One of the objections raised against Christianity is that the God of the Bible is a vengeful deity who commanded Israel to practice genocide as they conquered the land of Canaan.
As a Christian, I would be the first to admit that some of what I read in the Old Testament (OT) makes me uncomfortable. There are things in the Bible that offend my 20th Century sensibilities. Yet we must look at the context of that command and understand it in its historical setting.
In the instances where Israel was commanded to wipe out an entire population, that command resulted from the evil that was being practiced by the soon to be conquered people. One of the most detestable practices was that of child sacrifice. God chose to eradicate the people to contain the evil.
On the other hand, another argument against belief in God is based on God’s apparent inability to contain or eliminate evil. People struggle with seeing the love of God when bad things have happened in their own lives or in the lives of others. The question is framed something like this: “how do you expect me to believe in a God that would allow the Holocaust to take place?”
But we cannot have it both ways. We cannot on the one hand complain when God steps in to eliminate evil and then complain when he does not. We cannot be the final arbiter of determining the justice (or lack thereof) of God.
The original attack on God’s credibility came in Genesis 3 when Satan asked the question of Eve, “did God really say?” There is always a danger when we assume the authority to stand in judgment of God.
God created humans as moral agents with the ability to choose well or choose badly. That ability to choose has not been rescinded and we get it wrong much of the time. If God changed the world so that none of us could choose to do wrong, we would all then become automatons.
The fact is that I choose badly every day. There is not a day that goes by where I do not have an inappropriate thought, say something that is hurtful to others or fail in some other way.
This does not eliminate the so-called “problem of evil.” We will never fully understand how the justice and love of God can be simultaneously if effect. Depending on our point of view, we will often be uncomfortable with what God allows or doesn’t allow.
So the question then becomes, am I willing to allow God to vanquish the evil in my own heart? Am I willing to admit my own finitude? Am I willing to worship a God who sometimes makes me uncomfortable? Am I willing to allow God to be the judge and trust that he will get it right?
Are you?
John Campbell says
December 18, 2017 at 8:02 AMPart of the problem I believe is that we have too high a view of fallen man. “How can a good God allow bad things to happen to good people?” they ask. But the truth is they don’t. Bad things only happen to bad people for there is but One Who is good. We make the mistake of comparing human with human, as if that were the standard!
We also need to address these questions, as far as we are able, from the perspective of eternity. The evil that has operated since the unfortunate garden incident is but a blip on the timescale laid out before us.
2 Cor 4:16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. 17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, 18 while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.
Now there’s a thought! “Light affliction” is how the apostle refers to the evil he and we suffer. He, who suffered appalling physical abuse, can only do that because of his revelation of what is to come. He tells us that whatever we suffer is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. Isn’t that wonderful?
This also gives us a glimpse into what the writer to the Hebrews meant about our Lord in Chapter 12, verse 2 …….. who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
BryanMims says
April 23, 2015 at 8:00 AMIt was Adam and Eve bat disobey God and ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. So we sort of brought this on ourselves! The Bible is clear, “His ways are above our understanding”, and I’m comforted in the fact that God cannot sin and so I never question if He is right or wrong. Humans are flawed and corrupt and our vision is hampered by an abundance of arrogance! I am embarrassed when I read in the Bible that the only time God ever repented was because He created us. And I am always astounded by the fact that He still loves us enough that He sent His only son, Jesus the Christ, to bear our sins and to go to the cross to die in our place. As for me I will praise God and thank my Savior Jesus Christ and rest in the assurance that my trust is in Him.
MarkMcIntyre says
September 9, 2014 at 4:31 PMThe old beam and speck problem again . . .
MarkDanielJohansen says
September 9, 2014 at 3:26 PMQuite true. I was just saying in a Bible study recently that atheists will on the one hand complain that God is too slow to stop evil, and then in the next sentence complain that he is too harsh and too quick to judge evil. They really need to make up their mind what the problem is before Christians can be expected to formulate a reply.
It’s not entirely a paradox, though, I think there’s a clear distinction: When someone else sins against me, God should quickly destroy that person to prevent them from doing harm. When I sin against someone else, well that’s different. Then God should be patient and merciful and give me a chance to reform myself, maybe even recognize that what I did was perfectly understandable in the circumstances.
Jeremy Myers says
October 23, 2013 at 12:13 AMGreat post. Yes, I think without human free will (of some sort), there is no good answer to the problem of evil, and yes, I am with you, I hope God vanquishes the evil in my heart as well.
Nancy says
April 2, 2013 at 8:34 PM“The fact is that I choose badly every day. There is not a day that goes
by where I do not have an inappropriate thought, say something that is
hurtful to others or fail in some other way.”
Ditto that statement. It certainly applies to me. Granted, I’m much better than I was 20 yrs ago, thanks be to God, but I’m more aware today of the utter filth of my sin, even ones the world thinks are ‘normal’.
Good article.
Mark McIntyre says
April 3, 2013 at 5:45 AMThanks Nancy. Awareness of our need for a savior should keep us humble and loving to those who have not yet met HIm.
bridget yorke says
April 1, 2013 at 8:53 PMWELL SAID!!! Thank you!!
Mark McIntyre says
April 1, 2013 at 9:20 PMYou’re welcome. Thank you for the encouragement.