A Basic Theodicy

By Caleb, Nov. 2019

Introduction

Orthodox Christianity professes that God is omniscient, omnibenevolent, and omnipotent. A bold claim, especially in light of the presence of suffering, death, and evil. Thus, the argument goes: “the existence of God is logically incompatible with the existence of evil; since the theist is committed to both, theistic belief is clearly irrational.”[1] This is a favoured argument among new Atheist debaters and often strikes a chord in the hearts of their hearers. However, much of that argument is emotional manipulation; and in the following paragraphs a mere theodicy will mount up to the logical side of the atheists’ claim. That Christians are not committing cognitive dissonance, but rather their faith can be grounded in a logical rebuttal to the problem of evil. That perhaps giving man the choice between good and evil, regardless of the outcome, is a greater good than him being a pre-programmed robot.

The Nature of Evil

Before anything can be established, a working definition and understanding of evil must be conveyed. The Bible states: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep.”[2] Then after creation states: “God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good”[3] Thus, the earth was brought out of chaos and had no defect or blemish; it was all good and therefore was without evil. Nevertheless, the whole perfect world goes wrong, and evil emerges. On these grounds, theologians state: “since God did not create evil yet did create all that exists, evil cannot have a unique existence. Evil is an absence or disordering of the good.”[4] In the City of God St. Augustine analogizes this: “blindness is an evil or defect which is a witness to the fact that the eye was created to see light.”[5] Evil has no substance in of itself but exists by the warping and contorting of good. The ‘ought not’ only exists by an agent’s rejection of the ‘ought,’ and in this way, evil is a parasite, with good as its host.[6]

The Necessity of Free Will

The next fundamental pillar is that of free will, its necessity, and its intrinsic risk of potential evil. (Although in theological, philosophical, and scientific fields the concept of free will is being called into question, free will is an axiom of ethics and justice; and just like how society must assume free wills existence to continue operating, so will this essay.) C.S. Lewis states: “Christianity asserts that God is good… and for the sake of their [humanity’s] goodness… He made, namely, the free will of rational creatures.”[7] A world without free will would be one without true love. True love being not the emotion, but the chosen act of compassion, empathy, mercy and/or charity. If one builds a robot to love an infant and programs it to act accordingly, it is one thing; however, how much more beautiful and magnificent is the reality of a mother’s, father’s, sister’s, or brother’s love. For this reason, the latter is the better: that although the people have the choice to reject the infant, they choose to love him. Free will is what makes reality worth anything, the money in the poker game, and without it, the whole show is worthless and pointless.

Free will comes with a cost. That cost in of itself is not evil, but is the inherent potential evil that free will comes with. For if one truly has the ability to choose the beauty of good, they must also have the ability to chose the perversion of evil. Some might say that God’s decision to give free will is a high-risk high-reward gamble. However, it was no gamble or risk at all, as God knows all things; He knew that man would choose to actualize evil in their abuse of free will. For this reason, many say that “the Holy God saw a greater good in allowing evil.”[8] God foresaw the cost of free will and calculated it as inferior to the good that it will produce.

The Fall

Somewhat covered previously, all things were originally good but yet humanity stands today surrounded and full of evil. Genesis 3 explains how the world got into this state. The chapter starts with the world, having been from chaos, into perfect harmony, but then ends in banishment and curses. The narrative reveals that man was tempted and fed lies by a serpent (Gen. 3:1-5), man then refuses God’s authority by eating the forbidden fruit (Gen. 3:6-7), and the consequences of this action (Gen. 3:8-24). Some take this narrative literally and others metaphorically but that is not a concern of this paper. The passage teaches that “man is now a horror to God and to himself… not because God made him so but because he has made himself so by the abuse of his free will.”[9] Many theologians say that the forbidden fruit, or even its consumption, itself was not the cause of the fall; but rather: “by eating from this tree Adam would, in effect, be claiming that he could know and decide what was good and evil for him without any reference to God.”[10] It was the rejection of man's place under God and the turning away from the created harmony of order, back towards chaos, that is at the core of man’s fall. There is no middle ground. When one rejects God and His order, the only place to turn to is back to nothingness and chaos. Eastern Orthodox theology puts it this way: “This ‘nothing,’ from which we have come through God’s creative act, is the only place to which we can turn.”[11] This matches the understanding of evil’s nature, as an absence or disordering, and how it could be introduced into the perfect creation.[12] The fall can then be stated metaphorically as such: Man abuses his free will and rebels against God, but in doing so, he turns, from the created order, reached into chaos and out of the chaos sprung the evil infection of man's heart. It is for this reason that mankind now stands as monsters in a chaotic and hostile world.

