Many people may wonder why God has permitted evil and suffering to exist and/or why He has allowed a completely evil being called Satan (or the Devil) to exist. As a result, they question if God is genuinely good and really cares about the welfare of most people.
Before addressing this matter, we want to make clear what we mean when we use the term evil. According to Webster’s Dictionary, evil means “sinful,” and sin refers to “transgression of the law of God.” It can also be said that humans have standards of good and bad that they use in determining what is evil.
Determining What Constitutes Evil
Peter Kreeft, Ph.D., argues on page 34 of Lee Strobel’s book The Case For Faiththat the notion of “what ought to be” is “a reality called the Supreme Good. Well, that’s another name for God.” He goes on to ask, “[I]f there is no God, where did we get the standard of goodness by which we judge evil as evil?”
William Craig, Ph.D., on pages 80 and 81 of the same book, says,
[I]f there is no God, then moral values are merely the products of socio-biological evolution. In fact, that’s what many atheists think. According to philosopher Michael Ruse: “Morality is a biological adaptation no less than are hands and feet and teeth,” and morality is “just an aid to survival and reproduction. . . .”
Or if there is no God, then morality is just a matter of personal taste, akin to statements like, “Broccoli tastes good.” Well, it tastes good to some people but bad to others. There isn’t any objective truth about that; it’s a subjective matter of taste. And to say that killing innocent children is wrong would just be an expression of taste. . . .
[W]ithout God there is no absolute right and wrong which imposes itself on our conscience.
Evil Is Pervasive Throughout the Human Race
Philip Yancey states on page 260 of his book entitled Reaching for the Invisible God,
Since the Fall [of mankind] we have lived in a world dominated by powers that are not morally neutral but rather tilted toward evil, as any history book or daily newspaper makes evident. Violence and injustice should not surprise us for we belong to an age in which evil rules.
Micah 7:2 says, “[T]here is no one upright [or righteous] among men.” And, Romans 3:23 states, “[F]or all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
[Note: When we quote Scripture in this article, we use the wording in the New King James Version of the Bible, except when we are quoting a source that uses a different translation.]
The aforementioned scriptures indicate that, with the exception of Jesus Christ, everyone who has reached the age (or condition) of accountability has sinned. [For a discussion regarding the accountability of infants, young children, and the mentally deficient, click on “Does God Make Exceptions for People Who Don’t Have Opportunity to Trust in Christ?”]
But, what about the man named Job about whom an entire book of the Bible is written? The first verse of this book says that Job was “blameless and upright.” This seems to indicate that Job was sinless.
In this regard, Norman Geisler, Ph.D., and Thomas Howe, M.A., state on page 223 of their book entitled When Critics Ask,
God’s praise of Job was not absolute, as is clear from His later condemnation of him (in chapter 38). . . . Further, God only pronounced Job “blameless” before man, whereas Romans is speaking about no one, apart from Christ’s work, being blameless before God (cf. Rom. 3:19).
Thus, everyone who has become accountable is tainted (i.e., morally contaminated) with sin, so they possess some degree of evil. As a result, if God did not allow evil to exist, no human being who has become accountable would be allowed to continue to live after their first sin.
If God Is Truly Good, Why Does He Allow So Much Evil to Exist?
Paul Little, on page 87 of his book entitled Know Why You Believe, quotes J. B. Phillips as stating, “Evil is inherent in the risky gift of free will.” Little goes on to say,
God could have made us machines, but to do so would have robbed us of our precious freedom of choice, and we would have ceased to be human. Exercise of free choice in the direction of evil . . . is the basic reason for evil and suffering in the world. It is man’s responsibility, not God’s.
[M]uch of the suffering in the world can be traced directly to the evil choices men and women make.
On page 37 of Strobel’s previously-mentioned book, Kreeft states,
[O]nce God chose to create human beings with free will, then it was up to them, rather than to God, as to whether there was sin or not. That’s what free will means. Built into the situation of God deciding to create human beings is the chance of evil and, consequently, the suffering that results.
[God] created the possibility of evil; people actualized that potentiality. The source of evil is not God’s power but mankind’s freedom. . . . [O]ur freedom includes the possibility of sin. . . .
It might be argued that some sins are far more serious (i.e., worse) than others, and that, therefore, God should immediately eliminate the people who commit the worst sins. But, where should the proverbial line be drawn? Should only murderers be eliminated? What about a person who kills but is not mentally competent? What about a person who, in the process of committing a crime, unintentionally kills someone else? What about a person who participates in an abortion, but believes that abortion is not murder? What about a person who attempts to murder someone else but is unsuccessful? What about a person who severely tortures someone, but does not kill them?
Why Does God Allow Satan to Do Evil?
In addition to giving humans free will to commit evil deeds, the Bible indicates that God is also allowing Satan to do evil deeds until such time as God implements His final judgment on the world. But, why would God allow Satan to continue to tempt people to commit evil acts, including heinous crimes? In this regard, Archer states on page 393 of his previously cited book,
There can be no such thing as moral goodness unless there is also the possibility of moral evil. Without a voluntary choice of what is right, there can be no such thing as virtue; but a freedom to choose good necessarily implies a freedom to choose evil. . . .
Ultimately, Satan will be punished for the evil he has instigated. Revelation 20:10 assures us that he will be thrown into a “lake of fire and brimstone” where he will remain forever. And, as a result, he will no longer be able to tempt anyone who has trusted in Jesus Christ for eternal salvation.
