George Elwell The Problem Of Evil
The Problem of Evil
To present the topic of “the problem with evil,” without acknowledging there is a God can be confusing. I think one of the best questions that you could ask is, why does God allow evil being a perfect and loving God (Elwell, pg 413 There are different types of evil that are allowed in this world. The first is moral evil, which began in the garden of Eden when Eve ate the fruit off the tree and deliberately disobeyed God in an act of sin and evil (Gen. 3)(Elwell, pg 412). The next is natural evil; this is explained mainly in natural disasters such as, earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, and disease. Elwell writes, “natural evil is the consequence of moral evil,” then goes onto explain that natural evil is not distinct …show more content…
from moral evil, but is not separate from it either (Elwell, 412). Three things that Satan used to tempt Eve in the garden that caused her to commit disobedience to God were; lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life (Towns, pg 496). Satan’s strategies have not changed very much, and he still uses the same tricks thousands of years later. When you try to explain why there is sin among mankind Elwell writes a great point and says, “Eve and then Adam violated the divine command by eating the forbidden fruit,” .
. . therefore through their act of disobedience Adam and Eve sin entered the world, and because of this we were and are all born sinners (Elwell, pg 434). There are many reasons why we suffer here on earth. First mentioned by Elwell is a quote from Job 4:7-9 where God will use pain and affliction as a means of judgment (pg 883) Second, the Bible teaches that sometimes pain and affliction will help people turn back to God, or bring a person to salvation (Israel in the tribulation Zech 12 (pg 883). Lastly, Elwell says that sometimes it will be by means of punishment or chastisement and used Psalm 94:12-13, and also Hebrews 12:6 (Elwell, pg …show more content…
883). A strong argument to use for the free will defense according to Elwell is, if by pointing out that God is not the cause of evil in the world and that free will is, then God is justifiably innocent of creating evil and since we have free will, and God cannot remove that evil (Elwell, pg 1186).
The problem with the free will theodicy is that not all theologies are consistent or hold identical positions (Elwell, pg 1184). Elwell also states, that the “free will defense is an inappropriate answer to the problem of moral evil, since the notion of freedom involved in the free will defense is incompatible with the freedom involved in the Calvinistic system (Elwell, pg 1184).” Elwell writes about another theodicy which is the soul building theodicy, this theodicy rests upon a rationalist theology (Elwell, pg 1186) John Hick asks a good question by saying, “What sort of environment would be most conducive to soul-building?” I feel that would be good reason for sin to be present in everyday life, which allows God to show His mercy and grace. Elwell also writes about the fact of having an Edenic paradise would currently take away from a world to win souls to Christ. With Hick’s theology on the subject, Elwell notes that this would not be accepted by some as a whole due to the way it is outlined (Elwell, pg 1186). The intent of a consistent theodicy is to avoid self-contradiction (Elwell, pg 1187). For example, if you write a theodicy explaining evil and try to justify it by
saying God is incapable of creating evil. You should have reasons for this that is in line with scripture to back up your argument. Personal experiences of evil affect a person’s relationship with God. Some ask why something like this would be happening to me, other’s fall away from God completely and get mad at Him (Elwell, pg 414). I believe when disputing a certain belief about God, depending on the situation of the dispute, you can certainly attack God. For example, the deity of God himself, if someone comes to me saying that God is not omniscient, or omnipotent, I would see this as an attack on God. But there may be certain cases where you are not attacking God depending on the subject. Sometimes it is hard for us to understand why there is suffering and death on this earth because of evil. If we look hard and read the Bible with an open mind, but also use the other tools of the Bible, we can come up with a general idea or answer as to why God would allow so much evil in this world.
REFERENCES
Elwell, Walter A. (2001) Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, Baker Academic, Grand Rapids, MI
Towns, Elmer L. (2008) Theology for Today, 2002 Cengage Learning, Mason, Ohi
To present the topic of “the problem with evil,” without acknowledging there is a God can be confusing. I think one of the best questions that you could ask is, why does God allow evil being a perfect and loving God (Elwell, pg 413 There are different types of evil that are allowed in this world. The first is moral evil, which began in the garden of Eden when Eve ate the fruit off the tree and deliberately disobeyed God in an act of sin and evil (Gen. 3)(Elwell, pg 412). The next is natural evil; this is explained mainly in natural disasters such as, earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, and disease. Elwell writes, “natural evil is the consequence of moral evil,” then goes onto explain that natural evil is not distinct …show more content…
from moral evil, but is not separate from it either (Elwell, 412). Three things that Satan used to tempt Eve in the garden that caused her to commit disobedience to God were; lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life (Towns, pg 496). Satan’s strategies have not changed very much, and he still uses the same tricks thousands of years later. When you try to explain why there is sin among mankind Elwell writes a great point and says, “Eve and then Adam violated the divine command by eating the forbidden fruit,” .
. . therefore through their act of disobedience Adam and Eve sin entered the world, and because of this we were and are all born sinners (Elwell, pg 434). There are many reasons why we suffer here on earth. First mentioned by Elwell is a quote from Job 4:7-9 where God will use pain and affliction as a means of judgment (pg 883) Second, the Bible teaches that sometimes pain and affliction will help people turn back to God, or bring a person to salvation (Israel in the tribulation Zech 12 (pg 883). Lastly, Elwell says that sometimes it will be by means of punishment or chastisement and used Psalm 94:12-13, and also Hebrews 12:6 (Elwell, pg …show more content…
883). A strong argument to use for the free will defense according to Elwell is, if by pointing out that God is not the cause of evil in the world and that free will is, then God is justifiably innocent of creating evil and since we have free will, and God cannot remove that evil (Elwell, pg 1186).
The problem with the free will theodicy is that not all theologies are consistent or hold identical positions (Elwell, pg 1184). Elwell also states, that the “free will defense is an inappropriate answer to the problem of moral evil, since the notion of freedom involved in the free will defense is incompatible with the freedom involved in the Calvinistic system (Elwell, pg 1184).” Elwell writes about another theodicy which is the soul building theodicy, this theodicy rests upon a rationalist theology (Elwell, pg 1186) John Hick asks a good question by saying, “What sort of environment would be most conducive to soul-building?” I feel that would be good reason for sin to be present in everyday life, which allows God to show His mercy and grace. Elwell also writes about the fact of having an Edenic paradise would currently take away from a world to win souls to Christ. With Hick’s theology on the subject, Elwell notes that this would not be accepted by some as a whole due to the way it is outlined (Elwell, pg 1186). The intent of a consistent theodicy is to avoid self-contradiction (Elwell, pg 1187). For example, if you write a theodicy explaining evil and try to justify it by
saying God is incapable of creating evil. You should have reasons for this that is in line with scripture to back up your argument. Personal experiences of evil affect a person’s relationship with God. Some ask why something like this would be happening to me, other’s fall away from God completely and get mad at Him (Elwell, pg 414). I believe when disputing a certain belief about God, depending on the situation of the dispute, you can certainly attack God. For example, the deity of God himself, if someone comes to me saying that God is not omniscient, or omnipotent, I would see this as an attack on God. But there may be certain cases where you are not attacking God depending on the subject. Sometimes it is hard for us to understand why there is suffering and death on this earth because of evil. If we look hard and read the Bible with an open mind, but also use the other tools of the Bible, we can come up with a general idea or answer as to why God would allow so much evil in this world.
REFERENCES
Elwell, Walter A. (2001) Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, Baker Academic, Grand Rapids, MI
Towns, Elmer L. (2008) Theology for Today, 2002 Cengage Learning, Mason, Ohi