Skeptics, Creation and the Problem of Evil

Recently, I was listening to the "God Delusion" debate between Richard Dawkins and John Lennox. Notwithstanding his brilliance and scholarly attainments in his field of "evolutionary" biology, I was stricken by how utterly clueless Mr. Dawkins is with respect to the coherence of the arguments and accusations he makes against God. Honestly, the debate clearly depicts a childish and petty man, without an ounce of scholarly understanding of his opposition's arguments. In this post, I'd like to address one of the accusations against God made by almost all skeptics, namely the problem of evil. Let's begin. How many times have we heard skeptics and scoffers ask this question:

"If God exists (or If God is omnipotent), why does He allow ===> (insert example of an evil God did not "fix" here)".

The general argument is usually formulated as follows:

1. An omnipotent God would heal everyone or prevent evil from happening.
2. People are not healed and evil happens.
3. Therefore, an omnipotent God does not exist, or He is not good.

The Ultimate Question: Why do bad things happen and why does God allow death and suffering to exist? Either He is not Good, or He is not all Powerful.

First, let's examine the implicit bias that such questioners may not realize they hold, or are unwilling to admit. To wit: they ALREADY believe that the problems they observe with the world disproves God!! Theirs is not an "objective" question, though they often hide behind a mask of objectivity. Believers, on the other hand, readily admit to the bias that God exists. With that presupposition honestly admitted, I'd like to put forth the explanation I believe explains the "alleged" paradox raised by the questioner.

Second, what is the questioner's purpose in naming specific examples that God has not fixed — or accusing God of failing to perform good deeds that the skeptic presupposes He should have done? Is it not a pursuit to affirm and validate the presupposition (bias) inherent in their perspective? Yes, it is. They want to be "right" so that they can feel "good" about it, because the alternative, if we are right, is a consequence too horrible for them to contemplate.

Finally, their twisted logic "proves" absolutely nothing, least of all discredits the claims of Christianity.

The skeptics' arguments fail because they refuse to examine what the Bible DOES claim. From Genesis to Revelation, we are told the cause of evil and the problems we observe in this world, and the facts around us attest to it. We don't need to seek an alternative explanation. Evil, suffering and death are the result of HUMAN sin, and its root goes all the way back to the Fall in the Garden of Eden. Genesis 3.

What's even more revealing is that skeptics inherently DESIRE the "perfection" of a world without sin, a Utopian return to Eden. Why else do they attack God in the first place? Eden is the unspoken "standard" to which THEY hold GOD accountable! And there is no mystery in this. Man was created in the "image" of God, a moral and spiritual creature. There is a spiritual vacuum in man that can only be filled by God's Holy Spirit, like a lamp in need of being lit. Apart from God's Spirit, he can only long for that which he lost without truly grasping what it was, and considers God's revelation of it "foolishness". (1 Corinthians 2:13-15) This is the tragedy of sin and the lostness of man.

In contrast, the Bible tells us that God DID create a righteous world, a perfect Creation and declared it "very good". God isn't the one who ruined it. It was Adam and Eve's rebellion that marred it, not God. He only gave them ONE RULE to keep and they refused. Of necessity, God, the Creator, Perfect Judge, and the source of all Justice, decreed the Curse of death and suffering as the punishment for sin on mankind.

It is for this very reason that God holds man accountable for sin - we corrupted His perfect creation, including our own selves. For six millenniums, nothing has changed. Each individual person continues to act out the same sin and rebellion as Adam and Eve, believing the same lies with which the Serpent (Satan) beguiled Eve, and approaching Him with the same arrogant disregard for His word. "Has God really said?". THAT is the part that the skeptics refuse to face. They uphold Eden, that original world of righteousness, as the standard against which they ACCUSE GOD, but without acknowledging the source of its corruption and loss. Fallen humanity is the source of suffering, evil and death. We bring catastrophe on ourselves.

Frankly, if there really were no God at all, then the moral distinctions of "good" and "evil" would have no meaning. Our suffering and death would contain no more importance, much less moral outrage, than stepping on a cockroach, or the trees that shed dead leaves every winter. Who cares if they are burned in the fire? No Big deal. Why should it matter if all of humanity is wiped out in catastrophes, like the Flood? What significance would it have?! But because GOD EXISTS, human suffering and death DO have moral significance, but the skeptics simply fail to understand or embrace its cause.

Therefore, there is no contradiction between the existence of a Good and Loving God with the ongoing problem of death and suffering. Not only is it illogical and irrational to blame our Holy and Righteous God for the existence of evil, but is evidence of our fallenness that we blame Him for the consequences of our own sins! The spiritual and mental confusion of man, including the rise of every form of religion, superstition, pagan idolatrous systems, humanism and quest for political utopias, that have ever arisen all derive from man's broken relationship with God.

But because God IS Good and Merciful, He did not leave His creation to suffer and die forever. That's why He sent His own Son into the world in the likeness of humanity, to take our place in suffering and death on the cross. He paid the penalty and the punishment for our sin. By God's grace, we are created anew. God's Spirit regenerates our spirits, and gives the gifts of repentance and faith. Through faith, the Spirit individually applies within our consciences the finished work of atonement that Jesus Christ accomplished on the cross. Through faith, we are justified - we know that we are forgiven, and that God is reconciled to us in the death of His Son, and that we are reconciled to God by faith in Him.

Why does God allow death and suffering to continue for now? Because the work of applying redemption to its heirs must continue until every heir of God's grace that Christ died for receives His inheritance, salvation and eternal life. When Christ returns, He will end the suffering and death and bring with Him resurrection and life. "For He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet. The last enemy that will be destroyed is death".- 1 Corinthians 15:20-26

The bad news that the skeptic is unwilling to face is that those outside of Christ will suffer His justice and wrath, a living death from which they will never die. That is why it is so important that we dispel these fallacious arguments which Satan uses to blind the eyes of lost humanity. Satan has already been judged and condemned. WE are the ones on trial, not God, He does not need to prove Himself to us, nor does He “need” to bless us. When He does bless us, it is entirely out of mercy and grace, and we best be thankful!