The Problem of Evil

This, I believe, is the single greatest problem that people face, the single greatest question that Theists ask, many without an answer for themself.

The Problem of Evil, simply put, is basically this: If there is a All Good and All Powerful God, why is there suffering in the world?

Before starting to answer this, let me first say that this is meant to be a philosophical answer. Good luck to whoever tries to tell someone who is actually suffering all these. Not to say that Philosophical answers are not true, but that they are not appropriate for a person in need... I doubt they will appreciate this.

Now, Theists have some answers to this. The first that is often used is that this Evil usually comes from Man himself, and the one thing that God will not touch is the free will of Man. We see this in the murderer who kills. God did not act that out, Man did. A similar answer is posed for natural disasters. The fallen Angel, the Prince of this world, is the one who cause those.

This is a good answer, and has depths in it that I am not worthy to explore of. Yet, it fails in one aspect. Those from the Christian tradition would remember that God Himself spoke of punishing certain groups of people, including the Jews, striking them with pestilence and plagues and the Sword. In all these accounts, we can see God Himself active in causing these sufferings.

A second answer is then proposed. Perhaps, suffering is redemptive in nature. In the words of C S Lewis, Pain is the Microphone by which God speaks to a deaf world. In other words, God uses pain to turn people towards himself. It must be noted that Pain only alerts people that something is wrong. It does not in itself turn people towards God.

Yet, even this answer fails to satisfy some people. For there are still the innocent. What about infants? What wrong things have the infant done to deserve God's harsh correction? Or what does the middle aged couple, living a decent life, earning a decent wage, what did they do to deserve their house getting struck by lightning?

The same question was asked a long time ago. "Who being innocent ever suffered?"

This question was eternally answered on a Cross on Calvary.

For there was only One who was innocent. No one else is really innocent. And that innocent one died one of the worst deaths available.

And it is exactly here that the Christian Tradition's answers changes tone. For whatever suffering that we are going through, God Himself is going through it with us. He did not give us an answer to "why". He Himself came as the answer. Not to why, but to what to do.


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There will be some that will still not be satisfied with this answer. Hopefully, this is not the sufferers - how can one offer more to them than God Himself suffering with them?

I have this other point to bring up. That is, if you start without God, how did you come to know about this thing called "suffering"? In the previous post, we discussed the implications of morality without God - that it is groundless. In that case, why is it wrong, why is the world not fair, if something called wrongness and fairness is relative? If there is no absolute standard, you can't even say that something is not fair.

Without God, there is no problem of pain.