One of the most challenging concepts we have to deal with is the existence of evil in the world. The common idea is that God must either be too weak to stop it or doesn’t care because He isn’t really good.
The problem is not our idea of God, but our idea of “good”. God is good, as He understands the word, not as we understand the word.
So what is “good?”
According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, “good” includes:
- Of a favorable character or tendency
- Suitable, fit
- Agreeable, pleasant
- Salutary, wholesome
- Well-founded, cogent
- True
- Deserving of respect
- Legally Valid or effectual
- Adequate, satisfactory
- Virtuous, right or commendable
- Kind, benevolent
We all understand these meanings, but please note that they all relate to human activity or our happiness. We have to remember that when we are talking about God, He has to decide what each of those values are.
Let’s look at them again:
- Of a favorable character or tendency according to God’s purpose
- Suitable, fit for the use He intends
- Agreeable, pleasant according to God’s definition of agreeable and pleasant
- Salutary, wholesome as measured by the standard of God’s perfection
- Well-founded, cogent based on the knowledge and wisdom of the omniscient
- True according to the ultimate ground of reality, God
- Deserving of respect by God
- Legally Valid or effectual according to God’s law and purpose
- Adequate, satisfactory according to God’s design
- Virtuous, right or commendable as measured against God’s standard
- Kind, benevolent as God is kind and benevolent
Putting the definitions in the context of God considerably changes the meanings. These are the meanings we have to use when looking at good and evil in the world.
A big part of this discussion is the question of the reason the world exists, and continues to exist. Why did God create it? Why didn’t He destroy it after the fall and start over?
God did not want a world of created beings that simply obeyed everything He said and repeated praises back at Him like robots. If that was what He intended, that is what He would have done. God wanted people that choose to love Him in spite of contrary emotions or temptations. This means that He has to allow us to choose things He doesn’t want. He is not required to, but that is the path that He chose. What the world would have been without the fall is impossible to know. We have to deal with the world as it is right now.
The main goal of His plan in this fallen world is to draw us closer to Him. Sometimes the only way to do that is to allow things to get so bad for us that we have no choice but to seek Him out for relief. This happened a number of times in the Bible. God’s people rebelled against Him, so He made life hard for them until they returned. He still does this. He knows that our greater good is to live in and with Him forever after we die. That frequently means sacrificing our temporary comfort on earth.
God is taking the long-term view. If getting my back broken in a car accident is what returns me to Him for eternity, then it is good because it serves His long-term goal, and truly is in my best interest. If a man is killed while he is still a Christian because God knows that he will fall away in the near future, then his death is good. God uses many of the evils that happen for our good, as He understands the term.
Don’t get me wrong: God is NOT the author of sin or evil. He may take away good things, but does not cause evil things. He uses the evil that Satan does, the evil that naturally happens in the world and the evil that men do to forward His plan for His and our best interest.
So which human actions are good and which are evil?
In order to answer this question, there must be some means of measuring or evaluating an action or idea to decide if it is good or evil. That measure is God Himself.
In order to decide if an act is good or evil, there must be an external standard against which to measure it and some means to compel our obedience.
The only standard we know of is the moral law. We can recognize this by:
- the fact that it is common to all of humanity, and
- our conscience, which tries to compel us to follow it.
If there is a moral law that is common to all of humanity, there must be a source for that moral law that is outside of humanity.
The only source for a standard outside of humanity is God.
The basic tenets of the moral law are common to all of humanity. Many people think that this isn’t true, that there have been a wide variety of moral codes throughout history. A closer look at them will reveal that, while they differ in details, they are substantially the same in essence. All cultures, for example, have prohibited killing, except under specific conditions. Where they vary from each other is in defining those conditions. It is easy to recognize that there is a common moral law. None of the codes have conflicted with the Bible in essence, just in details. If you follow the two greatest Biblical commandments, to love God with all of your heart, mind and strength and love your neighbor as yourself, you will find that you meet the moral requirements of all major societies throughout history. The only challenge you would encounter would be fact that the God you love would not be theirs.
The Moral Imperative
There must be a reason to follow the moral law. Philosophy has established that the imperative is categorical. This means that there is no way of moving logically from the fact that doing something would be better to actually requiring you to do it. It is the answer to the question: “Why should I?”
Obedience to a moral imperative can only stem from obedience to a person that says, “You must.”
As an example, there is no way to get from the fact that someone must be willing to risk death to help defend our city against an attack to morally compelling someone to do so. A man may choose to obey the call or he may not, but there is nothing inherent in the facts that can compel his action. He may feel a duty to his fellow citizens, but where does that sense of duty come from? It can’t come from them. It can’t be an instinct, because his instincts all say different things. The drive to obey moral demands is imprinted on our very nature; we are designed to obey them just as we are designed to obey our conscience. Both stem from the same source – obedience to God. God’s law is stamped on us and, try as we might, we cannot rid ourselves of its demands. That is why we will be without excuse at judgment.
