The Problem of Evil

Steven R. Cook

Genesis 6:5 The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

Genesis 8:21b The intent of man's heart is evil from his youth.

Isaiah 5:20 Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!

Jeremiah 17:9 The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick.

Romans 7:21 I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good.

This analysis is not exhaustive, and I will not try to deal with every issue related to the subject of evil. My goal is to acknowledge its presence in the world, biblically reveal its origin, explain why it continues throughout history, and reveal that it will come to end one when God personally handles it.

The word evil is used in every generation, but like many words, its definition is often changed according to popular culture, or personal preferences. The Bible defines evil, explains why it exists, and how it will eventually be dealt with. However, if a man rejects the Bible as an absolute authority, he is ultimately left trying to make sense of the world from his own limited perceptual abilities. More than that, he has no way to understand himself, and why he thinks and behaves the way he does. Without the Bible to guide him, he will eventually “call evil good and good evil” (Isa. 5:20).

The first important step in dealing with evil is to acknowledge its existence, and know that it’s not natural to the world. If evil is natural, then the world is as it ought to be, and pagan religious concepts such as dualism in Hinduism, or the yin and yang in Taoism are correct. They are not correct. Evil is not natural to the universe, but rather the intrusion of some foreign destructive element that prevents it from functioning the way God intended.

The second important step in addressing evil is to know that it’s not merely what the majority within a society declares it to be. If good and evil are what society declares them to be from one moment to the next, then Hitler was good because the majority in Germany approved of his leadership during most of his rule. Further, if there are no absolutes regarding good and evil, then how could the judges at the Nuremburg trial declare Hitler’s officers guilty of war crimes against humanity? What standard were the judges using to declare innocence or guilt, good or evil? If Germany had won World War II, the judges at Nuremburg would have been different, with Hitler sitting on the judgment seat judging the Allies and putting them to death for their crimes against him. Without absolutes to guide us, the problem of what is good or evil becomes nothing more than a game of words controlled by a vacillating majority.

After examining the Scripture, there comes a weighty realization that evil does not only exist outside of man, but inside as well. It’s not enough to say that the world is evil, rather, we must admit that there’s something evil within us, within our hearts. First, evil is the desire to act contrary to God’s righteous character and commands, and every man has an evil heart. If we are honest with ourselves we’ll admit it, that there’s something wrong with us, and that we find it easy to sin, and a struggle to do good.

Secondly, evil is the production of a will given over to an evil heart. This is true both for the unbeliever as well as the believer. The unsaved person cannot do good as the Bible defines it, because he is totally corrupt, and there is nothing within him that enables him to do God’s will. The believer has a genuine choice between good and evil and can say yes to God. The apostle Paul admits this when he says “evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good” (Rom. 7:21). The believer can choose to do God’s will, because he has a new nature, the Holy Spirit, and the word of God; and these enable him to do good, if he is willing. Like a good parent to a child, God always commands us to do good by obeying His will; however, like every child, we are bent towards evil, and we have to be taught what is good, and prompted to obey. As Christians we are commanded “never to pay back evil for evil to anyone” (Rom. 12:17a), but rather “to overcome evil with good” (Rom. 12:21).

The Biblical Answer to Why Evil Exists

Before anything existed there was only God, and He is good. Evil did not come into existence until an angelic creature of the order of cherubim manufactured it from the source of his own volition (Isa. 14:12-14; Ezek. 28:12-18). Evil exists only in connection with willful creatures; first angels, and then mankind. Lucifer was the first to fall, and he convinced a third of the angels to follow him, creating the kingdom of darkness. Later, Lucifer expanded his kingdom by convincing the first humans to disobey God, which resulted in their spiritual death and the acquisition of a sinful nature that permeated every part of their being (Gen. 3:1-7). Since the fall of angels and men, evil has advanced and grown in proportion to the number of volitional creatures in existence. To remove evil from His universe, God would have to remove the source of its production, both fallen angels and men. More than that, evil has infected the physical universe itself, bringing death to all creatures, and the abnormal function of nature. This is why we see famines, destructive tornadoes, hurricanes, floods, and other harmful acts of nature.

So then, why does evil exist? Evil exists because God sovereignly allows His willful creatures to temporarily continue in rebellion. Man complains that God is somehow to blame for evil, when all man needs to do is look within to realize the problem. What is ironic is that men want God to remove evil from the universe, but they do not want God to take away their volition in the process. Men cannot have it both ways. Either volition is destroyed, with the result that the production of evil ceases; or volition remains intact, and evil continues. To remove evil means nothing less than the destruction of the creatures who manufacture it. Really, I think most men want God to fix the world so that there is no more suffering, and they are free to sin without consequence. In short, they want God to help them in their rebellion by alleviating the consequences of their actions.

There are two groups of men who manufacture evil on the earth today: the unsaved and the saved. The unsaved person manufactures sin and lives in a continuous state of rebellion against God and all that is good. The unsaved person cannot produce good, for he lacks the capacity to do so because he is spiritually dead. However, the saved person can produce both good and evil, because he has two natures that influence his volition. Because the saved person has a new nature in Christ (2 Cor. 5:17), he can choose to do good by living God’s word under the filling of the Holy Spirit. However, the saved person also has the capacity to reject the Holy Spirit and the word of God and yield himself to the world, his sin nature, or demonic influences, and thus produce evil.

Until Christ returns, the Holy Spirit will restrain evil directly and through an obedient church (2 Thess. 2:7), but this restraint will come to an end when the church is raptured and the lawless one is revealed (John 14:1-3; 1 Cor. 15:51-52; 1 Thess. 4:13-18; 2 Thess. 2:6-12). God also controls evil through good government (Rom. 13:1-5); but “because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed quickly, the hearts of the sons of men are given fully to do evil” ((Eccl. 8:11).

It seems at times that it is the wicked that prosper while the righteous suffer (Job1-2; Ps. 37; 73). But the believer will do well to see the larger picture, that there are rewards beyond this life for the righteous, and that we live in the devil’s world and will suffer for righteousness until Christ returns (1 Pet. 4:16, 19; 1 Jo. 2:15-17; 5:19).

There is hope for those who suffer from the presence of evil, for the Bible teaches that a day of judgment is coming when God will remove evil from the earth. When Christ brings history to an end—after His millennial reign (Rev. 20:1-6)—He will eternally separate those who rejected His provision of salvation by sending them to the eternal trash-heap known as the Lake of Fire. Those who accepted the provision of salvation will be cleansed of their sinful nature, and will never experience temptation nor be permitted to manufacture sin any more. Evil has a beginning and an end. It began with the fall of Satan and his angels, was expanded with the fall of man, and will end when God judges the world in righteousness, destroying everything (Matt. 25:41; Rev. 20:10-15), and creating a new heaven and earth that will go into eternity (2 Pet. 3:10-13; Rev. 21:1-4).