One of the strongest objections to the existence of the biblical God is the existence of evil (moral, physical suffering, etc.). The argument is that the reality of evil is opposed to the concept of a loving and all-powerful God. If God were powerful enough and loving enough, then He would abolish evil. But since evil exists, then God is either not loving or not powerful. Either way, evil is said to disprove the God of the Bible. The Greek philosopher Epicurus (342-270 B.C.) argued this: if God wants to prevent evil, but cannot, then He is not all-powerful; if He can prevent evil, but will not, then He is not good. If He has both the power and the will to eliminate evil, then why is evil in the world?

A couple of serious problems with this view have been brought up previously: first, with no God, and thus no standard by which to call something evil, then those who bring up this problem beg the question. Let the objector define that standard by which anything is to be judged as “evil.” If there is no ultimate standard of goodness, then how can one consistently talk about evil? Second, much of what is called “evil” can be directly attributed to the free will of humankind. God could abolish evil by destroying free will, but it is doubtful that many would desire this. But there are some other flaws to the argument.

One fallacy is the assumption that there are no good purposes served by God allowing evil and suffering to exist. God, who not only is all-loving and all-powerful, is also omniscient (all-knowing). This means that there may be reasons of which we cannot be aware for why He might allow evil to continue for a time. We cannot site our ignorance of reasons as a reasonable argument to deny God.

Further, the argument does not follow. Who says that the existence of evil and the existence of an omnipotent and omnibenevolent God are mutually exclusive? It argues what cannot be proved because, as stated above, it would require knowledge of all factors that may contribute to an understanding of this issue.

The Bible does not ignore this issue. In fact, the whole theme of the Bible is built upon the reality of evil (i.e., God’s plan for salvation). This theme culminates in God Himself entering into this world of sin in order to suffer on our behalf. And it is this very suffering that proves once and for all that God loves us more deeply than we can comprehend (cf. John 3:16; Rom. 5:8). In other words, no one can look at the cross of Christ and argue that God does not love us. He Himself has been touched by the evil in this world.

As for His power, let no one assume that God will not deal with evil in His time. People who argue that God would do something about if He were powerful enough miss the point that God will indeed do something about it! That is what final judgment is all about. Evil has a day of reckoning (cf. 2 Pet. 3).

The fact that God has not yet brought this judgment argues for His longsuffering and desire that all people be saved from sin (2 Pet. 3:9). One day He will bring final judgment, but in the meantime we need to pay attention to the opportunities we have to be saved by His grace. Both His power and love are demonstrated in His reaching out to us in order to save us, but those opportunities will not last forever.