(original post 1 May 2020)
The topic of evil is a pervasive one. We read about, hear about, and witness “evil” people performing “evil” acts on a seemingly daily basis. No matter where we are in the world, evil is present around us in some fashion. The existence of evil is one of the arguments levied against the existence of God. The argument tends to go, “how can a good God exist with so much evil in the world,” or “if God created everything, and there’s evil in the world, then God created evil.” These are posited to deny or disprove God’s existence, and many aren’t equipped to answer the charges.
First, we should define evil for the purposes of further understanding. Merriam-Webster defines evil as “morally reprehensible, arising from actual or imputed bad character or conduct, causing discomfort or repulsion, disagreeable, causing harm, marked by misfortune; (noun) the fact of suffering, misfortune, and wrongdoing, a cosmic evil force, something that brings sorrow, distress, or calamity; (adverb) in an evil manner[1].”
For our purposes moving forward in this discussion, I will use Dr. Frank Turek’s definition and illustration for ‘evil.’ In a recent blog post, and several times in his podcasts, Dr. Turek states, “Evil can’t exist on its own, it only exists as a parasite in good. Evil is like rust in a car; if you take all the rust out of a car you have a better car; if you take all of the car out of the rust you have nothing. Evil is like cancer—it can’t exist alone, only in a good body. Therefore, there can be no objective evil unless there is objective good, and there can be no objective good unless God’s objectively Good nature exists. If evil is real—and we all know it is—then God exists.[2]” Dr. Turek often extends the evil = cancer illustration as “if you take all the cancer out of the body, you end up with a better body. If you take all the body away from the cancer, you have nothing; cancer can’t exist without a body for it to corrupt.”
Part of the problem with the argument using evil to try and disprove God is that evil is treated as if it was a physical entity which exists on its own. However, this is not the case. Evil is a deprivation or deficiency in something that is good. Firearms are neutral, neither good nor evil. They are simply a tool with destructive capability. To use a rifle to hunt game in order to feed your family is a good thing. To use a rifle to end the lives of innocent people because you have a hatred or anger about something is an act of evil.
As stated above, absolute goodness is the very nature of God. Part of that goodness is infused into His creation. Our awareness of morality (which links to Adam and Eve’s sin) allows us to discern and identify good and evil. Sin is like a cancer. God declared His creation as being good. When Adam and Eve defied the only rule God set for them, sin (evil) entered creation and began to corrupt it. This aspect of reality can be confirmed by the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics which summarily states that a system goes from a state of order to chaos over time. To illustrate, think of when you cleaned a room or organized a bookshelf. You spend time and energy making things neat and orderly. How long does it stay neat and orderly? A day? A week? It does not take long for things to accumulate, get shifted around, rows of books get papers or other books set on top of them or in front of them; the orderliness shifts to a state of chaos. This does not mean that evil as thing has moved into the system, rather the goodness in the system has broken down.
Dr. Turek expands upon his illustration this way, “The shadows prove the sunshine. There can be sunshine without shadows, but there can’t be shadows without sunshine. In other words, there can be good without evil, but there can’t be evil without good; and there can’t be objective good without God. So evil may show there’s a devil out there, but it can’t disprove God. Evil actually boomerangs back to show that God exists.[3]” A popular quote from CS Lewis furthers the point, “I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.[4]”
Bottom line, the existence of evil in the world is not because there is this essence or abstract concept called “evil.” Evil exists because there is such a thing as good. When something good is corrupted, that corruption is evil. Good and evil do not exist as opposite ends of an entity (like the light and dark sides of the force in Star Wars). Evil exists because good exists. There can be good with no evil, but there cannot be evil without good. If God is the absolute standard of goodness, He cannot be the origin of evil. That would make God contradictory. Ergo, evil did not and does not come from God.
That only leaves us to blame for it. And the ultimate expression of God’s goodness is in His Gospel, sending His Son to make things right. Adam and Eve started the decay of creation by disobeying God (through an act of evil / sin). Mankind cannot make things right with God on our own; we are corrupted by sin (evil). God makes things right, overcoming sin, evil, and death through Jesus’ life, sacrifice, and resurrection. This is the hope and victory of Christians, and the truth we are called to share throughout the world!
~In Christ!
[1] https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/evil
[2] https://crossexamined.org/evil-disproves-atheism/
[3] https://crossexamined.org/evil-disproves-atheism/
[4] http://www.travisdickinson.com/cs-lewis-believing-sun-rise/
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