Romans 2:14-15
For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law, since they show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, their thoughts sometimes accusing them and at other times even defending them.
This makes it very clear that every human has obedience to God’s law hard-wired into their very soul. This is why the human conscience is so consistently universal, and why we feel a constant pull to obey moral rules.
So an action is good if it conforms to God’s law, as applied to the circumstances.
God’s law can be shortened to the two greatest commandments:
-Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind and strength
-Love your neighbor as yourself
Applying these isn’t always easy, and there are many situations in which there is no choice that is simply good – people often have to choose between various bad choices. We have to do the best we can with the information available at the time and trust that God will make up the difference (He will). We also have to trust that when we don’t make the right decision for the right reasons (which is what usually happens), He will forgive us for our lack and work to correct the situation (He will).
The Ends NEVER Justify the Means
One thing to avoid is trying to achieve or obtain something good at the cost of doing something evil. The ends DO NOT justify the means. Be clear on what you are trying to do and why. Some things that the world calls evil are actually morally neutral and can be done under the right circumstances. Killing is one of them. Killing because of anger or hatred is evil. Killing in war or in the defense of another is not. Please see Specific sins. Tactical deception in war is acceptable. Lying for personal gain or to protect ourselves from embarrassment is not. God will judge us by our intent, but He also knows when we are trying to lie to ourselves about why we are actually doing something.
The majority of the time, the right answer is clear. We just don’t want to do it. This may be because it is hard, embarrassing or may cause pain. The reason doesn’t really matter. God wants us to do what is right. There will be consequences, and they will probably drive people away. This is part of what it means to follow the path Jesus showed us. Remember that He didn’t promise us an easy life – He promised us pain, suffering and death. He did not come to bring peace to the world, but division. He calls us to follow Him and His way, even though it costs us our friends, our families or our lives.
Matthew 10:34-39
“Do not assume that I have come to spread peace over the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to tear apart –
“ ‘a man against his father,
a daughter against her mother,
a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law—
a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’
“Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.
At the time, the Romans required criminals sentenced to be crucified to take up their own cross and follow the guard to the place where they would be tortured to death. The implication is clear.
The reference Jesus uses is from Micah. Micah was lamenting the isolation of Israel. He was lamenting how the people were falling away from God, splitting families. The people of God were turning on each other in the harsh anti-God environment. Much like today, the younger generation rejected the ‘outmoded and dangerous’ faith in God.
Not Peace But A Sword
We have been deceived by generations of Christmas carols telling us that Jesus came to bring peace on earth. He didn’t. He came to save us from our rebellion and the evil in our souls that is the result. This requires harsh measures and drastic actions.
We can assume that God is good, and it is very clear that His definition of good is quite different than ours. God is taking the long view. He is using the harsh methods required to save us from ourselves. He is training us up in the way He needs us to go and, just like when we discipline a child for their own good, the lessons usually hurt.
So what is evil?
Some define evil as the absence of good. This definition works as far as it goes, but is inadequate to explain the world we see. Evil is clearly evident as a malicious force acting to bring suffering and destruction. So where does it come from?
The essence of evil is the opposite of God. It is very important to understand that evil is much weaker than God, although much stronger than humans. Some people say that good and evil are two equally balanced forces in the world that are constantly at war, each seeking to dominate the other. This is called dualism and it is a lie. Please see Dualism in Classical Heresies.
Nevertheless, God is not the only one acting in the world. Satan is a real being, as are his demons. They are the actors in the world for evil. They are evil through and through. They act maliciously, and are intent on our destruction. Please see Who is Satan.
Nevertheless, the overwhelming majority of the evil, pain and suffering in the world come not from Satan and his minions, but from people acting in their own greed, self-interest, deception and cruelty. God will act to limit Satan’s activities (See Job 1) but He will not act to limit human activities unless He has a very specific reason to do so. This means that we inflict great damage on each other and immeasurable pain. God grieves, but will not go back on His decision to allow us the freedom to choose Him, even though it frequently means we wreak havoc on each other.
But God is also merciful and full of love. We can assume that no tear is wasted with Him, and He will not force us to endure more than is necessary. If He has chosen to save a person (please see Salvation), He will keep that person from being lost, but will still allow him to encounter as much evil as He thinks best to accomplish His ends.
This is hard. It isn’t the gentle message churches have been preaching for generations. They have been wrong. Anyone who tells you that God wants you to be happy and prosperous here is lying. God wants you to be happy and prosperous in eternity with Him. He may provide some of His followers an easy life. That is His privilege. That should be considered the exception rather than the rule. The New Testament is full of exhortations to die for Christ and kill your earthly self. There is very little about living a good life, and what there is usually consists of a warning against it.
The world God made was good, and God has a morally sufficient reason to permit evil. In our rebellion we have turned the world into a place that is very hard and very cruel. As Christians we must do what we can to minimize the cruelty, to bring relief for suffering, to bring love instead of hate. God will show us what needs to be done in each situation. We just need to do what He says.