The Problem of Evil

Last Thursday I had the opportunity to see Ravi Zacharias and Os Guinness speak at the Atlanta Civic Center on "The Mystery of Evil, The Sovereignty of Good." Both are great speakers, and a few points really stuck with me.

1) Only in the Judeo-Christian worldview is evil truly evil:

Many worldviews and religions classify things as good and bad, true and false, right and wrong, but only in the Old and New Testaments is sin an infinite chasm between the Creator and His Creation. Other worldviews tell you to deny the existence of evil, or of the world itself, or to do the right thing, do good works, and work off your sins. Some tell you that society defines good and evil, and that the whole thing is just a social construction, others say it is a naturally coexistent force, that good and bad are always in balance in the world.
Only the belief in a Creator and final Righteous Judge can truly define what evil is. Only in the knowledge that we were made for a purpose can we say that something is rejecting it's purpose (which Ravi and Os used as a good definition of evil -- the rejection of purpose). Other worldviews have to say that the pain and strife we see in the world is natural, it's the way the world should be. It is Christianity that says the world is messed up, so when a person try to use "the problem of evil" to refute a good loving God, realize that the person is borrowing from the very worldview they are arguing against.


2) The "best possible world"

I forget exactly how Ravi said this, so this is all going to be my paraphrase, but I really liked his answer to "Why God created a world that would be evil."
What is the best of all possible ends? What is the best thing in existence? Love. The world could not be the best, it could not be "very good" without the possibility of love. We would only be the best creation if we could respond in love to our creator. However love requires option, it necessitates choice. Sure, it would've been nice if Adam and Eve hadn't chosen their own way. The world could be the best possible world the way God created it: with the option for evil but without the presence of evil.
But that's just a "what if", and the truth of the matter is God created the best possible world. God does not make mistakes. God allowed for evil, God gave the opening for man to follow pride. God let man break the world and His only Son.


3) So, is God evil?

So, does this make God evil? Should he have not created at all knowing that the best possible world would still revolt?
Ravi gave a great analogy for that (paraphrased):
If a car is used to go over the speed limit, or to traffic illegal drugs, or to transport dead bodies, or to run someone down in the street, is the car manufacturer at fault? Should they be brought to court to answer for the use of the car? No.
The car was well made, it could accelerate well to get out of a bad spot, it could carry plenty of cargo, and it went and did exactly what the driver told it to. The design was not bad, however the use of the design was. Man is a wonderful design, built by a good, loving God, but the same arms, legs, mouth, and mind can be used for His purposes or for ours.



Well, I just typed a lot it seems, but I liked the synthesis of these ideas from Ravi and Os. There is only one worldview that says that evil is evil and God is good. All other worldviews have to water down both.


( Wow… I haven't posted in over a month… and I pick the day that I have to write a lab report to write… anyway, hope you enjoyed it :-) )