The Problem of Evil

Is Evil Really a Problem?

In this lecture we're going to be discussing the problem of evil, an issue that has certainly affected all of us in some form or another throughout our lives. The problem of evil is probably the most common problem in apologetics, since it seems to tear at our hearts the most. People will say, If God is good and sovereign then why does he allow misery, suffering, and horrible things to happen in this world? If God is good then he would not allow evil, and He is certainly powerful enough to prevent it. So the fact that evil exists in the world shows either, that God is not good, or not all-powerful, or both.

So that is what we call the Problem of Evil. But is there really a problem at all? Why do we say that evil is a problem in the first place? You need to understand that evil is only a problem in a Christian universe. In an atheist universe there is no evil because there's no objective standard of good. In a Christian universe where God is the objective standard of good, that which is evil is a deficiency in goodness. But in an atheist universe where there's nothing but time and chance acting upon matter and energy, poop happens.

In a naturalistic universe, whatever happens is simply the result of previous natural causes over which we have no control. And so when there's an earthquake that causes a tidal wave, and a coastal village gets wiped off the map and thousands of people die, well, poop happens. A large wave collided with a bunch of objects and transferred its mass and energy, and that which we call humans simply got in the way, in addition to non-living wooden houses and so forth. After all, human beings are nothing more than advanced, molecular machines according to atheistic science. On that assumption, a person is on the same order, but at a more sophisticated level, as a wooden house.

But we don't really live our lives that way. That ethical outlook cannot actually be carried out consistently. When bad things happen to human beings, we become upset because we as humans have dignity. An atheist will attend the funeral of a friend or relative because they assume what? That people have dignity and we should pay our respects to them.

Now as a Christian I can account for why people have dignity. We are created in the image of God and God has imbued the quality of dignity into us. But I can't understand why an atheist would assume that dignity exists. On his assumptions of what man is, inert molecular compounds from the periodic table do not give rise to dignity. Aren't we all just mechanical reconfigurations of elements on the periodic table, according to the atheist?

Just stop and think for a moment. Which elements on the periodic table have dignity inside of them? None right? And so if you combine thousands of molecular compounds together, though you arrive at the human level, what is your net total of dignity? It's still zero. And if you add millions of years to those processes, what then is your net total? It's still zero.

So in essence, dignity cannot arise from non-dignity, and yet an atheist will attend the funeral of a loved one as though there is something more to the person's constitution than mere matter and energy. The atheist in fact assumes the Christian view of the universe in order to acquire the concept of dignity, and in so doing, presupposes God, while denying that he lives in a Christian universe. He does this by necessity, since his experience would not be intelligible otherwise.

Imagine the reactions of his friends and family when Aunt Mildred passes away, and the atheist is expected to attend her funeral. What's he going to say, Why should I go to the funeral, she's nothing more than a evolutionary product of protoplasm soon to become worm food?

People would be horrified at that sort of reasoning, and so the atheist MUST secretly rely on the Christian view of the universe in which dignity has a foundation, in order to function appropriately in this world.