How could God let evil exist? Why do bad things happen to good people? The question comes in many forms but it basically boils down to this, "If God is so Good why are things so Bad?" There are at least three reasons people ask this question. (1) Some people want to use the existence of evil as an excuse not to believe there is a God. (2) Some people believe in God but are angry at Him for something that has happened to them or to someone they love. (3) Some people are just confused by this apparent paradox. It seems impossible to them that an all powerful good God would allow any evil to exist. They may have other motives. We can not assume we know why the question is asked. The problem must be dealt with as it comes but it often comes in a form much like the following:

(A) Assumption: A good God would destroy evil.

(B) Assumption: An all powerful God could destroy evil.

(C) Observation: Evil is not destroyed.

(D) Conclusion: Therefore, there cannot possibly be a good and all powerful God.

Let's break it down and look at the details:

At first, this seems very logical. I used to believe it completely. That was before I met God and realized I was being arrogant to imagine that I, a fallen and sinful creature, could understood how a perfectly good being would or should behave. By His grace I am beginning to understand how He does behave. Let's take each statement one at a time.

(A) Assumption: A good God would destroy evil. If this were the end of time this assumption would be valid. The simple answer is God is not done yet. The correct way to state this truth is "A good God will destroy evil" or "Our good God is destroying evil." It is as if they observe a half finished building still under construction and decide since it is not complete the architect is an idiot. Read Rev. 21:4 Here we see that at the end of time death; mourning; sorrow or grief; tears, crying, or weeping; and pain will all be gone.

(B) Assumption: An all powerful God could destroy evil. It is true an all powerful God could destroy evil. As we just saw, He is doing so. However, modern man, because he is surrounded by the blessings of God (possibly resulting from a Christian culture), has gotten used to immediate gratification. They demand, "Why not right now?" They are impatient for results and mistake God's mercy and patience for lack of resolve or ability. Evil is rebellion against God. Death and the other things we call evil are the consequences of this rebellion. Could God squash this rebellion instantly and bring all evil to an end? Yes. But in His patience and mercy He has not done that. Yet. When He does, the ones most vocally criticizing Him for not doing so sooner will be the first to go. Read Psalms 1:4-6. It is the wicked or evil people who will cease to exist at least in the same place as His rescued children.

(C) Observation: Evil is not destroyed. I agree that evil exists, however, I do not understand how someone that does not believe in God could think so. The fact that we are concerned about good and evil is proof that God does exist. Without God, there is no such thing as good and evil, only personal preference, pleasant and unpleasant. Without God to tell us which is good and which is bad, all we have is what we like and what we do not like. When we appeal to some universal code of good and evil we are implying that there is Someone who created that code. You can not have law without a Law Maker.

Most arguments from non-believers that are based on the problem of evil assume that pain and/or death are evil. The only arguments I have ever seen to support these ideas seem to boil down to pain and death are evil because we do not like them. Without the Bible to explain that death is the punishment for sin what is evil about it? It is something that appears to happen universally to all living things. Without God's word to let us know about eternal life where would we get the idea that death was something that could or should be avoided? Pain is usually important information. It tells us of danger and allows us to withdraw from things that are causing our bodies damage. Pain teaches us to avoid self destructive behavior. How is that evil?

Let's look at a typical example- "There is deer in the forest that breaks its leg. It lays in a bed of pain for several days until it dies. How could God allow this? Since things like this do happen a good, an all powerful, God does not exist." Do you see how self contradictory such an argument is? Since they find such a thing nasty, God can not exist. What!? God can not exist unless we approve of him? It would be a lonely world indeed if only those people of whom we approve were allowed to exist. I agree these events are terrible but I do not see how they can say that they are terrible. Apaches used to torture animals and people just for fun. Spartans used to leave their babies, that did not meet their physical standards, lying in the sun to die of exposure. Today people strap explosives to themselves and kill themselves and innocent people to try to make some political and/or religious point. Without God there is no universal code of good and evil. People that see events such as the ones described above as evil probably do so because they grew up in a culture heavily influenced by the people of God. Read Mark 7:15-23 Here we discover that the source of evil is the hearts of men.

Things that it would be wrong for us to do are not wrong for God to do. It is not evil for God to kill. Our lives are a loan He has the right to recall at any time. It is not morally wrong for Him to do anything to us at all. We were created by Him and continue to exist by His power. He has no moral obligation to continue to allow us to exist, or to continue to do so, in any particular state of wellness or lack of pain. The death of the deer described above seems cruel to us so why does God allow it? That is, perhaps, a valid question but do not imagine that God is answerable to us. Nor does a lack of an answer to this question prove he is not good, not all powerful, or not there. All it proves is that we do not know the reason God does what He does, and we do not like not knowing. Read Job 40:1-4. Here God likens being questioned by Job to being instructed and reproved. When Job realized that is what he had been trying to do what did he do? He repented and was quiet. See also Romans 9:18-21.

(D) Conclusion: Therefore, there cannot possibly be a good and powerful God. As you can see, there are no valid assumptions or observations to support this conclusion. But it begs another question. Why did He allow evil in the first place? Nor is cold logic comforting to someone in the midst of suffering. (Remember what appears to us to be angry and arrogant disbelief may in fact be confusion and intense pain.)

"Why did God allow evil in the first place?" is a much more difficult question. Ultimately the answer has to be, "I do not know," because He has not explained it nor is He required to explain Himself. Over the centuries theologians and philosophers have attempted to answer this question. I will share with you the three answers I find the most satisfactory. There are others. (X) God wanted to give us the gift of free will and could not do so without allowing the possibility of us choosing evil. We did choose evil. (Y) Evil is really only the lack of good which God is in the process of overcoming. Evil is the left over nothing into which the universe is being born. (Z) We can see the reasons for some particular evils which should give us confidence that God has a good reason for allowing evil to exist in general.

