Tonight at our small group, we watched another segment in this Timothy Keller DVD series titled The Reason for God . It features Pastor Timothy Keller and 6 or so panelists, each either atheist or agnostic , discussing their difficulties with, or objections to, the notion of God. It has been one of the most thought provoking encounters I have witnessed in quite a long time.
Tonight's topic was the issue of why, if there is a God, does he allow suffering and evil. A common, understandable complaint of atheists and agnostics is the issue of a supposedly good and omnipotent God permitting evil and suffering to exist in the world of His own making. Keller uses the ancient Greek philosopher Epicurus's riddle as a launching point for the session: “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? Whence then is evil?”
The question has merit, but its inherent assumptions change the context of the question, namely, how are the terms 'evil' and 'suffering' being defined? Definitions are needed to set some parameters by which we evaluate this dilemma. Looking first at evil, we ask, "What is evil, and is evil personal or impersonal"?
In the Judeo-Christian framework, evil and good are personal, and they are attributes of existent beings. God is the creator of the cosmos and all contained therein. God is also the source of every good and perfect thing. Lucifer transformed himself into Satan by executing the Free Will Option against the good and perfect decrees of God. Evil precipitates in the toxic environment of disregard for God's decrees, and a free will is the only environment in which evil can exist; i.e. it cannot exist in a cow or a rock or a sofa or a painting, but only in the heart of man.
Without the heart of man in which to dwell, evil would have no residence on earth. Humans tend to look at one or two major human ills as aberrant and evil, such as murder, child rape, and torture, and in so doing, we keep the degree of separation between us and God rather small. But when we examine what God has declared to be unacceptable, i.e. evil in His sight, it quickly becomes clear that the degree of separation between ourselves and the Holy God of the bible is vast indeed. Evil is a choice made by the human will in opposition to the decrees of God, which are inherently good (God is incapable of making evil decrees.) Without the heart of man in which to be conceived, evil would have no home on earth, and in order for God to rid the world of evil He would need to rid the world of mankind.
So be careful what you wish for.
