God and Evil: What's the Alternative?

One common reason for abandoning belief in God is the challenge of reconciling the existence of a good and all-powerful God with the evil we see in the world today. Of course, if God's goal were to make our lives as easy and comfortable as possible right now, the existence of evil may be a decent argument against God. But the God of Christianity never claims this as His objective or desire, for He has infinitely better plans, with a view toward our eternal happiness.

As I have argued here, if temporary suffering advances our eternal joy, then we cannot possibly indict God for lacking in goodness or power simply because we see evil now. Every parent who has ever taken a child to get immunization shots, or refused her request for a new toy, or grounded him as a means of discipline in order to develop his character, knows the value of short-term pain for the benefit of long-term gain. And if we, who are limited in knowledge, know that there are times to allow temporary loss for the sake of more lasting goodness, how much more does our Father in heaven who knows and sees all things?

I have argued elsewhere that if God doesn't exist, then there is no such thing as objective moral evil. In order to claim that something is wrong or evil, there must be some standard outside of ourselves by which we determine what is good and what is evil. Otherwise, what we perceive as evil is nothing more than a social construct, a personal opinion, a subjective preference. And if the deeds that we deem evil are truly just personal preferences, then we can never say, for example, that the rape of little girls is objectively wrong, or that suicide bombings are evil. We can say we don't like them or we wish they didn't happen, but in the end it's all just a matter of opinion, and we certainly have no justification for condemning these behaviors in cultures where they are considered acceptable.

Likewise, if there is no objective evil, it makes no sense to reject God for something we simply don't like. If the behaviors we see are nothing more than subjective dislikes, then we might as well reject God because we don't like certain fonts (thanks, Babylon Bee!), seasons, or vegetables that He has permitted to exist against our preferred tastes. In fact, to reject God is to pull the ground out from under the entire objection.

These are serious problems for the atheist who claims to abandon her belief in God because of the evil she sees in the world - evil committed by humans, notably, and not by God. But there is another problem. That is, what is the alternative? Once someone denies belief in God, where does that leave her? What resources or explanations remain to account for the hurt that she feels? What justice remains? Where is hope? Where is redemption? It is nowhere to be found, nor will it ever be. In the words of atheist Richard Dawkins, 

"In a universe of electrons and selfish genes, blind physical forces and genetic replication, some people are going to get hurt, other people are going to get lucky, and you won't find any rhyme or reason in it, nor any justice…no design, no purpose, no evil and no good, nothing but blind, pitiless indifference."1

Christianity, on the other hand, not only accounts for evil, but even anticipates it; in fact, it demands it. Evil is a central part of the story of reality according to the Christian worldview, but evil doesn't get the last word. The Christian looks on tragedy with great hope in the midst of grief and sadness, because God is at work in all things for the good of those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose, and one day all things will be made right.2 Justice will have its day, and punishment will be meted out. Goodness and righteousness will prevail, the Glorious One will be glorified, the longings of the children of God will be satisfied, and no evil deed will go unpunished.

In the midst of trials, evil, suffering, and pain, Christianity offers an explanation; it offers hope. So I ask again, what is the alternative? Atheist philosopher Bertrand Russell answered that question when he acknowledged that without belief in God, the atheist is left with “the firm foundation of unyielding despair.”3

Atheism doesn't solve the problem of evil. It just eliminates the best explanation for the way things are and the only real hope for a broken world.

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[1] Richard Dawkins, River Out of Eden: A Darwinian View of Life (New York: Basic Books, 1996).

[2] Romans 8:28-30

[3] Bertrand Russell, Free Man's Worship (London: George Allen & Unwin, 1976).