(X) Evil is necessary in order for us to have the blessing of a free will. This is the answer I have seen most often used by Christian theologians. God gave Adam and Eve a free will and put them in charge of everything. They used their right of choice to disobey God which brought evil into the universe. If they did not have the ability to choose evil they really had no choice. In order to have other free beings with which to share His love God had to let them have the right and possibility not to return His love. I find this very convincing but many thoughtful, unbelieving, philosophers find this unconvincing. They re-ask the question another way. Why can't an all powerful God create a person with free will that is good enough and wise enough to make the right choice? Clearly he did not do this. Perhaps it is logically impossible like making a square circle. A third of the angels decided to rebel against Him. All of us rebel against Him but in His mercy He has made it possible for us to repent and turn back to Him for rescue and salvation.

(Y) Evil is the left over nothing into which the universe is being born. I have seen some claims that there is no such thing as evil. I'm not suggesting that. The Bible certainly spends a lot of time talking about evil (it is mentioned over 500 times) so it seems it must exist. However, it is not the opposite of good. In the same sense that silence is the lack of sound and darkness is the lack of light, evil is simply the lack of good. We know this because evil has no power without good and yet good has power to do things without evil. Consider those evil men who flew airplanes into the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. It is hard to imagine a more evil act and yet without the power of goodness it would have been impossible for them to do it. They had to have self-discipline and perseverance to overcome their ignorance and learn how to fly those airplanes. They had to have mutual trust and loyalty to coordinate the attack. They had to have courage to fly an airplane to their certain death.

Please do not misunderstand. There is no suggestion here that these men were good. However, without some good traits they would have been powerless. You can have self-discipline, perseverance, loyalty, mutual trust and courage and never do anything evil at all, only good. But if all they had was hate, lack of discipline, mistrust, fear, etc. they could do nothing. The power to accomplish anything, whether good or bad, comes from good, not evil.

Here is another way to express the same idea. Suppose someone told you that if you stay out in the sun light too long your skin will burn unless you apply sun block lotion. If you believe this and apply sun block you avoid a painful burn. If you do not believe it you will burn because the statement was true. The truth has power whether you believe it or not. Suppose someone else told you that if you stay out in the moon light too long you will burn unless you apply moon block lotion to your skin. They just happen to have some to sell for $12.95 a bottle. If you believe them you have wasted $12.95. If you do not believe them nothing happens. The lie by itself has no power at all. It is just a weak, dark, wriggling thing lying on the ground, helpless. It has no power until you add your belief to it. Your trust and belief, good things, gives the lie the power it needs to steal your $12.95 and destroy some of your dignity. Because in this universe good is powerful and evil powerless, it follows that in the end good will triumph and that God is good.

(Z) Evil is a tool God uses to accomplish good. For what valid reason would a good and powerful God allow the amount and kinds of evil which we see around us? Good question, but remember God is not answerable to us. The proper way to measure it is to look at those times when we do have the most complete knowledge of the situation. In my experience this is very rare but when I do have such knowledge, invariably I am thankful for the pain God has given me. It causes me to trust him for those times of personal suffering which I do not understand fully, yet. Read Romans 8:28 Do you think "all things" in this verse includes evil things? I think so.

Surely it is difficult for us to understand why God would allow some things to happen. But simply because we find it difficult to imagine what reasons God could have for permitting them, does not mean that no such reasons exist. It is entirely possible that such reasons are not only beyond our present knowledge, but also beyond our present ability to understand. We may be like children who do not understand the necessity of a painful medical procedure or we are like a trapped animal striking out against its rescuers unable to understand they are only trying to help.

The story of Joseph is a perfect example. (Genesis chapters 37 to 50) His brothers sold him into slavery. Certainly they suffered the pangs of guilt for years as a result. Read Genesis 42:21. Joseph must have felt that he was suffering evil when he was in prison in Egypt. Read what Joseph said to his brothers in Genesis 50:20. The brothers meant to do evil but God used it for good, to save the lives of the family of Israel. This story teaches two important truths regarding the existence of evil. First, God will see to it that good will eventually prevail. Second, we are responsible for the evil we do.

2 Cor. 12:7 Paul believed God did not remove his suffering to protect him from becoming prideful

Gal. 6:2 What are we supposed to do when we see others struggling? Help them.

Job 1:6-12 Who allowed Satan to attack Job? God.

John 9:1-3 Why was the man born blind? So that the works of God could be shown in him.

Psalm 119:71 Why did the Psalmist think it good to be troubled? He learned God's law.

Hebrews 12:4-15 What does God do with his children? He disciplines them.

1 Cor 12:26 If we are a Christian when we suffer, do we suffer alone? No.

1 Pet. 1:7 When our faith is tested what will we receive when Jesus returns? Praise, honor, or glory (Also see 2 Cor. 4:16-18)

1 Pet. 5:7 Who cares about what we suffer? God

2 Cor. 1:3-7 Who comforts us when we have troubles? God

Isaiah 49:15 Will God forget us? No

John 11:35 What did Jesus do? Jesus cried.

Matthew 26:38 How did Jesus feel about his coming torture? It grieved him, made him sad.

Hebrews 5:4-10, Is 53:3 Because Jesus accepted His suffering obediently he was able to save us all.

Ps. 23 Who comforts us in the middle of overwhelming evil? The Lord

Ps. 34:18 Who is near and saves those who are troubled? The Lord

2 Corinthians 6:1-10 and Romans 12:17-21 Describe how we are to respond to evil.

Psalm 62:8 We are encouraged to share our heart with God.

Psalm 82 God's justice is coming.

Psalms 13 and 88 Sample prayers of suffering people.