The most important apologetic and ethical question that Christians struggle with is the problem of evil and suffering. It is important because of the fact God allows it to occur. Skeptics and apologists alike have discussed this in many ways. This will address and answer two questions: “Why is there so much evil in the world?” and “If an all-powerful, all loving God exists, how could He allow so much suffering and evil to exist in the world He created?” These questions will be answered by stating some viewpoints, and will show Biblical contents and apologist insights that otherwise prove that God does care. The discussion will be about why God allows suffering, human wickedness, why the righteous do suffer, and the problem of evil and suffering.

A first question one might raise would be this: Why does God allow human suffering to happen? “Horrendous, inexplicable suffering, though it cannot disprove God, is nonetheless a problem for the believer in the Bible” (Keller, 25). Keller is saying that with every part of moving through life’s troubles comes to the issue of doubt, but not necessarily unbelief, in what the Word of God is about. Therefore, the believer cannot immediately state and neither should they that they do not believe; it is all a matter of assessment. Keller goes on to state in his book, The Reason For God:

If you have a God great and transcendent enough to be mad at because He hasn’t stopped evil and suffering in the world, then you have (at the same moment) a God great and transcendent enough to have good reasons for allowing it to continue that you can’t know. Indeed, you can’t have it both ways. (25)

Keller is explaining that God has His own way of thinking and planning. Good must come from His own purposes for permitting it as such. Therefore, these happenings do not happen at random by Him.

The next question is: “Why is there such a thing as wicked humanity?” “Everyone feels benevolent if nothing happens to be annoying him at the moment” (Lewis, 49). Lewis is stating that when one has no complaints against others they don’t feel a need to have to do anything sinful, otherwise they would find ways to empower themselves. Lewis, in his book, The Problem of Pain, states:

Christ takes it for granted that men are bad. Until we really feel this assumption of His to be true, though we are part of the world He came to save, we are not part of the audience to whom His words are addressed. (50)

Lewis goes on to write that while we as sinners are whom Jesus came to serve and rescue that we are not what the Biblical ones were. We are immune to sin today just like the Biblical individuals were in their day. In the Bible, Psalm 51:5 (NIV) states, “Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.” This verse means that sin and suffering are not only burdens for one individual, but they are both passed down as part of biology and heredity.

One might struggle and ask if there is a specific person besides God that they shall turn to. “People don’t have to be unusual, saintly human beings to make us confront this problem” (Kushner, 12). In order to think through this troubling issue Rabbi Kushner admits that one doesn’t have to go to a person of high order, such as a rabbi, priest, or pastor. It doesn’t matter who you go to, but it does matter that they do have a realistic sense of God and a belief in Him as well in order to get the most accurate and truthful help possible.

Roughly less than half of certain Americans were interrogated if they were to meet God, they would all ask Him why evil and suffering exists. Luis Palau says “four specific answers” are given to where suffering is the effect, “natural disasters… man’s inhumanity to man… our own erroneous actions… the unseen hand of Satan” (The Problem of Evil and Suffering). To elaborate on these four points, he proves:

First, from natural disasters, such as an earthquake or a large storm. The suffering that results from these disasters happens to both the righteous and the unrighteous. Second, from man’s inhumanity to man, including armed conflicts. Because of greed and pride, individuals try to hurt others. Third, from our own erroneous actions. If I walk off the roof of my office and fall to the ground, breaking my leg, I am suffering because I broke God’s laws of physics. Fourth, from the unseen hand of Satan, our adversary. The abiding lesson of the book of Job (one of the oldest Hebrew Scriptures) is that even the wisest of men and women cannot always comprehend in a purely rational where evil, suffering, and pain come from. Often it can be understood only from a divine perspective, from the propositional revelation that God is far above us, God is good, God is in control (even though Satan opposes us), God has his [sic] purposes, and God will gain the victory through our perseverance. (The Problem of Evil and Suffering)

He goes on to say, “Much suffering is the result of sin, whether our own transgressions or the iniquities of others.” According to Palau himself, Rabbi Kushner states, “He has to explain why there is love, honesty, generosity, courage, and altruism in the world, and why it feels so good and so right when we let those qualities into our lives.” Palau later points out that it was not God who created evil, but rather Satan, a fallen angel. Both mankind and the environment endure the punishments of wrongdoing against our Lord and misdeeds against one another. One sins and is sinned against by this. Certain people banter what they want: attend hell in order to celebrate with their peers. However, hell in actuality is “separation from relationship with God and others forever” (The Problem of Evil and Suffering).

William Lane Craig points out and affirms, “The problem of evil is certainly the greatest obstacle to belief in the existence of God.” He explains that there are two evils: “the logical problem of evil, and second, the probabilistic problem of evil.” It is said in the former that there can be no possible mixture with the Lord and wickedness. He later reveals:

When we comprehend His sacrifice and His love for us, this puts the problem of evil in an entirely different perspective. For now we see clearly that the true problem of evil is the problem of our evil. Filled with sin and and morally guilty before God, the question we face is not how God can justify Himself to us, but how we can be justified before Him.

He also admits, “... we can actually prove that God and evil are logically consistent.” He concludes with this:

So paradoxically, even though the problem of evil is the greatest objection to the existence of God, at the end of the day God is the only solution to the problem of evil. If God does not exist, then we are lost without hope in a life filled with gratuitous and unredeemed suffering. God is the final answer to the problem of evil, for He redeems us from evil and takes us into the everlasting joy of an incommensurable good, fellowship with Himself. (The Problem of Evil)

Craig is explaining that there is a sensible connection between God and evil; there is not unreasoning behind it. Overall, he does explain the obvious on how Jesus Christ came to die for all believers and paid the full price for their sins and suffering.

The two questions “Why is there so much evil in the world?” and “If an all-powerful, all-loving God exists, how could He allow so much suffering and evil to exist in the world He created?” have both been answered by stating that it was man first, not by God, and because humanity continues to fall under sin’s pressures. God allows suffering and human wickedness, the righteous do suffer, and evil and suffering are both problems because He does not control society as His puppet. He rather lets human beings live life without His control, by allowing free will and freedom of choice. In this way can one be tempted to do the wrong things that can lead to sin, but also suffer as a result of the sin in turn. It is not by God but by the devil’s works, and our selfish desires that temptation is brought on and allows for it to happen.

Works Cited

Keller, Timothy, The Reason For God, (New York: Penguin, 2008) pp. 25.

Lewis, C.S., The Problem of Pain, (New York: HarperCollins, 1940) pp. 49, 50.

Kushner, Harold S., When Bad Things Happen to Good People, (New York: Schocken, 1981) pp. 12.

Palau, Luis, The Problem of Evil and Suffering, The Christian Post, 24 July 2011. Web. 10 Oct. 2014.

Craig, William Lane, The Problem of Evil, Reasonable Faith, n.d. Web. 10 Oct. 2014.