{"id":149,"date":"2014-04-08T03:22:05","date_gmt":"2014-04-08T03:22:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bermiedizon.com\/?p=149"},"modified":"2014-06-05T14:35:26","modified_gmt":"2014-06-05T14:35:26","slug":"if-god-is-so-good-why-is-there-evil-in-the-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bermiedizon.com\/if-god-is-so-good-why-is-there-evil-in-the-world\/","title":{"rendered":"If God is so good, why is there evil in the world?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"childsurvivorsofauschwitz\"<\/a> <\/p>\n

Yes, if God is so good, why is there evil in the world? For thirty years in my work as pastor, I hear this question come up all the time. Interestingly, there is a movie recently \u201cGod is not Dead\u201d that focuses on answering this question.<\/p>\n

Honestly, there seems to be more \u201cwhy\u201d questions than answers. I have to admit that there was a time when I was not prepared to respond to these questions, either. However, after 30 years of dealing with them, I have discovered some things that I feel may help others. This is my attempt to give simple, reasonable and Biblical answers. I hope you can benefit from these.
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\nLet me begin with what an atheist asked: \u201cIf there is a good God, then why does He allow all the evil and injustice in this world?\u201d One of my favorite writers, C. S. Lewis, wrote, \u201cIf you are claiming there is injustice in the world, where do you get your moral standard of justice? If there is an absolute moral law, then there must be an absolute moral Law-Giver.\u201d This quote from C.S. Lewis is worth meditating. If we don\u2019t believe in God, then how do we get the notion of just and unjust? C.S. Lewis himself said that a person couldn\u2019t call a line crooked unless he has an idea of what a straight line is. Can you see the lack of logic in the question? The atheist\u2019s line of reasoning presupposes God as the moral Law-Giver, therefore the argument that God is unjust collapses. <\/strong><\/p>\n

Let me explain further. Instead of crying out against God, here is an observation about evil. First, we have no way of knowing something is really evil unless there is a God who established the moral law by which we can judge it to be evil. Second, as every faithful believer knows, the only real help when someone is in misery is from God. Where else will we go? \u2014 God has the words of eternal life (John 6:68). When we realize that life is coming close to the finish line, the only real relief is the assurance of eternal life and eternal promises of joy. Jesus said, “Come to me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest (Matthew 11:28). Another passage says, \u201cFor God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. \u201cFor God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him (John 3:16-17). The often quoted John 3:16-17 tells us of God\u2019s love and grace for humanity.<\/p>\n

Third, the only realistic anticipation that there will be an end of evil someday is that Christ has already defeated it. The writer of Hebrews declares of Christ \u201che himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil\u201d (Heb. 2:14). Even the apostle John saw the conclusion of this process when he wrote, \u201cHe will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away\u201d (Rev. 21:4).<\/p>\n

Here is another question: if God is All-Good and All-Powerful, why is evil not defeated? This raises another dilemma, one that has not passed the awareness of unbelievers. When Lucifer sinned, why didn\u2019t God stop it at the very beginning? Why didn\u2019t He nip it at the bud? In short, if the God of the Bible is all-loving and powerful, could He not defeat it? If He is all-good, He would defeat it, right? But let us look around us. Read the news. Look at our neighborhood. It is clear to all that wickedness is very evident and seems to be not defeated. <\/p>\n

Evil is far and wide. This is a painful dilemma for a Christian. In the same logic we use at the start of this article, how would we know God was not perfect unless we had some ultimate standard beyond God by which we could measure Him and know that He falls short? And if there were, then by its very character and nature this Ultimate Good would be God, and the one falling short would be some sinful creature. In addition, the Bible declares forcefully that God is \u201cthe Almighty One\u201d (Job 11:7) and the \u201cLord God Omnipotent\u201d (Rev. 19:6). He is all loving. Indeed, \u201cGod is love\u201d (1 John 4:16).<\/p>\n

Rather than evil defeating an all-good, all-powerful God, such a God guarantees the final victory over evil. For if He is all-good, then we know He wants to defeat evil. And if He is all-powerful, we know He can defeat evil. And if evil is not yet defeated, then we know for sure that it will one day be defeated. Its defeat is assured by the nature of an all-good and all-powerful God.
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\nEven with the belief that evil will eventually be defeated, we still cry out, \u201cHow long, O Lord?\u201d History has shown there was the holocaust in Europe, the Killing Fields in Cambodia, and the senseless ethic cleansing all over the world. One that has truly stirred hearts was the Jewish holocaust. Yet as horrible as it was, it does not cry out against God\u2019s goodness or existence. One of the holocaust survivors, in his testimony declared, \u201cIt never occurred to me to question God\u2019s doing or lack [of doing] while I was an inmate of Auschwitz. \u2026 I believe my faith was not undermined in the least. It never occurred to me to associate the calamity we were experiencing with God, to blame Him at all because He didn\u2019t come to our aid. Why? Because we owe our lives to Him. If someone believes God is responsible for the death of six million \u2026 he\u2019s got his thinking reversed. We owe God our lives for the few or the many years we live, and we have the duty to worship Him and do as He commands us.\u201d <\/p>\n

A few years ago when I was a pastor in the Philippines close to where the volcano, Mt. Pinatubo exploded, I remember how villages were buried and thousands fled. While we were evacuating one family whose house was buried by the lahar, I asked the father how he felt. I don\u2019t fully remember what he said. But in a sense he declared, \u201cI have my life, I have my family, and we have our God. What more could I ask for?\u201d <\/p>\n

As for why God has permitted so much evil for so long, we can only ask: Who would know better than an all-knowing Being? As for us limited creatures, we must be content to know: \u201cThe secret things belong to the Lord our God\u201d (Deut. 29:29). But we do know that the all-loving and all-powerful God is also all-knowing and that He sees \u201cthe end from the beginning (Isa. 46:10). In our waiting, God is \u201clongsuffering, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance\u201d (2 Peter 3:9).<\/p>\n

C. S. Lewis said, \u201cGod whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains; it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.\u201d Although God does not cause the evil, nonetheless He is working in the evil to bring about a greater good. <\/strong><\/p>\n

Hebrews informs us: \u201cFor the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it\u201d (Heb. 12:11). James wrote, \u201cCount it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness\u201d (James. 1:2-3). Even if our suffering is lifelong, Paul reminds us that \u201cthis slight momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison\u201d (2 Cor. 4:17). (For comments and question, please email me at bermie.dizon@gci.org)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Yes, if God is so good, why is there evil in the world? For thirty years in my work as pastor, I hear this question come up all the time. Interestingly, there is a movie recently \u201cGod is not Dead\u201d that focuses on answering this question. Honestly, there seems to be more \u201cwhy\u201d questions than […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":154,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[19,18],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bermiedizon.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/149"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bermiedizon.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bermiedizon.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bermiedizon.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bermiedizon.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=149"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bermiedizon.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/149\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bermiedizon.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/154"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bermiedizon.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=149"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bermiedizon.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=149"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bermiedizon.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=149"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}