The fallout of this disastrous event left infection, or distortion in the hearts of humanity. In the fall, “Adam’s sin became part of him and of the moral nature that he passed on to his descendants (Gen. 6:5; Rom. 3:9-20).”[13] Both man and creation have fallen, but one can say that the evil of man “accounts for four-fifths of the sufferings.”[14] That number is not solid, nor meant to be taken as literally, but it matches the common understanding that “a beast [or nature] can never be so cruel as a man, so artistically cruel.”[15] The horrors of torture, abuse (in all forms), betrayal, murder, sexual perversion, and the like, lay all at the feet of man. The Bible concurs with this truth, further adding: “They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one.”[16] One can ask God why he permits so much evil to take place, but man can be asked why he aims at the spilling of blood, breaking of hearts, and his own further corruption. Within the effects of the fall lays a true horror: “a beast hidden in every man, a beast of rage, a beast of sensual inflammability at the cries of the tormented victim, and unrestrained beast let off the chain, a beast of diseases acquired in debauchery – gout, rotten liver, and so on.”[17] After the fall, man’s heart became a battleground and now “the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart.”[18] Even if all evil in this world were non-natural in origin, the demand for an answer to why God allows monstrous men to enact evil on others still looms.[19]

Not all evil in the world derives from the hand of modern man (per se). Apart from man’s heinous crimes, there is natural evil, i.e. earthquakes, tsunamis, diseases, tornadoes, hurricanes, and all other natural phenomena alike. One is right to point out that all who die in such events deserve death (Rom. 6:23), as they have taken part in Adam's rebellion (Rom. 5:12). However, there is another answer to natural evil; being that: “the free choice of Adam and Eve brought natural disaster on this world.”[20] God placed man over the earth, he was it’s caretaker and prince (Gen. 1:28 & 2:15), but when man chose to turn from God and himself become corrupt so did the created order (Rom. 8:20). Eastern Orthodox thought explains it as follows:

“The human was regarded as a microcosm, a little cosmos, in which all the structures as the human writ large. Christian theologians worked this notion into their idea, drawn from Genesis, of the human created in the image of God. As God’s image, the human had been set at the heart of the cosmos with the role of holding the whole cosmos together. When Adam and Eve relinquished their role as bond of the cosmos… the cosmos lost much of its harmony; the harmony of the stars and planets was preserved, though perhaps it became obscure to man, but the harmony that had existed in paradise between humans and animals, for instance, was destroyed.”[21]

As such, the fault for both human and natural evil lay at the feet of man. Protestants agree here that: “through the falls of Satan and Adam all evil arises. Therefore, natural evil stems from moral evil. All sickness is ultimately from sin.”[22] Thus the fall and every single of its nightmarishly appalling after-affects circle back to mankind. The thoughts of man are grotesque, and blood flows from his hands. With all previous information in mind, now one can ask why God would find it worth permitting man's evil.

A Better Story

Surely God has a good reason for this permission of human evil. Knowing the character of God and the judgment that sinful man deserves, if the future were only a growing level of evil, pain, and suffering, then the Holy God would usher in the Judgment Day. However, based on the character of God, one can say: “God would in no wise permit evil to exist in his works unless he were so almighty and so good as to produce good even from evil.”[23] God’s tolerance of evil can have a myriad of reasons: (1) that man can mature (Heb. 5:7-9)[24] and learn to love,[25] (2) necessity of free will,[26] (3) that God can show the beauty of His grace and redemption,[27] (4) to speak to sinful man,[28] and (5) the future glory, end result, of all this suffering will be well worthwhile (Rom. 8:18). God permits evil in this current world because of the beautiful end that he can, and will, bring out of it.

Too Costly of an Admission

The Atheist can still hold to the claim: that the cost of this future harmony is too high. A theodicy could convince a non-believer, but one can still disagree with God and say: “no doubt he has all those dandy divine qualities and no doubt he has a fine reason for permitting this abomination… but what he permits is appalling, and I hate it.”[29] In his novel, The Brothers Karamazov, Fyodor Dostoevsky has one of his character’s articulate this argument perfectly; where he uses an example of a little girl who was abused then left out in an outhouse to freeze to death:

“Can you understand that a small creature, who cannot even comprehend what is being done to her, in a vile place, in the dark and the cold, beats herself on her strained little chest with her tiny fist and weeps with her anguished, gentle, meek tears for ‘dear God’ to protect her… can you understand why this nonsense is needed and created? Without it, they say, man could not even have lived on earth, for he would not have known good and evil. Who wants to know this damned good and evil at such a price? The whole world of knowledge is not worth the tears of that little child to ‘dear God.”[30]

On these ground’s Dostoevsky has his character say: “they have put too high a price on harmony; we can’t afford to pay so much for admission. And therefore, I hasten to return my ticket.”[31] Alvin Plantinga says that this is the strongest argument from evil.[32] The argument ignores all Christian answers given and presupposes that “in the face of this kind of appalling evil, that there just couldn’t be an omnipotent, omniscient, wholly good person superintending our world.”[33] This argument is logically flawed because it is built on a false dichotomy; that either (1) the Christian God is a moral monster who permits evil or (2) the Christian God is not real. The reason why this argument seems so strong is because it appeals to man’s emotional understanding of evil. That it is a black hole in which things are taken and never recovered. A little girl might be kidnapped, molested, and killed; say God condemns the perpetrator and raises up the victim, it does not make the event unhappen. The grand end which God will paint with the current evil might be beautiful, but the non-believer can point out that it will be a paradise built on blood, malevolence, and unanswered cries of the innocent. Now that the Christian has been disarmed of his arguments and defences, is there any suitable answer they can give to this claim?

