Teen Apologetics Why does God allow Evil The

Teen Apologetics “Why does God allow Evil? ”

The Problem is there! Just look around us, suffering is everywhere. From death and destruction, to disease and poverty. The problem of why a God who is allgood would allow evil to persist is still important today. It is also important to note, however, that there is not one single ‘solution’. There are many of them, and we can only get a decent answer by looking at them all.

The Solutions An important thing to note before we begin is that these solutions are not intended to be digested on their own, but rather as a group. They complement each other and collectively they provide a good vision of why God would allow evil. There are three main solutions- 1) The solution of moral consciousness. 2) The solution of moral and natural evil. 3) The solution of a greater purpose.

The Solution of Moral Consciousness God may use evil and suffering to show us, rather clearly, what is bad and what is good. By establishing an obvious definition between right and wrong mankind has enough experience of both, in his/her lifetime, to knowledgably choose which path to take. God's or our own. So therefore we could say that one reason why evil exists is to give us enough knowledge to decide whether or not to follow God. Without that would we base our decisions on? Looking at it in this way, evil appears to be partially ‘necessary’. (The path to God…)

The Solution of Moral and Natural Evil It is important for us to establish exactly what kind of evil we’re talking about here. Natural evil is basically suffering, the kind of thing caused by natural diseases and natural disasters. Moral evil is a result of free will; it tends to be that which is inflicted by man unto man. However, free will is absolutely necessary and essential. Think about it- would you want to live in a world where you were FORCED to do good, FORCED to love God, FORCED to do His will? Of course not, and God doesn't want it neither. Therefore, most evil can be relatively explained as a result of free will. It isn’t a cop out, it’s just a) a necessity and b) a reality.

The Solution of a Greater Purpose This is the best picture of Joseph I could get… This is the idea that suffering may sometimes actually be necessary and may be inflicted upon some by God in order to achieve a higher purpose and a greater good. Before any of you think it, this does not mean God is evil. Evil by its very definition is an absence of good. If there is a greater good and a higher purpose for an act of suffering, inflicted by a morally perfect and a benevolent God, then that surely means that the act is not without good. Therefore, it isn't evil. Take for example the story in Genesis, concerning Joseph who was sold into slavery by his brothers. Out of that apparent 'evil' there came a greater good; Joseph later saved Egypt, and his brothers, from a drought by making provisions. Joseph then said (Genesis 50: 15 -2), "you meant it for evil, but God meant it for good".

The End? So, is this it? Is this all that we can offer in terms of solutions? Frankly the answer is ‘no’, and as stated many times before these are not the only ones. There are many others, ranging from being very religious in nature (e. g. Satan has a part to play) to very ordinary (e. g. suffering is necessary to appreciate the good). I’ll say it again, though- these need to be looked at individually for analysis, yes, but collectively if we are to make any sort of opinion. For now however I hope this presentation has helped you in some way!

The Credits v Written by Nathan Paylor. v The NIV Bible was used for any scriptural references. v If by some weird chance you want to use any of the material presented here, then feel free- there are no copyrights unless stated! v Thanks to Adam and Thomas Loughran for allowing me to use their Power. Point- much appreciated!