god and evil

[jc49]

The Biblical View of the Origin of Evil

If the problem of evil is really the most basic question of the human experience, then the Bible is ordered with first things first. Opening with Genesis 1:1 we are to told that "in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." Here we are introduced to the self existent God who transcends, or is independent of, all created things. Before there was any created thing there was God. This is not to say that the God of the Bible is distant to the creation, since he immanently sustains it (Dt 33:27; Isa 46:4; Col 1:17; Heb 1:3). Even so, God is absolutely autonomous and therefore cannot be confounded with his creation. He created all things out of nothing including time (the beginning), space (the heavens), and matter (the earth). Then after the creation of the substance of the universe God infused it with order during a period of six days. And on six different occasions God said that the creation was "good." When God finally completed all his work he declared that the whole creation was "very good" (Gen 1:31). According to the scriptures the completed work of a wholly good God is a very good creation. The obvious meaning to be drawn from the Biblical text is that "in the beginning" the creation was entirely without pain, suffering, or death (7).

The Fall of Man is perhaps one of the best known and yet least understood events in the Bible. Central to the misunderstanding is the problem of free will. "Why?" it is asked, "was man given freedom of choice at all?"(8). The answer to this question begins with an understanding of the creation of man "in the image of God." First we must realize that the scriptures teach that the chief purpose for the creation of man was for him to glorify God and enjoy fellowship forever (Ps 86:12). Further, we know that all genuine fellowship is based on the willing consent of persons. Without freedom of choice there is neither personhood, nor fellowship. And as any mature person has learned, when we attempt to constrain the will of another in order to maintain a relationship, we forfeit the very basis of fellowship--which is freedom of choice. Thus God's unique creation of man included what are referred to as his "communicable attributes." These include man's eternal spirit (or soul), reason and will, and free moral choice. But with freedom comes responsibility, and therefore God warned man of the consequence of wrong choices from the very beginning:

And the LORD God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die." (Gen 2:16,17)

Man soon abused his freedom when he succumbed to the serpent's temptation to acquire one of God's incommunicable attributes--that is, absolute autonomy. The temptation to be "like God" (Gen 3:5) was also the cause of Satan's fall and has its origin in self-centered pride (9). And since God is also the righteous judge of the universe and not merely an injured party in a broken relationship, he judged man's sin with the forewarned curse of death. According to the Bible, it was this curse that brought pain, suffering, and death to the entire universe.

Most of us can understand how interpersonal sins can affect the relationships of the innocent generations that follow. Many examples could be given, but one will suffice. When a father breaks relationship with his wife through adultery the whole family will be broken as well, and especially the innocent children. Later, these children have a choice to either follow their father's example or turn away from it in favor of relational faithfulness. Today the increase of divorce and fatherless families is hard evidence for the difficulty of choosing right over wrong in generations that follow.

The cause and effect relationship between suffering and personal sin is often obvious, but what about the suffering, pain, and death we see that has no apparent connection with the sins of others (10). We must consider, for example, natural disasters, accidents, and disease. It would be difficult to argue that the suffering, pain, and death experienced by innocent people through these tragedies are any the less "evil" than are those experienced as a result of obvious personal sins. These occurrences are sometimes called "acts of God" for lack of a better explanation. Yet according to the scriptures, all evil is a result of personal sin, whether it can be directly traced to personal sin or is indirectly related to sin in general (11). In point of fact, we are told that "the curse" due to Adam's sin had an effect on the entire creation which ultimately extended to the uttermost stars (12).

But not only is the Bible clear about what effect the fall of man had on the universe, it also reveals that when man is redeemed God will remove the curse on the universe and thus restore it to its original state. The Apostle John records a beautiful vision of the future in the book of Revelation:

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away... and I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away...No longer will there be any curse" (Rev 21:1-4; 22:3) (13).

Evil: An Effect, Not A Cause

Now in perspective, the doctrine of "original sin" is the only viable answer to the question of the origin of evil. Evil is not some independent entity which threatens to cause suffering and pain, but rather the terrible effect of personal sin. Therefore the real problem with evil is not that "something out there might get me," but rather that the potential for sin is within me ready to manifest in evil. This potential is described throughout the entire Bible, from Genesis to Revelation. The Apostle Paul captured this idea in an extended citation of the Hebrew scriptures given in the letter to the Romans. In the summary citation he decried our state: "All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one" (Rom 3:12) (14). In the 20th century, of all times, we must finally realize that the problem with evil is rooted in the heart of man. The following testimony of Yehiel Dinur should warn us all.

In 1961, the world watched the first televised courtroom trial as a Jerusalem court tried the Nazi SS Lieutenant Colonel Adolf Eichmann for "crimes against the Jewish people." Eichmann was the merciless mastermind behind driving the Jewish people from their homes, into ghettoes, and ultimately to concentration camps for death. When giving his testimony, Yehiel Dinur, a survivor of Auschwitz, had a powerful reaction to the sight of Eichmann. Upon seeing him who was formerly the Nazi's foremost "Jewish specialist" he collapsed on the floor (15). Afterward, in an interview, it seemed that the thing that struck him with terror was that Eichmann didn't look like an evil monster--he looked like an ordinary man. He summarized his feelings by saying, "Eichmann is in all of us" (16).

In the end, our problem with evil is not ignorance of its cause--we all know that sin resides in our heart--but rather ignorance of the cure--the wholly good God in Christ.

God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them.... For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him (2 Cor 5:19-21 KJV).

SHALOM and GLORY TO JESUS!!!!