Reflecting back on the house fire causes me to once again ponder the Problem of Evil. It’s challenging to look back on horrific events like the Holocaust or the school shootings, and wonder how a loving God could allow that to happen. It is another level of self-reflection when you watch your dad die of cancer, or see your house going up in flames. My Dad was a good man. I’m a decent chap. Why do bad things happen to good people?
When I was in college, and for a few years after I graduated, this question truly vexed me and challenged my faith. You can read some of that struggle in my blog post, Losing My Religion. (http://bryanandlianne.name/wordpress/?p=841) In that post I didn’t dig into the Problem of Evil in any depth, so I’m going to do that now. The problem is summed up like this, “If God is all-loving and all-powerful, then how could He allow all of the pain and gratuitous suffering in the world?” Despite the fact that theologians and philosophers have wrestled with this question for many years, none of the responses have convinced me. Here’s sampling of the ways the Problem of Evil is handled, and my issues with each of them.
Reformed theology rests in God’s sovereignty. To boil it down to a trite catch phrase it would be “God is in control” or “Everything happens for a reason.” God is omniscient and He has a plan. We may not be able to understand how or why things happen the way they do, but it is part of God’s inscrutable plan. When tragedy strikes John Piper’s response is, “Go to the cross of Christ and realize that God designed this horrible horrible event for our good.” (https://www.desiringgod.org/interviews/how-can-i-believe-that-god-is-in-control-when-something-bad-happens) I have a tough time with this depiction of God because when applied to large, grotesque suffering, it makes God seem spiteful, vindictive, and unloving. When addressing The Holocaust, school shootings, cancers, and parasitic diseases I can’t shrug and just hope that God is working something out. That doesn’t work for me.
Armenian Evangelical theology addresses the Problem of Evil with three main points. The first is that God gave humanity free will and His allowance for that freedom causes much of the pain and suffering in the world. Secondly, sin entered the world as a result of man’s free will and that upset the balance of nature that God intended. Thirdly, some of the more Pentecostal preachers see spiritual warfare with Satan and demonic spiritual beings, as the source of suffering and evil.
- http://reknew.org/2014/10/why-we-cant-know-why-bad-things-happen/
- http://www.kcm.org/real-help/spiritual-growth/learn/why-do-bad-things-happen
- http://evangelicalarminians.org/brian-abasciano-answering-the-problem-of-evil-from-an-arminian-perspective/
I understand the free will argument as far as it goes. It is evident to me that without the freedom to choose how we live, we have no ability to love. That explains much of the evil in the world, shootings, wars, and even some diseases and sicknesses. It doesn’t explain natural disasters and random suffering. I have a tough time ascribing all of the rest of the evil in the world to an invisible, supernatural battle between cosmic beings. That doesn’t work for me.
Deists and atheists will say that the Problem of Evil is a consequence of how the world works. A deist would say that God set everything in motion, but isn’t involved in the day to day workings of the universe. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deism An atheist would simply say, “Stuff happens.” I’m inclined to agree with these perspectives. Dad got cancer because human cells sometimes mutate and grow much faster than they should, and the body is unable to correct it. That’s easier for me to believe than that God planned that cancer in order to set in motion some greater good. The house caught on fire because the aluminum wires expanded and contracted faster than the copper fittings, which loosened a connector somewhere, created a spark, which started the fire. Or maybe it was a rat chewing on the electrical insulation. That’s easier for me to believe than that some supernatural forces created the fire, or that the rat was demon possessed. 🙂 My problem with this is that it relegates God to a bystander in our lives, He’s either ineffectual, uncaring, or He doesn’t exist. But I’ve experienced God. I’ve seen His hand moving and working in my life. This viewpoint doesn’t work for me either.
I can do a good job of explaining why I DON’T agree with these solutions to the Problem of Evil, but I can’t do a good job explaining what I DO agree with. Undoubtedly much of our suffering is our own fault. We tend to excess in America. Our lifestyle harms us in many ways. We over consume everything from media to food, and it is literally killing us. Outside of these self-inflicted wounds, I don’t have answers, so over the last decade or so I’ve settled into a posture of motivated ignorance. What I mean is that I don’t know the reason for the suffering and pain in the world. Maybe we can’t know. https://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-backman/does-god-intervene-in-our-lives_b_2395638.html
However, I do know what my response should be. I’m motivated to action. http://mikemchargue.com/blog/2014/10/22/the-god-of-cancer I believe that God loves all of us. I believe that it is our responsibility to do our best to show that God inspired love to those who are hurting and suffering around us.
As the fire flared through the roof of our house I didn’t raise my fists in anger at God. I didn’t see God’s hand behind the flames, nor did I see a demonic or satanic attack. Instead, I saw family and friends reaching out to us with love and support in response to a random tragedy. God is love, and I saw God through their response to our suffering. I found God in the flames.