Douglas Groothuis
Defending Christian Faith, December 14, 2004
GOD
AND THE PROBLEM OF EVIL
part 2
My soul is in
anguish.
How long, O LORD,
how long?—Ps. 6:3
IV. Toward
An Answer to the Problem of Evil
A.
Two philosophical problems of evil
1.
Logical or deductive problem: any
evil is too much for theism to be true
a.
Handling the problem: suggest
a principle to dissolve the contradiction
b.
“God has a sufficient reason for any evil that God
allows”
c.
This is a “defense” (negative apologetics—weak
rationality) not a theodicy (positive apologetics—strong
rationality)
2.
Evidential or inductive problem: too
much evil for theism to be rational
V. A
Response to the Problem of Evil
A.
God did not create evil, is not the author of evil
Evil
as “privation,” not a created substance (Augustine); C.S.
Lewis, Mere Christianity, book two
B.
God would only create the “best of all possible
worlds” (Leibniz, Corduan)
1.
Argument against this from Christian theists (R. Swinburne, R.
Adams)
2.
What world must God create? A
morally justifiable one
C.
Evil must be unavoidable condition for the highest goods. “Relative, instrumental
dualism” (Bernard Ramm, A Christian Appeal to Reason)
1.
Free will defense (assumes libertarian/incompatibilist view of
freedom; power of contrary choice)
2.
Problems with freewill defense (W. Dyrness, Ron Nash defend;
Corduan, D.A. Carson critique)
a.
Philosophical: placement in garden; actions in heaven
b.
Theological: compatiblism
as Scriptural (Calvin, Jonathon Edwards, D.A. Carson, “The
Mystery of
3.
Higher human goods (“soul-making”) that require
certain evils
a.
Courage/heroism/sacrifice requires risk, danger
b.
Patience requires obstacles, difficulties
c.
Human triumphs require challenges, impediments, roadblocks
d.
However, people may exhibit cowardice, despair, mediocrity,
etc.
4.
The present world as best way toward the best world: evil furthers greater goods
(“greater good defense”)—Genesis 50:20
a.
Appeal to Gods’ present purposes
b.
Appeal to God’s larger purposes
c.
Appeal to God’s final purposes (heaven and hell; new
creation)
Hell,
holiness, and human agency. See
D.A. Carson, How Long, O Lord?, chapter 6.
5.
Is there pointless or gratuitous suffering and evil? See Romans 8:28; Ephesians
1:11
a.
If God exists, there is no gratuitous evil
b.
God exists
c.
Therefore: there
is no gratuitous evil
6.
Mystery and limited explanation (Job; John 6:53 – 66;
Romans 11:33 – 36)
Some
reasons why it is hard to know why some evils exist (Craig,
Sinnott-Armstrong, God? 116 – 119).
7.
This is now the right world, given the nature of God and
God’s ultimate aims (Corduan restated)
8.
God’s suffering and Incarnation (missing from texts; see
Millard Erickson, The Word Made Flesh [Baker, 1992])
9.
God’s participation in the world, empathy (John 3:16; 2
Cor. 8:9)
a.
“The Long Silence” in John Stott, The Cross of
Christ (InterVarsity, 1987)
b.
On the suffering of God, see D.A. Carson, How Long, O
Lord? chapter 10
10.
Christ’s victory over sin, death, Satan (Romans 1:4; 1
Cor. 15)
Main sources:
1.
Carson, D.A. How Long, O Lord? (Baker, 1990)
2.
Corduan, Winfried, No Doubt About It (Broadman, Holman,
1997)
3.
Dyrness, William. Apologetics in a World Community.
(InterVarsity, 1983)
4.
Nash, Ronald. Faith and Reason. (Zondervan,
1988)
5.
Stump, Eleonore. “The Mirror of Evil,” in Os
Guinness, ed., The Journey, (NavPress, 2001), 164 – 174
For
discussions of how contemporary philosophers of religion deal with
the problem of evil, see:
1.
Craig,
2.
Feinberg, John, “Why I Still Believe in Christ, in Spite
of Evil and Suffering,” in Why I am a Christian, ed.,
Norman Geisler, Paul Hoffman (Zondervan, 2001). Powerful personal and
philosophical account of the author’s struggle with intense
natural evil in his family’s life.
3.
Feinberg, John, The Many Faces of Evil, revised ed.,
2004
4.
Moreland, J.P., William Lane Craig, Philosophical
Foundations for a Christian Worldview (InterVarsity Press, 2003),
chapter, “The Problem of Evil.”
5.
Taliaferro, Charles. Contemporary Philosophy of
Religion (Blackwell, 1998). Chapter 9
6.
Wainwright, William. Philosophy of Religion, 2nd
ed. (
For a sophisticated
defense (not a theodicy) of the Christian God in light of the problem
of evil, see:
1.
Plantinga, Alvin. Warranted Christian Belief (
2.
Plantinga, Alvin. God, Freedom, and Evil. (Grand
Rapids: Eerdmans, 1974)
VI. Notes
on the Pastoral Problem of Evil
A.
Struggle, God, Satan, and evil
1.
Submitting to God; resisting Satan (James 4:7 – 10)
2.
Submitting to God; resisting sin (Romans 6:15 – 23)
3.
Submitting to God; resisting worldliness (Romans 12:1 –
2; James 4:4 – 5)
B.
The danger of false, unbiblical promises (the “faith
movement”)—Jer. 8:8. See D. R. McConell, Another
Gospel
C.
Biblical promises to live by (2 Corinthians 1:18 – 22; 2
Peter 1:4)
D.
God’s uses of suffering gives hope
1.
Greater dependence on God, development of virtue (Romans 5:3
– 4)
2.
Greater empathy toward others through suffering (2 Corinthians
1:3 – 7)
E.
Eschatological encouragement
1.
The fate of the wicked in the end (Psalm 73; Matthew 25:46)
2.
Kingdom dynamics: the
already-not yet
a.
Wheat and the tares grow together until the end (Matthew 13:24
– 30)
b.
Spiritual warfare is real (Acts 13:1 – 12; Ephesians 6:10
– 18). See Mark Bubeck, Overcoming
the Adversary (Moody Press)
F.
Final judgment and the eternal state gives hope
1.
Eternal perspective on earthly life (2 Corinthians 4:7 –
11)
2.
The reality of the restored creation (Romans 8:22 – 25;
Revelation 21:1 – 4)
On the pastoral
problem of evil, see E. Stanley Jones, Christ and Human
Suffering.