Is All Suffering Caused by Evil?
There is ample reason to believe that not all the suffering that occurs is caused by evil. God often allows suffering to test people or to motivate them to improve their relationship with Him. In this regard, Kreeft makes the following statements on page 41 of Strobel’s aforementioned book:
Certainly there are times when God allows suffering and deprives us of the lesser good of pleasure in order to help us toward the greater good of moral and spiritual education. . . .
We know that moral character gets formed through hardship, through overcoming obstacles, through enduring despite difficulties. . . .
Scripture tells us that even Jesus “learned obedience through suffering” – and if that was true from him, why wouldn’t it be even more true for us?
Yancey asserts on page 273 of his previously cited book, “God does not promise to solve all our problems, at least not in the manner we want them to be solved. . . . Rather, God calls us to trust him and to obey. . . .”
And, Little, on page 88 of his previously-mentioned book, says, “At times it is our reaction to suffering, rather than the suffering itself, that determines whether the experience is one of blessing or of blight.”
Does God Passively Allow Christians to Suffer?
We are confident that God does not just passively allow Christians to suffer. On page 57 of his book entitled Radical, David Platt, the pastor of The Church at Brook Hills in Birmingham, Alabama, states,
Maybe you are going through a struggle in your life. A tragedy strikes you or someone close to you, and you are hurting. So you go to God in prayer, and you ask him to comfort you. Do you realize what God does? He doesn’t give you comfort. Instead he gives you the Holy Spirit, who is called the Comforter [John 14:15-19, KJV]. The Holy Spirit literally comes to dwell in you and puts the very comfort of Christ
Although Platt seems to be saying that God sends the Holy Spirit when a person has a particular need for the Comforter, we believe that the Holy Spirit dwells in every Christian from the moment they trust in Jesus Christ as their Savior. In other words, the Holy Spirit always indwells every Christian, not just when they have a special need. Regardless, Platt’s main point is valid: God, through His Holy Spirit, is with each Christian who needs comforting. [For a discussion of what it means to be indwelled by the Holy Spirit, click on “Being Filled with the Holy Spirit versus Being Indwelled by the Holy Spirit.”]
In any case, it can rightly be argued that God has an unassailable purpose when He allows people to suffer. In this regard, Will Toburen, the senior pastor at Calvary Baptist Church in Winston-Salem, North Carolina stated in one of his sermons, “God’s purpose in our suffering is more important than understanding the cause of our suffering.”
Isaiah 55:9 supports the basis for this belief. In this scripture, God declares, ““For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.”
Is There a Limit to the Amount of Evil and Suffering that God Will Allow?
Why does God not intervene, at least to curtail the worst suffering and mass killings, such as occurred in the Holocaust during World War II?
That question raises another question: If God is expected to protect people from severe suffering or a heinous death, where should the “line” be drawn; i.e., when should He intervene? Should it be when a million people are involved? When a thousand people are involved? What about when a hundred people or ten people or even just one person is involved?
If God does intervene, He will do so according to His own timing. Kreeft asserts on page 43 of Strobel’s aforementioned book,
People aren’t getting away with it [i.e., hurting others]. Justice delayed is not necessarily justice denied. There will come a day when God will settle accounts and people will be held responsible for the evil they’ve perpetrated and the suffering they’ve caused. . . . God will bring accountability at the right time. . . .
On page 45 of his previously-cited book, Strobel quotes Augustine as stating, “Since God is the highest good, he would not allow any evil to exist in his works unless his omnipotence and goodness were such as to bring good even out of evil.” Subsequently, on the same page of Strobel’s book, Kreeft says,
[J]ust about every human being can reflect on his or her past and say, “I learned from that hardship. I didn’t think I would at the time, but I’m a bigger and better person for having endured it and persevered.” Even people without religious faith are aware of that dimension of suffering. And if we can bring good out of evil even without bringing God into the picture, you can imagine how much more, with God’s help, evil can work out for the greater good.
Yancey, on page 60 of his previously-mentioned book, states that the Bible provides “hope for the future, that even suffering can be transformed so that it produces good results. . . . In every case, suffering offers an opportunity for us to display the work of God, whether in weakness or in strength.” And, on page 266 of the same book, he says, “To those who trust him, God promises to use any circumstances to serve his ultimate will.”
In this regard, Kreeft states on page 39 of Strobel’s aforementioned book that God “has demonstrated how the very worst thing that has ever happened in the history of the world ended up resulting in the very best thing that has ever happened in the history of the world.” Kreeft goes on to provide the following explanation:
I’m referring to dei-cide [sic]. The death of God himself on the cross. At the time, nobody saw how anything good could ever result from this tragedy. And yet God foresaw that the result would be opening of heaven to human beings. So the worst tragedy in history brought about the most glorious event in history. And if it happened there – if the ultimate evil can result in the ultimate good – it can happen elsewhere. . . .
Conclusion
An appropriate conclusion to the question of why God allows evil and suffering is provided by Little on page 88 of his previously-cited book. He states that God “has fully met the problem of evil in giving his own Son, Jesus Christ, at infinite cost to himself. The consequence of evil for eternity is forever removed; sin is forgiven. . . .” Little then adds that, by not sparing His Son, “God has clearly revealed his character and dramatically demonstrated it to us in the Cross. . . .” So, although God currently still allows evil and suffering, His plan for dealing with these negative elements has already been initiated.