Institute of Biblical Studies Apologetics
Winter 2016 Page 18
LECTURE 5
The “Problem” of Evil
I. INTRODUCTION
II. UNDERSTANDING THE NATURE OF THE “PROBLEM”
A. Three important points
1. There is no such thing as the problem of evil.
2. The specific “problem” depends on the system in which the alleged problem arises.
3. We must remember that the problem is person (& worldview) - relative.
B. An Important Distinction
1. Logical (or philosophical) problem of evil
a. The issue:
b. The problem stated
(i) If God were all-loving he would destroy evil.
(ii) If God were all powerful he could destroy evil.
(iii) Evil is not destroyed
(iv) Therefore, an all-loving all-powerful God does not exist.
c. Two types of evil
(i) Moral evil
(ii) Physical (or natural) evil
2. “Religious” problem of evil
a. The issue
b. Implications
III. APPROACHES TO THE PHILOSOHICAL PROBLEM OF EVIL
A. The concept of “theodicy”
B. Two classical theodocies
1. The “Free-will Defense” (St. Augustine)
3. The “Soul-making Defense” (Irenaeus)
C. All world-views must attempt to account for the problem of evil
1. Atheism
2. Pantheism/illusionism
3. Dualism
D. Implications and perspective:
IV. BIBLICAL REFLECTIONS ON EVIL: THE NEED FOR A FRAMEWORK FROM WHICH TO ANSWER THIS QUESTION
A. The framework of the Bible’s story-line
B. Implications from the Bible’s story-line:
Ø It is clear from the story that God is not the author of evil.
Ø Sin (and hence evil) entered the world through human choice.
Ø The Bible takes evil very seriously.
Ø Death is not merely the outworking of natural process, but it’s the price we pay for rebellion against God.
Ø God’s immediate goal is not merely to eliminate evil but to gather a covenant people.
Ø God understands our suffering because he has suffered.
Ø One day God will eliminate all evil.
Ø Story highlights the issue of waiting.
B. Two additional biblical “givens”
1. God is sovereign
2. Human beings are morally responsible
Examples of compatibalism
(v) Gen 50:19-20
(vi) John 6:37-40
(vii) Phil 2:12-13
V. THE RELIGIOUS PROBLEM OF EVIL
A. The religious problem of evil does not raise the question of evil in general but why God allowed a specific instance of evil.
B. The religious problem of evil is not primarily intellectual but an emotional one.
C. A common mistake
VI. DEALING WITH THE PROBLEM OF EVIL IN MINSTRY
a. With Non-Christians
b. With Christians
APPENDIX 1
Thoughts for Christians: Fifteen "reasons" for evil
- Testing Job 1:9
- To show God's power John 9:3; Rom. 9:17
- "Soulmaking" Romans 5:15; Joel 2:1213
- Retributive justice Neh. 9:2627; Amos 2:4
- Personal sin James 5:1315; Mark 2:112, John 5:14
- Sowing and reaping Gal 6:78; Hos. 8:7
- Biological usefulness leprosy
- Human knowledge Acts 5:5
- Satanic activity 1 Peter 5: 68; Matt. 13:28
- "God's megaphone" 2 Cor. 12:79
xi. Discipline Hebrews 12:511; Prov. 3:1112
- Persecution 1 Peter 2:20
- Purification from sin, refining James 1:24; 1 Peter 4:16
- Sharing Christ's sufferings 1 Peter 3:1314; Col. 1:24
- "Higher ways" Gen. 50:20; Hab. 1:56; 3:17
APPENDIX 2
Thoughts for helpers
PRELIMINARY THOUGHTS
· Let go of the health and wealth gospel abandon it in light of Scripture.
· Realize that rebuilding a broken world takes time.
· How vitally connected is this incident to the person's self image?
· How vitally connected is this person to good relationships?
· How tenaciously will they hold on to their broken world view?
· How broken is their world?
· How used to being "real" are they?
STEPS TO HELP
1) Be there for them (Job 2:13)
2) Physical presence combats the nakedness and loneliness of a broken world.
3) Practical helps can make a huge difference meals, rides, etc.
4) Offer to hear their story. Offer (but don't force) yourself as a concerned listener.
