Problem of Evil (part 3)

Transcript Problem of Evil (Part 3)

Kevin Harris: Dr. Craig, we are going to talk about a very common problem and that is the problem of evil. If God exists then why does evil exist? Why do bad things happen to good people? And bad things – why are they so bad? Why do they tend to be so gratuitous given our belief that God exists? This is a problem that you wrestle with a lot with college students.

Dr. Craig: Sure. I think a lot of college students come from very dysfunctional homes and as a result many of them bare a lot of emotional scars and come with a lot of emotional baggage. So they wonder how God could permit this to happen and therefore they tend to be responsive on occasion to atheist professors who claim that the suffering and the evil in the world is a disproof of God’s existence; that it is improbable that God exists given the pain and suffering in the world.

Kevin Harris: What are some other things that we can talk about when answering the problem of evil?

Dr. Craig: I think it is important to understand that no philosopher has ever been able to show any kind of logical inconsistency between God and the suffering in the world. In fact, today philosophers generally recognize that it is perfectly consistent to maintain that God exists and that the evil and the suffering in the world exists. There is no logical contradiction between these two.

Rather, the question is whether or not, given the evil and pain in the world, God’s existence is improbable. I think one of the things we can say in response to this is that probabilities are always relative to background information. Probabilities are not absolute. Probabilities are always relative to some background information that you consider. For example, suppose that we are told that Joe is a college student and that 90% of college students drink beer. Well, relative to that background information, that would make it highly probable that Joe drinks beer. But, now suppose we are told that Joe is a Wheaton College student, and Wheaton has a pledge that students will not drink alcohol, and 90% of Wheaton students obey the pledge and do not drink alcoholic beverages. Now suddenly, relative to this new background information, it is highly improbable that Joe drinks beer. So you see probabilities are relative to what background information you consider.

Now, when the atheist says that it is improbable that God exists we need to immediately ask ourselves the question: improbable relative to what? Relative to the evil and suffering in the world? Well, if that is all you consider for your background information, I would say it is hardly surprising that God’s existence would appear improbable relative to that alone. In fact, it would be a major philosophical accomplishment if you can show that God’s existence is not improbable relative to the evil and suffering in the world alone. But of course that is not the really interesting question. The really interesting question is: is God’s existence improbable relative to the full scope of the evidence, including things like arguments from the origin of the universe, the fine-tuning of the universe for a designer of the cosmos, a realm of objective moral values and duties, the historical evidence for the person, work, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth, and so on and so forth. And I am persuaded that when you consider the full scope of the evidence that God’s existence is quite probable even given any improbability which evil and suffering might be thought to throw upon the existence of God. In other words, if you put in the scale of the probabilities the evil and suffering of the world as evidence against God’s existence, I am persuaded that the evidence on the other side of the scale for God’s existence is so strong that it simply outweighs the evidence from suffering and evil. Therefore on balance it is quite probable that God exists.

Kevin Harris: Wow, impressive. Also, if the Christian God exists, there are certain considerations as to evil there as well. [1]

Dr. Craig: I think that is right, Kevin. I think that what the Christian can say is that there are certain Christian doctrines which, if true, increase the probability of the coexistence of God and evil. That is to say, if these Christian doctrines are true then it is not at all surprising that the world would be suffused with a good deal of suffering.

Kevin Harris: If certain Christian doctrines are true, we would expect evil and suffering.

Dr. Craig: Exactly. And therefore the fact that we discover evil and suffering in the world doesn’t really cast much improbability upon the existence of the Christian God.

Kevin Harris: What would be one of those considerations for the Christian God?

Dr. Craig: I think one of the principal considerations is the following: the chief purpose of life is not happiness as such but rather the knowledge of God which, of course, in the end will bring true and everlasting human fulfillment. But I think that the reason that the problem of evil is so intractable for so many people is that we just naturally tend to assume that if God exists then his purpose for human life is happiness in this life. God’s role is to create a comfortable environment for his human pets and therefore we are puzzled by the evil and suffering that exists in this environment. But you see on the Christian view this is false – we are not God’s pets. The purpose of human life is not happiness.

Kevin Harris: It is not one big comfortable hamster habitat.

Dr. Craig: No, that’s right. It is not a habitat for humanity so to speak. Not at all. The purpose of life is not happiness in this life. Rather the purpose of life is to come to know God and his salvation and thus to find eternal life which will lead to everlasting human fulfillment and blessedness. But many, many evils and much suffering occur in this life which may be utterly pointless and unnecessary with respect to producing human happiness. But they may not be pointless with respect to producing a deeper knowledge of God.

Kevin Harris: C. S. Lewis says God whispers to us in our pleasures but he shouts to us in our pain.

Dr. Craig: Yes, and this is not some mere hypothesis on my part. If you look at a missions handbook on where Christianity is growing most rapidly around the world today, it is in countries that are experiencing intense suffering. Places like Ethiopia, the Sudan, China, the Philippines, El Salvador. There is a remarkable correlation between the growth rates in evangelical Christianity and terrible suffering. Therefore, I think it not at all improbable that only in a world that involves a good deal of moral and natural evil that the maximum number of people would freely come to know God and his salvation.

Kevin Harris: There is another biblical doctrine that might shed light on this and that is the doctrine of the Fall or the fallen world. That seems to really jive with what we see when we read the front of the newspaper.

Dr. Craig: Boy, isn’t that true. If there is any doctrine of Christianity that is confirmed by experience it would be that human beings are sinful and fallen. According to the Christian world and life view, rather than submit to God and seek for his purpose, people rebel against God, they go their own way, and therefore they find themselves spiritually separated from God, groping in spiritual darkness, alienated from him, and therefore in a state of moral and spiritual bankruptcy apart from God. The terrible moral evils in this world – crime, discrimination, oppression, war, torture – are simply testimony to man’s depravity in this state of moral alienation from God. The Bible says that God doesn’t interfere to stop this depravity. He lets human depravity run its course. This only serves to underline our need of God’s forgiveness and moral cleansing in our lives.

Kevin Harris: It would be appropriate then to say that – it is more accurate to say that – God permits evil rather than God promotes evil. In other words, he permits evil but brings about good rather than promoting evil to achieve an end.

Dr. Craig: Certainly that is true with respect to moral evils. God never wills that people would do the wrong. He always wills that in every moral situation that we are in that we choose the good and the right. With respect to natural evils, I do think that God has at his prerogative to bring certain natural evils into our lives should he so choose. In the Bible it says that sometimes he will bring judgment, for example, upon people for sin. That is his prerogative. He will determine when our lives are over. So if he chooses for you to die of cancer, I think that is his prerogative. So with respect to moral evils, I would say these are never promoted by God but rather just permitted. With respect to natural evils, we simply don’t know whether these are simply permitted by God as the natural product of a world operating according to laws of nature or whether God actively wills to bring suffering into our lives in order to refine us or teach us or achieve some greater purpose through what we endure.

Kevin Harris: Bill, the Christian can be comforted in that God extends his grace in the midst of the storms of life.

Dr. Craig: Certainly, that is true. And God supplies, I think, sufficient grace and strength to endure the trials that he calls us to go through. [2]