Part 2: A Philosophical Perspective - Why is there Evil and Suffering in the World?

The question of evil and suffering is one that we all wrestle with in different ways. Some of us may be suffering personally or witnessing the suffering of someone close to us. This brings us to the very emotional and personal question of how a good God could allow it. Others may be on a philosophical journey, trying to make sense of the world in light of the evil around us. This is more of an intellectual question of the compatibility of God’s goodness and the existence of evil. Whatever your reason for asking, I hope to point to the goodness of God, not just in spite of evil, but also in the face of it.

Perhaps you are not thinking of a particular instance of evil (as in part 1), but are engaging in a philosophical journey. In this case, the question could be about the struggle to understand how a good God exists, because evil and suffering in the world would seem to be evidence against His existence. After all, if God is good, as the Bible says He is (Psalm 145:9; 1 Peter 2:3), surely He wouldn’t allow bad things to happen, would He? Well, we will deal with that question below, but before we even get that far, there is already an issue. 

The Moral Law - Points to the Moral Law Giver

If God doesn’t exist, what does it even mean to say something is evil, or good for that matter? Christians understand God to be the ultimate standard of morality, but atheists have no such standard. Without a standard of justice higher than humans, those who lack belief in God also lack an objective moral standard by which to say that any given moral action is right or wrong, good or evil. These kinds of judgements cannot be mere personal preference, but must be universal in order to condemn certain actions as evil, while praising others as good. Counterintuitively, then, evil isn’t evidence against God’s existence, but for it. Every time an atheist points to a perceived evil, they betray their belief in a moral law beyond just their personal opinion. If there is a moral law, there is a moral law Giver, which Christians understand to be God.

Free Will - The Greatest Good

However, even though evil isn’t incompatible with a good God, it still doesn’t explain why God made the world the way He did. After all, if God is good, and we could add, supremely powerful (Luke 1:37; Ephesians 3:20), couldn’t He have made a world without any evil? Well, in focusing on the evil, we lose sight of the other side of the equation, namely, the good. Both good and evil hinge on free will. Because humans are truly free, we are capable of the greatest good, but also the most terrible evil. To give an example, love is universally seen as good, but love must be the result of free will, because love that is forced is not love at all. The other side of that is the free will to reject, hate, oppress, abuse, and do many other things opposed to love. God certainly could have created a world with no evil, but it would also be a world without free will, and therefore, not with the greatest good. He could have created a world of robots worshipping Him all day, every day, but none of them would truly love Him. Because God wanted humans to truly love Him, He created this world in which we have the free will to choose Him and His ways or to reject Him.

Good in the Face of Evil

Jesus said that in this world, we would experience suffering, but that we should take courage, because He has overcome the world (John 16:33). The Bible doesn’t deny the fact of evil and suffering. It calls us to use our free will to bring good instead of adding to the evil. It calls us to follow the example of Jesus, who did only good and endured suffering to fulfill God’s purposes. It calls us to take part in the end of suffering and evil, for our eternal life with God was purchased by the suffering and death of Jesus.