Theodicy: Answering the Problem of Evil
This is an example of how the presuppositional framework can be used to answer some of the hardest questions unbelievers ask. In this part, I tackle the problem of evil.
The problem of evil is, “How can God be both all-powerful and all-good, and yet allow such suffering and evil in the world?” Hardly a more human question could be asked. From the mouth of a challenger (typically atheistic), the charge is that the Christian worldview is logically inconsistent, and thus is self-defeating. The argument can be summarized as, “If God was all-good, then He would desire to eliminate all evil. If He was all-powerful, then He could eliminate all evil. But because there is evil in the world, He is either not all-powerful, not all-good, or both. And if He is not, then He is not the Christian God and therefore God does not exist.”
While this charge has been made primarily by atheists, it is not a question foreign to Scripture. In a significantly different, and yet not completely dissimilar way, even godly men have also struggled with this question (Psa 42-43, 73, 94; Lam 1-5; book of Job). A believing heart cries out, “Why do the righteous suffer, Lord? How can You allow evil to fall upon Your beloved? Why will You not act and deliver Your people?” Therefore, this question is worthy of our careful consideration, both to give a defense to unbelievers and to comfort hurting saints.
This problem of evil has three components: God’s almighty power, God’s perfect goodness, and real human suffering. Scripture clearly teaches all three. God is Almighty and “Whatever the LORD pleases, He does” (Psa 135:6). God is good and does good (Psa 119:68) and His “righteousness is an everlasting righteousness” (Psa 119:142). Pain is inherent to the post-fall human condition (Gen 3:14-24). Thus, any biblical theodicy (literally “justification of God”) must not deny any of these realities, but instead hold them all together consistently. A biblical theodicy should seek to accomplish two primary things: (1) confront the unbeliever for his pride and inability to even ask the question, and (2) give biblical evidence that we can trust in God’s goodness and power despite the pain. Much lengthier theodicies have been given by others, but below is a summary of the best that I’ve found.
First, the unbeliever must be challenged. According to him, what is suffering and evil? To even present the problem of evil, he must assume the following: (a) that there is suffering and evil, and (b) that it is better that suffering and evil not exist. Yet, (a) is only true if there is an ultimate standard of blessedness and good. But if there is no God, then what is evil or good, suffering or blessedness? Any attempt to found a foundation upon man (i.e. history, societal consensus, inner moral feeling) is subjective and transient. But if there is no foundation for thinking evil and suffering are real, then, for the unbeliever, the “problem of evil” takes on an entirely new dynamic: how do we even know there is evil? Who is to say that the things we find revolting are objectively evil? Apart from God, the unbeliever has no sufficient reason to take evil seriously. In an apologetical conversation, you can easily challenge him by asking, “How do you even know that evil and suffering are real?” With no good answer, he has no right to say that evil is a problem for the Christian!
Second, (b) is unfounded because the unbeliever has no justifiable foundation to believe that a world without suffering and evil is desirable. The law of unintended consequences says that many other unknown effects might render a world without suffering and evil to be worse than the current one. Without being able to see beyond the horizon of his time, how can the unbeliever say that he knows better than God? At best, he could say that eliminating evil would minimize human hurt and maximize human happiness, but how does he know that is truly a better universe? What if the only way to eliminate human suffering was to eliminate all humans? What if the only way to eliminate all suffering would be to eliminate everything? Would that be a better universe? The atheistic worldview has no answer. You can answer his pride by saying, “How do you know that a world without evil would be a better world? What confidence to you have that human happiness is the purpose for which all things exist?”
In a way, the Christian shares these two assumptions about evil and suffering, but they are grounded in God. For (a), suffering and evil are a reality because God is the standard of all righteousness, and He says that evil and suffering are indeed real (Gen 3:14-24). Indeed, evil is opposed to His very being (1 John 1:5, Jas 1:13, 17). As for (b), it is better that suffering and evil be eliminated because God hates such affronts to His character (Psa 50:16-23, Psa 7:11ff). He promises that He will eliminate all suffering at the end of this age (Rev 20:11-15, 21:4-5, 27).
To answer the problem of evil, we must first say that humanity is not the judge of God. Scripture says, “... let God be found true, though every man be found a liar, as it is written, “That You may be justified in Your words, and prevail when You are judged”” (Rom 3:4). God is the ultimate Judge, not man, and He is righteous and will always be revealed as righteous in everything and over everyone. He never owes humanity an explanation (Exod 33:19, Rom 9:19-21, Job 38:4-5, 42:3-6). Yet, we can trust that He is good and does good (Psa 119:68), because that is who He is.
The fundamental answer to the problem of evil is that God has allowed suffering and evil for the greater glorification of His own name. By allowing evil, He has provided an occasion to magnify His long-suffering patience against those who hate Him, and His fierce wrath and almighty power in their eternal destruction (Rom 9:22). In this same occasion, He “demonstrate[s] the riches of His grace upon vessels of mercy”, magnifying His lovingkindness to those whom He prepared for glory (Rom 9:23). For “where sin increased, grace abounded all the more” (Rom 5:20). Suffering and evil exist, not as aberrations in the plans of an impotent, morally ambiguous god, but as necessary parts of the plans of the true sovereign, good God—necessary to glorify Himself to the highest. We must understand that the ultimate purpose of creation is not the increase human happiness, but to glorify God, the Creator and Sustainer and King over all. When accepted, the problem of evil melts away, for evil is no problem for God.
The cross of Jesus Christ is the ultimate theodicy, as through His blood, He showed God to be both the Just (thus vindicating His perfect righteousness) and the Justifier (thus demonstrating His magnanimous grace in the salvation of sinners) (Rom 3:26). Through His predetermined plan, God caused His perfect, blameless Son to suffer the greatest injustice of death on a cross, of being made sin, of suffering under the wrath of God for sinners, so that His name would be glorified as the One who deals fully with the wretchedness of sin and as the One who saves sinners to the praise of His own glory. Justice and mercy meet at the cross. As a reward for His sufferings, Christ is exalted above every name (Phil 2:5-10).
While this answer will not satisfy the unbeliever’s thirst for self-vindication, it does render him unable to give an account for evil at all. To use the problem of evil to argue against God’s existence, he unwittingly assumes the worldview of the Christian (that there is truly good and evil) to make his point. Such foolishness must be exposed. However, this answer is a great comfort to the believer. Although God in no way ever takes evil into His character (Hab 1:13), He is the ultimate hand superintending all suffering and evil (Isa 45:7, Amos 3:6). After all, He is the One who ultimately cursed the earth (Romans 8:20) as judgment for Adam’s sin (Gen 3:14-24). If He could use even something as wicked as the crucifixion of His beloved Son to achieve incalculable glory for Himself and the blessed salvation of His people, He can use every lesser evil for good (Rom 8:28). Therefore, believers can rest in His sovereign, good hands, and wait upon Him for deliverance. Ultimately, the answer to Christian suffering is not an argument, but God Himself: “The Lord is my portion…Therefore I have hope in him” (Lam 3:24).
Adapted from an essay written for a seminary course on evangelism and apologetics, Fall 2021.