." In other words, because there is so much evil and suffering in the world, it is so unlikely that God exists that to believe so is irrational.  It is like saying, "I know it's not logically impossible that I can bench press 700lbs., but who is actually going to believe that? That is absurd. It's silly." A thinking person doesn't actually believe that God exists. It is unreasonable. The problem with this argument (besides the fact that it doesn't actually establish anything) is that it only presents some of the evidence for God's existence. Another piece of evidence (though not the only one) is the order that we observe in the natural world, which is quite complex and intricate. Therefore, it is reasonable to believe that there is a Designer (i.e. Creator) of this world. The presence of evil and suffering in the world is only a slice of the evidentiary pie, and this alone does not establish that believing in God's existence is irrational.

The real question: "Why does God allow evil and suffering to happen to me?"

We know that most people will not be satisfied with the philosophical arguments mentioned above. We don't expect them to be. Most people are not really bothered by the philosophical side of this problem of evil. Even if they are, it is always mixed with this more personal side of the issue. Then why do we even consider these philosophical arguments? Because there are reasonable responses to these bold claims (i.e. God's existence is impossible, or in the least, irrational). We can love people in our conversations with them by causing them to be somewhat uneasy about their skepticism. This can hopefully move people past the philosophical arguments. We want to love people by stirring them out of either their stubbornness or their indifference so that they will wrestle with the personal side of the problem of evil. This personal question ("Why does God allow evil and suffering to happen to me?") is central to the ancient story of Job.

If we struggle with the personal question about evil and suffering, then we are a lot like Job.

1. Job endured tremendous suffering. He had his property and all his children taken way in a single day. So not only did he go through financial hardship, but all of his children (seven sons and three daughters) were all killed - all in one day! This was devastating, yet Job responded by worshiping God. He tore his robe and shaved his head (cultural forms of lament/grief), but he also acknowledged God as the Sovereign Creator who is worthy of worship.
2. Then Job's physical health was taken away from him. He had nasty, painful sores all over his body. These sores were so bad that he used broken pottery to scrap them off. His pain was unbearable. Yet again, Job responded innocently. Even though his own wife mocked him and told him to give up on his faith and his very life, Job refused to curse God. He chose to trust God. 
3. Then Job's friends came to his aid. They sat with him for a prolonged period of time in the midst of his pain. They did not say anything. Their mere presence was comforting enough. They lamented and grieved with Job.
4. But then his friends changed their approach: they began to offer explanations for Job's suffering. The only possible conclusion they could reach was that Job must have sinned somehow - that Job's suffering was punishment from God. They bought into the philosophy that because God generally rewards the righteous and punishes the wicked, suffering necessarily indicates wickedness. They presumed to know the actual reasons for Job's suffering.
5. It is important to observe how all of this suffering began: the Lord started a conversation with Satan that led to this entire sequence of events. God is all-knowing, so He knew what the results would be. He told Satan to consider Job's remarkable character. This has ramifications that are easy to miss and difficult to receive. We are introduced to Job as a righteous and blameless man, fearing God and turning away from evil. And this is exactly how God describes Job to Satan. Thus, Job did not suffer because he was being punished for sin. He was suffering precisely because of His righteousness.
6. As time passed by and Job did not receive any relief from his suffering, the test became unbearable for him. His laments began turning to accusations. He not only asked honest questions (and understandably so), but he also started to accuse God of not being just or good. Job's problem was his high view of God. He "knew" that God was all-powerful and all-knowing and perfectly good. This is why his situation seemed so incomprehensible to him. Wrestling with the problem of evil and suffering is not the result of having a low view of God. In fact, it is just the opposite.
7. After quite some time, God finally broke the silence. When He finally does answer Job, God's response is overwhelming. God questions Job over and over again. God essentially tells Job: "Do you know how I created the universe? Job, can you take a proud man and make him humble? I'm not going to give you my reasons for why you are suffering. Trust me." This is not the answer that Job was looking for. And it is also shocking to us. No doubt about it: this is very difficult to swallow.
8. Job's response: he humbled himself. He acknowledged God's sovereignty. He confessed that he was uttering that which he did not and could not understand. He then testified that even though he thought he formerly knew God, now he sees God. Job's posture was humble repentance, and he was satisfied with knowing God in a new way.
9. Job's response seems absurd! He does not know when or even if he will be relieved of his suffering. And yet this is how he responds. We often fail to realize how incredible Job's story is; we somehow think that his suffering wasn't all that bad, because it all had a happy ending. But Job didn't know that a happy ending was coming for him. And even though it did, all of his children died. Sure, he had more children, but surely he still grieved the death of his children? Job's response to God does not seem to make sense to us. It doesn't add up. How could he respond like this? Is Job even human?!
10. God did not give Job explanations, but He revealed Himself. And for Job, that was enough. He trusted God. For Job, knowing who God is completely changed how he interpreted the reality of evil and suffering. For example, let's say I am driving on the highway late at night, and in my rear view mirror I see a car swerving like crazy. Cars are peeling this way and that just to avoid hitting this car. What might I conclude? I would naturally think that the person driving that car is a crazy maniac who does not care about anybody else on the road. But then I notice that it is in fact my Dad's car! That is my Dad! Then what might I conclude? I would think that there must be some possible explanation for why he is driving like that, because I know my Dad. My Dad is not a crazy maniac. Likewise, what Job knew affected how he interpreted the facts.
11. Job's friends, however, were rebuked by God. God was angry with them, not with Job. God may have said some pointed remarks in response to Job, but His anger burned against Job's friends. This is because they presumed to know God's actual reasons for allowing evil and suffering.

Points to take away:

1. Even though evil and suffering abound in this world, it is still reasonable to believe in God's existence. We can show this by providing possible reasons that might have for allowing evil and suffering.
2. However, we don't know the actual reasons that God has for allowing evil and suffering. He doesn't tell us. And as hard as this is for us, this is how He has related to His people for very long time.
3. Instead of giving us explanations, God opens our eyes and shows us who He is, even in the midst of our suffering.
4. What we know changes how we interpret the facts. What we know about God completely changes how we interpret the reality of evil and suffering.
5. In essence: while God does not explain to us why He allows evil and suffering, He invites us to trust Him.

Come to (Re)Discovering Jesus to discuss big questions like this with us!