Resolving the Alleged Paradox to the problem of evil. The unbeliever might at this point protest that, even if he as a non-Christian cannot meaningfully explain or make sense of the view that evil objectively exists, nevertheless there still remains a paradox within the set of beliefs which constitute the Christians own worldview. Given his basic philosophy and commitments, the Christian certainly can and does claim that evil is real, and yet the Christian also believes things about the character of God which together seem incompatible with the existence of evil. The unbeliever might argue that, regardless of the ethical inadequacy of his own worldview, the Christian is still -- on the Christians own terms -- locked into a logically incoherent position by maintaining the three following propositions: 1. GOD IS ALL-GOOD. 2. GOD IS ALL-POWERFUL. 3. EVIL EXISTS. However the critic here overlooks a perfectly reasonable way to assent to all three of these propositions.If the Christian presupposes that God is perfectly and completely good -- as Scripture requires us to do -- then he is committed to evaluating everything within his experience in the light of that presupposition. Accordingly, when the Christian observes evil events or things in the world, he can and should retain consistency with his presupposition about Gods goodness by now inferring that God has a morally good reason for the evil that exists. God certainly must be all-powerful in order to be God; He is not to be thought of as overwhelmed or stymied by evil in the universe. And God is surely good, the Christian will profess -- so any evil we find must be compatible with Gods goodness. This is just to say that God has planned evil events for reasons which are morally commendable and good.To put it another way, the apparent paradox created by the above three propositions is readily resolved by adding this fourth premise to them: 4. GOD HAS A MORALLY SUFFICIENT REASON FOR THE EVIL WHICH EXISTS. When all four of these premises are maintained, there is no logical contradiction to be found, not even an apparent one. It is precisely part of the Christians walk of faith and growth in sanctification to draw proposition 4 as the conclusion of propositions 1-3.Think of Abraham when God ordered him to sacrifice his only son. Think of Job when he lost everything which gave his life happiness and pleasure. In each case God had a perfectly good reason for the human misery involved. It was a mark or achievement of faith for them not to waver in their conviction of Gods goodness, despite not being able to see or understand why He was doing to them what He did. Indeed, even in the case of the greatest crime in all of history -- the crucifixion of the Lord of glory -- the Christian professes that Gods goodness was not inconsistent with what the hands of lawless men performed. Was the killing of Christ evil? Surely. Did God have a morally sufficient reason for it? Just as surely. With Abraham we declare, Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right? (Genesis 18:25). And this goodness of God is beyond challenge: Let God be true, though all men are liars (Romans 3:4). Greg Bahnsen
Posted on: Sat, 16 Nov 2013 22:13:29 +0000
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