The Problem of Evil

            The reality of evil in the world has plagued thinkers for centuries. This issue has been especially challenging for Christians because of their claim of an all-powerful, loving God. How can such a God allow evil in the world if he truly loves his creation? Furthermore, if God truly did create a world that he considered “good,” how and why did sin enter into it? This question needs to be answered in order for us to rightly understand the problem of evil in the world.

            First, how did sin enter the world? Simply put, man sinned due to external temptation. Adam and Eve didn’t sin because they wanted to. They had no desire to rebel against God in and of themselves. It was because Satan tempted them to rebel against God and eat the fruit that they sinned. God created man so that he was able to sin and not to sin. However, after the Fall, man is not able not to sin. He cannot help but to sin. Once man is saved, though, he is able not to sin. We go back to the way mankind was before the Fall. We can choose to sin or not sin. Once man is glorified, because he was saved, he will not be able to sin at all. So, we have this progression of where we were, where we have come, and where we could go. This seems to follow logically; however, how did a perfect being (Satan) sin without temptation? God didn’t create Satan as an evil nemesis. God created Satan (Lucifer) as an angel to be in heaven with him. So, how did one of God’s perfect angels sin without external temptation? Augustine makes an intriguing suggestion that seems to be right. Loving oneself is a proper duty. In other words, it is okay to love oneself. It is sinful, however, to love oneself more than one loves God. God created everything, but God didn’t create sin. Sin is the misuse or distortion of that which is good. Satan began to love himself more than he loved God; thus, he fell into sin.

            Second, why did sin enter the world? A better question could be why did God allow sin to enter the world? David Hume describes the problem aptly: “Is God 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: which then is evil?” There are three solutions to this problem. The first solution is to limit God’s greatness. God would prevent evil if he could, but in a world of free will, he cannot. When he created man that had free will, he accepted the risk of their sinning. He manages sinners’ free decision but cannot overrule them without violating their freedom. Second, to answer this problem, one could limit God’s goodness. This solution says that God could have prevented evil, but he chose not to. This view can lead to two different conclusions. The first is the Fatalist or High Calvinist version. This view claims that God ordained evil for his own sufficient reasons. The second is the Moderate Calvinist version. This view says that God permitted evil for his own sufficient reasons. The third solution to the proposed problem is to simply deny the existence of evil. This solution merely claims that evil is not a reality that exists.

            What conclusion should we draw then? Should we limit God’s goodness or his greatness? Well, this seems to be a false dilemma. Why should we have to fully land in one camp or the other? It seems that we ought to land somewhere in the middle and maintain a tension between the two. God had the power to prevent sin, but he didn’t. This means that sin is somehow a part of the plan. Man chose to sin freely. God permitted this to happen, but he didn’t cause it. God permitted sin for sufficiently wise reasons. These reasons we will not be able to fully comprehend on this side of eternity. God manifests his character more fully through overcoming evil. Justice, mercy, patience, love, and many other attributes are manifested more fully through redemption than in any other way. God’s ultimate goal is his own glory, and the manifestation of his character leads to his being glorified by his creatures. Ultimately, God must determine what “good” is.

            We see that sin entered the world through external temptation. The tempter, Satan, loved himself more than God. This is a sin that we as humans often struggle with as well. Trying to reconcile a loving God and having evil in the world is a hard thing to do. However, it is not impossible. We see that because we have free will, God permitted us to choose evil/sin if we wanted to. We are in this mess of evil because we decided to go our own way instead of God’s way. This reality that we live in shows the importance of following God’s plan over our own plans for our lives.