5) Practice reflective listening.
a) One of the biggest mistakes we make with others is that we assume we understand before we really do.
b) Reflective listening is not parroting; it is seeking to enter their world to understand exactly what they are struggling with.
c) Reflective listening shows love by seeking to understand, and it affirms the individuality of a person's pain.
d) Reflective listening can help the person put into words what he/she is feeling. "You sound like you feel abandoned.", "That feels really lonely.", etc.
6) Share and express your anger and sadness at this manifestation of evil in the world.
7) Let them know that it's OK to express their feelings to the Lord and to you.
a) Some people will feel guilty expressing any negative emotion to God
b) A look at the psalms shows us that honest hurt and anger can be expressed to God.
c) Journaling can help some people put their feelings into words.
8) Ask questions to understand their situation better. Seek to diagnose their particular problem.
a) Does it feel like God is weak?
b) Does it feel like God is uncaring?
c) Does it feel like God is absent?
d) Does it feel like God is untrustworthy?
9) Offer to share some thoughts with them (whenever they are ready or interested) of how God helped you make some sense out of suffering.
a) Be careful not to compare your situation to theirs.
b) Be willing to let them come to you. If you are a good listener, they will come to you first.
c) Offer to be a sounding board, not an advicegiver.
10) Seek to introduce a Biblical grid to their situation, embracing the emotional content and the intellectual.
11) Ask them how they would have wanted the world to be. Would they rather be robots? Would they rather not have choices, even though sometimes they lead to horrible things?
12) Continue be their friend regardless of how they feel about their spirituality. Affirm them for beginning the process to rebuild their broken world.
13) Encourage every step that lays a Biblical foundation that will last. Encourage every thought that thinks Biblically about evil and suffering in the world. Respond to unbiblical ideas with, "Yeah, it sure feels like God is absent (or whatever), doesn't it?". Affirm the feeling but not the concept. Encourage them to be tenacious in their relationship with God. Assure them of God's help. Help them see the light at the end of the tunnel. (1 Pet. 5:10; Rom 8:3139; 2 Cor. 4:17)
VII. FOR FURTHER STUDY
Basinger, David and Randall Basinger, eds. Predestination and Free-Will: Four Views of Divine Sovereignty and Human Freedom. Downer’s Grove: InterVarsity, 1986. One of the issues that arises in handling the logical problem of evil is how one understands both God’s sovereignty and human freedom. Four writers (John Feinberg, Norman Geisler, Bruce Reichenbach and Clark Pinnock) each present a particular view of God’s sovereignty and human freedom and respond to each other.
Carson, D.A. How Long, O Lord? (Baker, 1990). This book is a must-have. Carson wrote this book not for non-Christians but for Christians. It contains insightful biblical reflections on both the religious and logical problems of evil.
Corduan, Winfried. Reasonable Faith. (Broadman & Holman, 1993).
Curtis, Brent and John Eldridge. The Sacred Romance (Nashville: Nelson, 1997). While this book does not address the problem of evil the authors have some helpful insights on dealing with the religious problem of evil viz. the story-line of the Bible.
Feinberg, John. Deceived By God? A Journey Through Suffering. Wheaton: Crossway, 1997. In this book Feinberg relates his personal experiences with the religious problem of evil.
______. The Many Faces of Evil. (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1994). Feinberg looks at how different theological systems attempt to resolve the logical problem of evil.
Frame, John. Apologetics to the Glory of God. (Phillipsburg: Puritan & Reformed, 1994). Frame’s book is an example of how one approaches the problem of evil from a “presuppositional” perspective.
Geisler, Norman. The Roots of Evil. (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1978).
Grudem, Wayne. Systematic Theology (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1997). See especially chapter 16 on “God’s Providence,” pp. 315-54.
Hare, John. "The Problem of Evil" in Evidence for Faith, ed. J.W. Montgomery. (Word, 1991).
Helm, Paul. The Providence of God. Downer’s Grove: InterVarsity, 1993. This book presents an overview of the biblical doctrine of providence. Chapter eight discusses God’s providence and evil (pp. 193-216).
Lewis, C.S. A Grief Observed. (London: Faber & Faber, 1964).
______. The Problem of Pain. (New York: Macmillan, 1962).
Soll, William. "The Israelite Lament: Faith Seeking Understanding" in Quarterly Review, vol. 8.3, 1988
Yancey, Phillip. Disappointment With God. (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1988).
______. Where Is God When It Hurts? (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1977). Yancy’s books are particularly helpful in addressing the religious problem of evil.
