The Problem of Evil

Thinkers reject the theistic worldview because of the philosophical Problem of Evil. The Problem of Evil is often stated as a question: If God is all good and almighty, why is there evil in the world? Intelligent skeptics assume there is no solution to this “contradiction” and so reject theistic worldviews, including Christianity.

An attempt to answer the Problem of Evil is called a theodicy. The Greek roots of theodicy mean God-justification. In other words, a theodicy is an attempt to justify or exonerate God in the face of evil’s existence and to show that He is still all good and almighty after all.

The most popular theodicy today is the Freewill Theodicy. This idea states that it was such a priority in God’s mind to give humans and angels freewill, that He was willing to risk the possibility that they would choose evil. Therefore, the reason evil exists is not because God was unable to prevent it, but because he permits it for the “higher good” of giving his creatures freewill.

When I introduce the Problem of Evil in my classes, there are usually some good thinkers who propose the Freewill Theodicy. Until now, however, I’ve never had a student offer a refutation of the Freewill Theodicy. Last Thursday, Michael Rasch sorted it out. Michael’s thinking went something like this:

• The Freewill Theodicy prioritizes freewill over the absence of evil.
• Supposedly, the reason God prioritized freewill was because He wanted authentic relationship with us.
• However, God is able to design a universe that includes authentic relationship without evil. (In fact, God had authentic relationship with Adam and Eve before evil entered the world.)
• Therefore, the existence of evil is not necessary for authentic relationship.
• Furthermore, since the existence of evil is not necessary for authentic relationship, neither are the prerequisites for the existence of evil.
• Therefore, God did not permit evil for the sake of freewill, i.e., for the sake of authentic relationship, and the Freewill Theodicy is not adequate to answer the Problem of Evil!

Way to go, Michael!

There is another problem with the Freewill Theodicy: it tends to limit God’s omniscience. In other words, the Freewill Theodicy tends to assume that God did not know beforehand what humans and angels would do with freewill. This is the unorthodox and heretical position of today’s “Open Theists” who say God does not know ahead of time what choices free agents will make. The fact is, however, that God never takes risks because He already knows exactly what will happen, including what choices humans and angels will make (consider Jesus’ selection of Judas, John 6.70). We must conclude that everything that happens, including the existence of evil, will work together for good for those who love God (Rom 8.28) because there is Divine intentionality behind it.

posted by Roderick of TMin @ 8:53 AM