God is Bigger than Evil

The statement in the last paragraph is heavy with emotional weight and, as such, deserves a thoughtful and honest answer. The outrage humanity feels for evil is understandable and so is his emotional confusion to God’s permission of its existence. However, Christianity has several responses to Dostoevsky’s character. Christians still insist on God’s goodness in light of His allowance of evil, but even more than that, He is involved with the cares of the ordinary person (1st Peter 5:7). Furthermore, Christians have been promised that God “will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”[34] When these two truths are understood in the light of God’s omnipotence, the Christian then has a solid ground on which to place his faith. For that is the Christian's answer to Dostoevsky’s character, faith. Faith that God is bigger than a black spot of evil in the timeline of man. That not only God is powerful enough to redeem mankind, but He is more than powerful enough to cleanse the dark and bloodstained stone of mankind’s history. Evil events will not unhappen, in that regard the nonbeliever’s critique is right, but Christians have a hope that God is greater than our current understanding of evil and its effects.

Conclusion

The problem of evil has been tackled by some of Christianity’s best, and they have all given knock down arguments against the non-believers claim. As shown, God did not create evil, but evil is the privation of God’s good world. This privation was brought in by man’s own choice and he bares the blame for its existence. God allows this current state of evil to continue cause one day He will use it to bring about a great and wonderous redeeming end. However, the problem of evil is complex and multidimensional, and although the logical attack on Christianity has been rebuffed, time and time again, the issue still continues to persist because outrage is primarily emotional. This is why one should not give arguments, when death and evil hits those around us, but emotional support. As for the logical side, Christianity has numerous arguments to understand the seeming problem of evil. However, the broken heart of humanity wants, and needs, not logical arguments, but a powerful loving Father, a selfless savior, and a comforter. This too can be found in Christianity.

Footnotes [1] Alvin Plantinga, Knowledge and Christian Belief, (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2015), 117. [2] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Ge 1:1–2. [3] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version, Ge 1:31. [4] Stanley M. Horton, Systematic Theology, Revised Edition, (Springfield, MO: Logion Press, 2017), 272. [5] St. Augustine, The City of God, Abridged Edition, Trans. Gerald G. Walsh; Demetrius B. Zema; Grace Monahan and Daniel J. Honan, (New York: Image Books, 2014), 504. [6] C.S. Lewis, God in the Dock, (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2014), 5. [7] C. S. Lewis, The Complete C.S. Lewis Signature Classics, Problem of Pain, (New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers, 2007), 588. [8] Stanley M. Horton, Systematic Theology, 272. [9] C. S. Lewis, The Complete C.S. Lewis Signature Classics, Problem of Pain, 588. [10] J.I. Packer, Concise Theology: A Guide to Historic Christian Beliefs, (Wheaton: Tyndale, 1993), 80. [11] Andrew Louth, Introducing Eastern Orthodox Theology, (Downers Grove, IL: Inter Varsity Press, 2013), 39. [12] Stanley M. Horton, Systematic Theology, Revised Edition, 272. [13] J.I. Packer, Concise Theology: A Guide to Historic Christian Beliefs, 80. [14] C. S. Lewis, The Complete C.S. Lewis Signature Classics, Problem of Pain, 601. [15] Fyodor Dostoevsky, The Brothers Karamazov, Trans. Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky, (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2002), 238. [16] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version, Ps 14:3. [17] Fyodor Dostoevsky, The Brothers Karamazov, 241-242. [18] Aleksandr I. Solzhenitsyn, The Gulag Archipelago, 1918-1956: an Experiment in Literary Investigation, Trans. Thomas P. Whitney, Vol. 1, (New York: Harper Perennial Modern Classics, 2007), 168. [19] C. S. Lewis, The Complete C.S. Lewis Signature Classics, Problem of Pain, 601. [20] Norman L. Geisler, “Evil, Problem Of,” Baker Encyclopedia of Christian Apologetics, Baker Reference Library (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 1999), 223. [21] Andrew Louth, Introducing Eastern Orthodox Theology, 73-74. [22] Stanley M. Horton, Systematic Theology, Revised Edition, 272. [23] Norman L. Geisler, “Evil, Problem Of,” Baker Encyclopedia of Christian Apologetics, 222. [24] Stanley M. Horton, Systematic Theology, 272-273. [25] Andrew Louth, Introducing Eastern Orthodox Theology, 69. [26] C. S. Lewis, The Complete C.S. Lewis Signature Classics, Mere Christianity, (New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers, 2007), 48. [27] Alvin Plantinga, Knowledge and Christian Belief,123. [28] C. S. Lewis, The Complete C.S. Lewis Signature Classics, Problem of Pain, 604. [29] Alvin Plantinga, Knowledge and Christian Belief, 123. [30] Fyodor Dostoevsky, The Brothers Karamazov, 242. [31] Fyodor Dostoevsky, The Brothers Karamazov, 245. [32] Alvin Plantinga, Knowledge and Christian Belief, 119. [33] Alvin Plantinga, Knowledge and Christian Belief, 120. [34] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version, Re 21:4.