Thoughts on the Problem of Evil
Evil hurts. It hurts a lot. It cannot be trivialized; we cannot pretend it does not matter. Everybody on the planet has been touched by evil, some more, much more than others. Every day, newspapers are filled with items detailing the evil that comes to the light of day, as well as gossip and jealousy….. Occasionally there are real news items as well.
a) The Bible (Word of God) describes that evil comes from inside of human beings. After Jesus had been flogged, and on the way to his crucifixion, he said that if men do these things when the tree is green, imagine what they will do when it is dry….. He described the hearts of man as the source of evils such as envy, malice, deceit, murder, theft, etc. in Mark 7:20.
b) The Bible also describes a fallen evil angel (Satan) as a source of evil, as a thief, who has come to kill, maim, and destroy. Humans can be possessed by evil spirits (Satan's junior assistants), which leads to much pain, with torment and bad behaviour. Physical sickness, psychiatric disorders, emotional suffering is all manifestations of the evil that is in this world. Nobody is exempt.
c) Furthermore, eventually, all human behaviour is subject to judgement, because God is just, and judgement cannot be avoided. Technically this is not evil but justice, but it is very painful nevertheless. However, God always sends warnings(to those who will listen), for example, Jesus warned that when armies surrounded Jerusalem, you should leave, and his prediction that Jerusalem would be destroyed, came true approximately 40 years later.
Repentance (being genuinely sorry, and attempting to correct the problem) will prevent judgement, or provide an escape. God's judgement against nations and peoples occurs once the evil matures, and there is no-one to intercede for them, (which can delay matters a while). God can use natural disasters, or other nations to bring judgement and punishment. Hitler thought that by committing suicide and having his body burnt he will escape judgement, but he won't. The German nation was certainly punished.
2. God has been hurt by evil as well.
Many of his representatives (the Prophets) were persecuted and murdered. His own son suffered a brutal death, complete with a flogging and public humiliation, although God used that to achieve his own ends, the salvation of us all. And many Christians have died merely for being Christians in the centuries subsequently.
3), Why not end it all?
That’s a good idea, God did it once with Noah, and he's going to do exactly that again, but when he's ready, when his harvest is complete. Then he will sort out the weeds from good value plants.
4) Don't be afraid of dying.
It's not the dying of your body that is the important thing. There is a second death (after judgement) that is far more important, that's the event you should be worried about. Jesus said “don't be afraid of those who kill the body, rather be afraid of the one who can destroy both body and soul in hell.”
God can be with you when you die. For example, when St Stephen was dying, God was right beside him all the way.
5) There is no pain that God cannot heal.
That statement is hard to explain, but experiencing God's healing touch is better than an intellectual argument.
6) There is evil inside you as well,
Take the atheist challenge, nobody is immune. I hope it does not take a trip to the gutter for you to realise what is going on. God wants to show you that you can defeat the evil inside you, you can be healed of its consequences, both past and future, and you can stand up and not be knocked over by it. And you can be involved in his work of dealing with evil. Unfortunately, experiencing evil is one of the ways that humans discovered God's love for them; it's a hard way, that's for sure. And evil can be persistent, it will keep trying to drag you down. The contrast between God's love and the evil of the world certainly does explain the devotion of God's followers.
7) Evil exists on this planet, because man dumped God from the world. Adam and Eve certainly stuffed it by disobeying God’s instructions, by wanting to be like God. They immediately felt fear, and it got worse from there. Eve unfortunately got to witness one son (Cain) murder another. It was not God’s intention. But good will come of it all in the end.
Evil sucks, but you can do your part in beating it, with God’s help. You certainly can’t beat it on your own.