If God, Why
Evil?
Notes on the Book by Norm Geisler
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Three Views on
Evil
- When speaking with an atheist who claimed there
could be no God because of all the evil, Geisler asked him by what moral
standard are you determining there is so much evil? If he claimed there was a
moral standard, then he must admit there is a Moral Law Giver. If he claimed
there was no moral law, by what measure then was he determining there was evil
out there? The guy responded - - "it is based on my moral
judgment"....Geisler responded, "If I had said I believe in a Moral
Law Giver based on my "moral judgment" and not objective evidence, I
would have been laughed off the stage."
- The 3 Views on Evil are:
- 1. Pantheism - Affirms God but denies
evil
- 2. Atheism - Affirms evil but denies God
- 3. Theism - Affirms God and evil
- 1 - There's no evil in this world? That's just
assinine.... who could ever believe this?
- 2 - The problem with atheism is the first point
in these notes - - how do you determine there is evil without a standard that
defines good?
- CS Lewis said "When I was an atheist, my
argument against God was that the universe seemed so cruel and unjust. But how
had I got this idea of just and unjust? A man does not call a line crooked
unless he has some idea of a straight line." (Mere Christianity)
- 3 - This is Geisler's position.....and the point
of the book....
- In point #3 - the theist has a problem - and
that is- How can there be all powerful, all knowing and
all good God and yet evil exist? If he's all knowing - he knew evil
would come into the world, If He's all good, he would want to rid the world of
evil and if He's all powerful - he could rid the world of all evil. This is the
problem!
- Rabbi Kushner, in his book When Bad Things
Happen to Good People, offered that Evil exists, God is not all good nor all
powerful!
- A few problems with this position:
- 1. Is CS Lewis point - if there's evil, and we
know that evil is in no way perfect, then there must be a perfect. The
imperfect implies a perfect standard (God).
- 2. Kushner's god is not all powerful - this
means something limited this god's power - well, who was that??? There must be
an Unlimited Limiter of every limited being.
- If the god is not all good nor all powerful - -
it just isn't God!
The Nature of
Evil
- Some believe this - If God created all things
and evil is something, then God created evil - - Geisler does not believe in
the last 2 statements ....
- God did create all
things:
- Genesis 1:1 - In the beginning God created the
heavens and the earth.
- John 1:3 - Through him all things were made;
without him nothing was made that has been made.
- Rev 4:11 -You are worthy, our Lord and God, to
receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will
they were created and have their being.
- Colossians 1:16 - For in him all things were
created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones
or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him
and for him.
- Evil does exist:-
(but Geisler will later argue that evils is not something)
- Romans 5:12 -Therefore, just as sin entered the
world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all
people, because all sinned
- Romans 6:23 - For the wages of sin is death, but
the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
- Romans 7:24 - What a wretched man I am! Who will
rescue me from this body that is subject to death?
- Romans 7:18 - For I know that good itself does
not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what
is good, but I cannot carry it out.
- However, God only created GOOD
THINGS:
- Genesis 1:31 - God saw all that he had made, and
it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morningthe sixth
day
- 1 Tim 4:4 - For everything God created is good,
and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving,
- Romans 14:14 - I am convinced, being fully
persuaded in the Lord Jesus, that nothing is unclean in itself. But if anyone
regards something as unclean, then for that person it is unclean.
- Augustine concluded that Evil is a real lack,
privation (which is a lack of good that should be there) or corruption of a
good thing. Evil does not exist in itself - - evil exists only in a thing or
substance - - and all that God made is good. In short, there has to be some
good thing in order for evil to exist in it as a lack, corruption or privation
of it.
- To conclude - God created
all things, Evil is not a thing, God did not create evil.
- Evil is like rot to a tree -
Rot exists in a tree as a corruption of it,
but it does not exist in and of itself.
- Evil is like rust to a car -
Rust exists in a car as a corruption of the
iron, but it does not exist in and of itself. Rust is real - we see it - and it
is a lack of a good thing!
