There’s Something Wrong with Everything…
And that’s the premise of Ecclesiastes. In this life, in this world, there is nothing that is not flawed. Everything is screwed up… everything falls short. Nothing can satisfy.
What is crooked cannot be made straight,
and what is lacking cannot be counted.
It’s no surprise, then, when the Preacher comes to the realization that bad things happen to good people, and good things happen to bad people (8.14 for example). So… believe it or not, the “problem of evil” is not some new philosophical proof against the existence of God… it’s been around for a while.
But that begs the question… is it really a problem at all? Given the choice to do good, I’ve done evil. Over and over again throughout my whole life. So have you. So has everyone. When you live in a world where 6-7 billion people are choosing to do evil, why should it be a surprise to anyone when bad things happen? If God really is good and he really is just and he really is all-powerful, it’s a wonder anything good happens to anyone at all.
The fact that nothing is perfect, yet the longing for perfection is present in every person should tell us that we were made for something other than what we see. The fact that we who choose evil still long for something good should tell us we were made for something else. The simple fact that we know things aren’t the way they should be should tell us that we were made for something more.
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December 30th, 2005 at 11:00 pm
Well said. And you could add that bad things happen because this isn’t heaven: That’s yet to come.
Blessings!
January 4th, 2006 at 11:08 am
Amen brother.
You’re right about not being surprised by evil in the world considering how many human beings openly and actively choose evil.
I too believe that there is no such thing as “the problem of evil.” Unbelievers can’t speak about evil because it is inconsistent with their worldview. They have no objective moral standard (i.e. Bible) by which they can judge what is right and wrong.
For Christians, who do have this standard, evil isn’t a problem because we understand the conquering nature of God who defeated evil at the Cross!