The Problem of Evil

By Ben Schettler

It was surreal. Mark lowered his left hand, gripping the bar on the side of the casket designed for such an occasion. He lifted the body of his best friend of 16 years. Joined by three other friends and Jason’s two brothers, they carried Jason’s body to the hearse. In a few minutes, they would drive to the cemetery, lower this casket into the ground, and say goodbye.

Mark was devastated. His best friend’s young life was snatched from him at the age of eighteen by a drunk driver. The next several months would be plagued by questions. “Is God all-powerful?” “Is He loving?” “If God is all-powerful and loving, why would He allow Jason to die in such a horrific accident?” If He was all-powerful, He could have intervened. If He was loving, He would want to intervene. These unanswered questions will continue to fester in Mark’s heart until several years later, after his divorce, the loss of his father, and the difficulties of life come to a head, and Mark stops calling himself a Christian.

For those under the age of forty who have struggled with their faith, that struggle often does not stem from a question of the reliability of Scripture or the existence of God; it comes from a more foundational question: How could a loving God who is all-powerful allow evil? If He were loving, He wouldn’t want evil. If He were all-powerful, He would be able to stop evil. So, it seems logical to conclude that either God is not loving or He is not all-powerful. Many who once claimed to be believers of Jesus Christ often offer this rationale as a reason they no longer believe the teachings of the Bible.

In this article, I want to equip you with thoughtful answers to this objection and encourage you to consider it through the lens of God’s truth. While the solution to the problem of evil is found in trusting a transcendent God and that His way is best, several important aspects of evil are revealed in both the Bible and the world God made.

1. Evil is a far greater problem for the atheist than for the Christian.

The atheist point of view does not provide any construct of good or evil. If there is no God, there is no standard of right and wrong, good or bad, wonderful or terrible. The world is simply a random alignment of atoms, and nothing that happens can objectively be described as bad or evil.

Where did evil come from? Who determines if a thing is evil or good? Why is it wrong to steal? All these questions are easily answered from the truth of the Bible, or what we call a biblical worldview.

But atheists have no answer to these questions because evil is just a subjective perception. The far more difficult question is why it feels inherently wrong when a child is senselessly murdered.

When atheists claim evil negates God’s existence, they make a logical error, admitting that evil exists. If evil does exist, then good exists, which is significant evidence that a moral standard exists. A moral law necessitates a moral lawgiver. It is far more difficult to explain the reality we all call evil within the constructs of atheism.

2. Being evil does not cause you to stop existing.

As Christians, we understand that God is good. But for the sake of argument, even if He is not good, it does not necessarily mean He does not exist. Arguing that God does not exist because you do not like His behavior is as absurd as saying thieves do not exist because you don’t like people who steal. It’s irrational to say, “I don’t believe in God,” based on your subjective perspective of His performance.

3. No one wants God to remove all evil.

In the case of Jason’s death, we may argue that God should have removed the drunk driver. But how? By eliminating him? By eliminating alcohol? By eliminating free will?  And why should God stop at drunk drivers? If He is going to eliminate some evil, why not eliminate all evil? And if God eliminates all evil, where does that leave us? When we argue that God should intervene, we neglect to recognize evil in our own hearts and minds. If God eliminated all evil, who are we to say that we would not be part of that elimination? Often, when we question God’s patience and graciousness in allowing someone to exist who commits evil, we forget that it is only by God’s mercy we are not consumed.

4. Evil and tragedies are easily explained through the biblical worldview.

In the first few chapters of Genesis, we see that God created a perfect world and placed two perfect human creations, Adam and Eve, in the garden. Adam and Eve violated God’s rule by eating the fruit. This action brought evil into the world. As a result of Adam and Eve’s rebellion, a curse was placed upon the earth, and evil entered the world. The biblical worldview demonstrates not only the origins of evil but that mankind was responsible for these origins. We may dislike evil, but we cannot discount the reality that humans are responsible for evil.

5. Allowing evil is not the same as creating evil.

Often, the logical flow made by the skeptic, or those wrestling with this question, is the assumption that because God gave Adam and Eve a choice in the garden, the ability to choose should be equated to the choice itself.

If we consider the tragedy of car accidents, we logically know that car accidents are not the government’s fault. Governments could indeed eliminate any kind of transportation via cars and trucks, and the elimination would result in zero car accidents. The ability to drive does not place the blame for all car accidents on the government. In the same way, God allowing Adam and Eve to choose evil in no way makes God the creator of evil.

6. God brings a finality to evil.

While it is true God allowed Adam and Eve to choose evil, it is also true that God sent His son Jesus to die on the cross, take the sin of the world on Himself as a substitute, and rise again, conquering sin and death. God has a solution for evil and ultimately does bring finality to evil. Jesus paid the ultimate price for our sins, offering His own life to clean up the mess, evil, and sin that mankind brought into the world. What love that conquered and paid the penalty of sin!

7. God can use evil for a good purpose.

Some Christians make the mistake of trying to pretend that evil is good. Often, what those Christians miss is that God does not make evil good; rather, He can use evil intentions and actions for purposes that bring about a greater good. Perhaps the climax of the book of Genesis is the hope given by Joseph as he addressed his brothers: “While you meant it to me for evil, God meant it unto me for good to bring about your salvation.”

While Joseph had possibly some of the worst brothers who sold him into slavery, God was able to use their evil actions to save Joseph’s family. In the same way, while our sin does condemn us to an eternity without God, Jesus demonstrates His great love by rescuing man from his evil condition. God is ultimately glorified in the story of good and evil.

8. Trust in God is key.

We can consider these important realities surrounding evil. Unlike evidence for the existence of God, reliability of Scripture, or resurrection, the problem of evil requires the believer to trust in a transcendent God. The evidence for God’s existence is clearly manifested in the world He made. We can verify the truth of Scripture by looking at fulfilled prophecies, archaeology, and even scientific claims. We can look at the events surrounding the resurrection and logically conclude that Jesus rose from the dead. But the problem of evil is not so simple. The problem of evil requires us to trust that a transcendent God knows what He is doing and that His way, in fact, is better than our ways. If God is truly transcendent, my inability to understand evil does not negate God’s existence but requires me to trust. It is logical to think God will know more than us, but even though we may know God’s way is better, we must exercise faith in those moments when our emotions tell us otherwise.

Ben Schettler is the president of The Center for Truth in Love and host of The Truth in Love Show, syndicated on Dish and DIRECTV.  Ben’s passion for apologetics, biblical worldview, and discipleship evangelism led him to host RenewaNation’s The Biblical Worldview Show. Ben lives in Pensacola, Florida, with his wife and son. Follow Ben on X (Twitter) at @benschettler.