Plantinga, Alvin. God, Freedom and Evil. (New York: Harper & Row, 1974). Plantinga presents a classic expression of the free-will defense in this book in response to the logical problem of evil.
Inclusivism and the Fate
of the Unevangelized
I. Introduction: Several Views on the Destiny of the Unevangelized
A. SENERIO TO DISCUSS:
You are part of a team preparing notes and articles for a new evangelistic study Bible aimed at those who have never read the Scriptures. The following article was written by a distinguished member of the committee (someone who you have never personally met). It was sent to you by the administrator of the project asking you to review it for Biblical and theological accuracy and applicability to this audience. What would be your response?
What about those who never heard of Jesus?
What happens to people who have never heard about Christ? If Jesus is the only way to eternal life (Acts 4:12), what chance do they have? The answer is that everyone has a chance to hear the basics of the gospel. Romans 1 declares God's character and nature can be "understood by the things that are made, . . . so that they [we] are without excuse." Colossians 1:23 says the gospel has been proclaimed to everyone under heaven, a reference to God's words being spoken through the heavens (Psalm 19:1-4). But exactly how is the gospel revealed to all through the creation?
Humble-hearted examination of nature is sufficient to convince anyone that a Creator exists and that He is powerful and wise. The extent of the Creator's provision for His creatures speaks of His love, and our awareness of right and wrong tells us a standard of rightness, or holiness, also exists.
Sooner or later, we discover that even with our best efforts we can't consistently do right. We see that we fall hopelessly short of the Creator's perfect standard and even our own. But surely a Creator who is so loving, powerful, and wise would have provided a way to rescue us. There must be a Rescuer, a Redeemer. If we trust our lives totally and only to this Rescuer-Redeemer, we will be saved. This, in a nutshell, is the gospel. And it is information attainable though God's creation. Anyone who discerns and accepts this much truth about God's Rescuer and comes to Him for deliverance from his or her helpless, hopeless inability to live rightly will be saved. There is nothing magical about any of the more than 50 names for Jesus in the Old and New Testaments. It is his character and mission we must trust in, not any particular title.
A good example of someone who (by God's Spirit) discovered and received the gospel as he examined God's creation is Job (Job 7-19). Of course, not everyone is as humble as Job. That is why missionaries are needed. But in the same passage that the apostle Paul emphasizes the need to send out missionaries (Romans 10:14-15), he quotes King David's declaration in Psalm 19 that God's message, written upon the heavens, has been sent out to all the earth (Romans 10:18).
B. “Open” views toward the unevangelized
1. Justin Martyr (2nd century apologist)
2. Ulrich Zwingli (Reformer)
3. John Locke (British philosopher)
4. John Wesley (18th cent. evangelist): “No more therefore will be expected of them then living up to the light they had. But many of them . . . we have great reason to hope, although they lived among the heathens, yet were quite of another spirit; being taught by God, by his inward voice, all the essentials of true religion.” (From a sermon)
5. C. S. Lewis: “There are people in other religions who are being led by God’s secret influence to concentrate on those parts of their religion which are in agreement with Christianity, and who thus belong to Christ with knowing.” Mere Christianity, 176.
II. The Emergence of Catholic Inclusivism
A. “No salvation outside the church”
B. The Second Vatican Council (1962-65)
1. A revised theological framework
a. Jesus Christ is the one mediator between God and humankind; salvation is found exclusively through him.
b. God desires everyone to be saved (often referred to in Catholic theology as “God’s universal salvific will”).
c. The Church is necessary for salvation in such a way that those who have heard the gospel and reject Christ and his Church cannot obtain salvation.
d. Nevertheless those who through no fault of their own have not heard the gospel, can obtain salvation. Three conditions must be exist
(1) The person must be ignorant of the gospel and the (Catholic) Church.
(2) The person must seek God with an open heart.
e. Moved by grace the person must seek to do God’s will.
Through the mysterious work of the Holy Spirit the benefits of Christ’s death are made universally available to all humankind. However, only God knows the means through which salvation outside the Church occurs.
f. The Church seeks positive relations with adherents of non-Christian religions.
g. Non-Christian religions are to be viewed positively insofar as they contain elements of “beauty and truth.” These elements may be viewed as preparatory for the gospel.
2. Significance of Vatican II
C. In the years since Vatican II, two principle positions have emerged among Catholic theologians:
1. P1: While salvation (in a Christian sense) is available outside the visible Church, it is not mediated through non-Christian religions.