The problem of superfluous evil
Survivors of the 2012 Japanese earthquake/tsunami (source) |
This is a legitimate question that deserves a Christian response. Think about it from the atheists' perspective--curious Adam and Eve ate the beautiful fruit from forbidden tree that God created and, as a consequence of their disobedience, humanity has since dealt with hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, famines, pestilence, murder, war, abuse, rape, genocide, death, etc... On its face, this punishment seems out of proportion to the crime committed. In the end, the conclusion is the same as that of the first group: if God exists, he can't be all-good and all-powerful. If anything, God is a cosmic sadist, like a little kid who burns ants in the sun with a magnifying glass.
Moral and Natural Evil
The Great San Francisco earthquake of 1906 |
A reasonable Christian response
There are at least two reasonable responses that the Christian can make here. First, it is not obvious that such things as earthquakes, hurricanes, and tsunamis are the result of sin. These phenomena are all part of this magnificent, organic globe that God created ex nihilo. They serve positive restorative roles for the environment. Christian theology does, in fact, teach that the natural order doesn't work like it should (Romans 8:19-21); however, we don't know precisely what has gone wrong, other than the weeds that sprang up in Adam's garden.Secondly, while humans can't directly cause tornadoes, hurricanes, and earthquakes by the action of their own wills, moral evil can certainly accentuate the effects of natural evil. It seems that the "superfluous" natural evil, for which non-theists would blame God (if they believed he existed), may be the fault of humans after all.
Humans and natural evil
Loma Prieta earthquake, San Francisco, 1989 |
Aftermath of the 2010 Haitian earthquake |
Human moral failure makes natural evil considerably more fatal and painful than it would be otherwise. It is conceivable that such things as tectonic plate movement, tornadoes, hurricanes, and forest fires all existed before sin. However, these things were not pain- or death-inducing. They could have existed in some sort of harmony with un-fallen humanity.
The main point here is that the apparently excessive nature of natural evil is not logically sufficient to conclude that an omnibenevolent and omnipotent God can't possibly exist.
A concluding exhortation to reconciliation and restoration
What God has cursed, no human can un-curse. If entropy is part of what has gone wrong with creation (and I think it is), there is nothing we humans can do about that. We must simply wait for the day that the Lord returns and peels back the heavens for his great restoration of the whole created order. However, differentiating between moral and natural evil sets us free from a totally fatalistic eschatology (or doctrine of the end times).[3]What the Church can work to restore is the damage caused by by the catalytic moral evil of human beings. We can work to correct despotic corruption, human oppression, failing infrastructures, and poor distribution. In short, we can carry the restorative power of the Gospel to all the nations, praying that the Holy Spirit would work to restore the moral and spiritual sensibilities of the people and pull them out of the superfluous spiral of unnecessary natural suffering. [4]
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[1] Logically neither of the above arguments proves that God doesn't exist. It merely attempts to prove that, if God does exist, he is nothing like the God of the Christian Scriptures. He'd be something more akin to the pantheon of ancient Greeks.
[2] This raises other questions about free will, which are too extensive to be dealt with here. I am not arguing for a completely free will (libertarian free will).
[3] For an excellent analysis of what the new creation might be like physically, check out Max Andrews' blog post on the topic here.
[4] Due to its controversial nature, I did not mention global warming (or "climate change"). However, if it is, in fact, caused by human actions, it only makes my case stronger.
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Christian philosopher William Lane Craig explains the two versions of the non-theist argument from the existence of evil.
I think that these all things, which we can see in media, like wars, famine, more and more bad and inmoral people - it is also sign of the times. Jesus is coming - we don't know the day and the hour, but it was written that it will be the sign. And of course sometimes people cause by themselves evil - on their own wish. But what with for example children? Sometimes I think that there is no good answer for people (like in Psalm 73), but I think that in some cases death is blessing - when someone lives in country where is only poverty and lack of perspectives.
ReplyDeleteGreetings for You.
Thanks for the comment, Zim.
DeleteMy comment is way to long for this forum, will post on google+
DeleteThe title of this blog really got me to thinking... My first response was no, God has not overreacted, He has underreacted. If we all got what we deserved, we would not be here! But after reading this,I can see how "others" might think this. As humans, we forget that God sees the BIG picture and we do not. We have to leave things to Him and not keep going back to the questions. We have to have faith in Him and believe in His grace. I do think about some of the suffereing that gets to me, but then I remember He has it under control and who am I to question Him. Anna Cain
ReplyDeleteI agree with Anna. The first thing that I immediately thought when I came across this post was "of course not!" We are not able to see all that God is able to see; therefore, we have the tendency to doubt or question his decisions or way of doing things.
ReplyDelete~Jessica Wilson
One of the biggest question by atheists is: Why did God create evil when he is all good? We humans do not know the plan or what God thinks. However, it is true that he plans every single event that happens whether it is a minor event or major. I think that without evil, we will be like robots doing things that are only holy and what is right. Also, if there is no good there will be chaos. God has made this world a distinction of evil and good to experience both factors. -Kousei
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