If God exists… Why does so much evil exist in the world? Sometime’s it can be baffling to see a human being treat another with such cruelty. And let’s not forget natural disasters, famine, disease… the list goes on. So if we define God as:
- All Loving
- All Powerful
- Everywhere at Once
- All Knowing
Then one of these characteristics must fall short. Because if God is well aware of the evil, and he is all loving, then he should have the power to stop it at anyplace anytime. But he doesn’t… So does this negate the existence of God?
Not necessarily. There are a few responses to this dilemma, and I will list them here:
1) We all commit evil acts. If it were up to God to stop us every time we did something evil, we would lack free-will. Having free-will is necessary to not only live in freedom but to choose and experience love. Think about it… if someone loves you because they “have” to, would you feel like they truly loved you? It would not be genuine. Free-will is necessary for love.
2) What about natural disasters and things outside of our control? One response is: These events allow us to take matters into our own hands and give us an opportunity to do good in the world. Similarly, it also gives us the opportunity to love.
Still caught up in the dilemma? C.S. Lewis goes into detail with this dilemma in “The Problem of Pain”.