Dear Readers,
This is a letter I wrote to someone distressed by the Middle East and Ukraine wars. I was challenged by their concerns to think more deeply about evil in the world and the importance of faith. I hope these thoughts will stimulate your own reflections.
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Dear M_______,
I really appreciate that you took the time to share your feelings about the state of the world. You went beyond just chit chat and shared some deep thoughts. So I would like to do the same with you.
I can relate to the distress about war and evil in the world. It’s very disturbing and challenging to faith. One of the things I think about, though, is that since there is unimaginable evil in the world, its opposite, pure good, must exist.
For we seem to live in a twilight zone where we experience both good and evil. We enjoy blessings (such as your harmonious family) and see people who serve others in astounding ways (like Mother Teresa). And we also experience evil on a spectrum, from white lies and cheating all the way to horrible mass atrocities. If absolute goodness does not exist (in a 100% pure form), how can we have any reasonable hope whatsoever in the world? Also, if we do not possess a strong hope that someday good will overcome evil, can anything really matter?
But then one might say, well, we cannot know the nature of this 100% good in its pure form. And why should we believe that evil could even be overcome? The entire history of the world has been violent and bloody, and humankind has not seemed to learn anything. Nor does it appear that any benevolent being has done anything about it or cares about our plight.
You wrote about your rejection of God because he appears to commit horrific evils in the Old Testament.
May I share with you questions I’ve asked myself as I’ve considered this topic?
First, what distortions might occur if I look at the Old Testament solely through the grid of a western 21st century cultural lens?
Second, if the God of the Bible, an all-knowing, transcendent Creator, truly exists, why would I expect to be able to understand everything about him, his actions in the past, and how he rules his creation?
Third, how am I in a position to judge him morally when I am only here for less than 100 years on the multi-millennial timeline and fail to have even one percent of the facts needed to make such an outsized assessment?
And finally, how could I, as morally flawed as I am, be in any position to judge a 100% morally pure, all-knowing being?
Well, and here is another interesting consideration. If I highly value free will, what right do I have to blame God when he lets people exercise it? If God intervened every time someone made a bad choice, it would no longer be free will. Sure, he could prevent every war, but then would he not violate his ordained law of free will? We might argue that we’d be happy to forego free will if this would eradicate suffering in the world, but would we really?
Another thought—the Bible teaches that Satan is the ruler of this world. Therefore, we should not be surprised at the chaos and evil that we find here. That includes the corruption and evil that lurks in religion. But then that leads to the next question—why does God allow Satan, evil, and suffering to exist in the first place? Surely God is responsible if he is as all-powerful as he claims.
This is a mystery that cannot be fully understood on this side of eternity, but in my reading I’ve come across one consideration which would not explain everything but which I find compelling, and it has to do with the sacredness of love. Freely given love. God could have created us to love him like an automaton. But it appears that he so highly values freely chosen love, that he even created the angels with the ability to serve him out of love or reject him.
In creating free agents, however, God opened himself up to great suffering and rejection. We ourselves can hardly stand to witness the horrific evil in the world. Why would a loving, gentle, and just God subject himself to witnessing every evil thought and act on this planet, hour by hour, day by day, for century upon century upon century? Especially the horrific things done to children? Why be willing to undergo this suffering and subject the planet to the horrible consequences that the existence of free will imposes?
Either God is pure evil himself and sadistically enjoys mayhem, or as evil’s opposite, he is aiming at a supreme good. Something that he considers so valuable, so beautiful, that it is worth great sacrifice and suffering. Is freely-given love that important? Free choice is the way that God loves us, for he is not an automaton. When we look at Christ, we see that the Father’s passionate love for us is boundless. Will we love him back? For we also are not automatons. Will we choose him?
If we reject him, we will ultimately lose the “Light of the World,” all that he is—everything in existence that is good, true, pure, beautiful, and righteous. The absence of light is darkness.
You wrote that faith is not the same as the actual reality of sight. True, but for me, I believe there is an intellectually compelling case for faith. Faith is still a leap, but it need not be made in an intellectual vacuum or by denying reason.
And faith births hope, something I know I desperately need for our times. The Bible proclaims good news, because ultimately the hope of this world does not lie in humankind’s peace treaties or in science or in artificial intelligence, but in redemption.
I hope this was not too long, but thank you very much for sharing your thoughts and challenging me to examine mine.
Thank you Ruth for sharing these thought provoking words such a blessing. Though I have moved past these questions in my own life and accepted and believe God is wholly good I appreciate your wisdom and insight this speaks to some of the questions I have ruminated in my faith walk. 🙋♀️