- Evil is like moth holes in wool
- Holes do not exist in
themselves.....
- Evil is not merely a lack of
good - The absence of sight by a rock and the
absence of sight by a person (which is a privation) are 2 different
things....The rock is not supposed to see but a person is - - the lack of a
good thing - sight - - is evil when it's missing from a person, but its not
evil when rocks don't see....
- Viewing Evil as a privation
doesn't imply evil is unreal - Privation is a
lack of a real thing that should be there - - it is real- - ask a blind
person...
- Viewing Evil as a privation does
not deny total depravity of man- Man is
totally depraved but he can't be totally evil.... depravity is a moral issue -
we are totally bent on sinning......
- Is satan totally evil?
he is completely evil in a moral sense.... He
has the remnants of good that God gave to him as a created angel.
- The Problem of God's
Sovereignty
- So, God didn't create evil, but if He's
sovereign, He permits evil to happen
- God is sovereign!
- Job 42:2 - I know that you can do all things; no
purpose of yours can be thwarted.
- Psalm 115:3 - Our God is in heaven; he does
whatever pleases him.
- Psalm 135:6 - The LORD does whatever pleases
him, in the heavens and on the earth, in the seas and all their depths.
- Prov 21:1 - In the LORDs hand the
kings heart is a stream of water that he channels toward all who please
him.
- Daniel 4:17 - The decision is
announced by messengers, the holy ones declare the verdict, so that the living
may know that the Most High is sovereign over all kingdoms on earth and gives
them to anyone he wishes and sets over them the lowliest of people.
- Evil, then, happens in God's permissive
will, but He does not provide evil in His perfect will.
- So, God is the author of all
human actions, but He is not responsible for them, since they are freely
chosen. God does not promote or perform the evil actions of his creatures; He
merely permits them within the overall story of human history, which he has
authored in advance and which moves forward under His sovereign
direction.
- Consider God's sovereignty over
the Cross
- It was predetermined:
- Rev 13:8 - All inhabitants of the earth will
worship the beastall whose names have not been written in the Lambs
book of life, the Lamb who was slain from the creation of the world.
- Acts 2:23 - This man was handed over to you by
Gods deliberate plan and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked
men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross.
- It was freely chosen:
- John 10:17-18 - The reason my Father loves me is
that I lay down my lifeonly to take it up again. 18 No one takes it from
me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and
authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.
- Consider the sovereignty in the statement Joseph
made to his brothers in:
- Genesis 50:20 - You intended to harm me, but God
intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many
lives.
The Origin of
Evil
- So- where does evil come from? The thought
process goes like this:
- 1. God is absolutely perfect
- 2. God cannot create anything imperfect
- 3. A perfect creature cannot do evil (Geisler
will later prove this is false)
- 4. Evil cannot arise in this world (Geisler will
later prove this is false)
- 5. Evil did arrive in this world
- #3 - we know this isn't true because Lucifer,
the perfectly created archangel, did evil.....
- Geisler offers the following:
- 1. God created only good things
- 2. One good thing God created was free
will
- 3. Free will makes evil possible
- a. Free will (the power of free choice) is the
power to do otherwise
- b. To do otherwise from good is evil
- c. A perfect free creature can do evil
- In this world, if one is free to do good, he is
also free to do evil. If he is free to love, he is free to hate. If we are free
to praise God, we are free to hate Him.
- Who caused Lucifer to sin?
- A perfect God, in a perfect place (Heaven),
created perfect beings (Angels) - so how did Lucifer, who did not have Adam's
sin nature, sin?
- God didn't cause Lucifer to sin:
- James 1:13 - When tempted, no one should say,
God is tempting me. For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he
tempt anyone;
- Clearly, Lucifer made a choice in free
will!
- Was Lucifer's decision "unaccused"? -
No, no action can be unaccused; every event has a cause
- Was Lucifer's decision "caused by
another"? No free act can be caused by another
- Was Lucifer's decision "self-caused"?
All free action must be self-caused
- So - Lucifer caused his sin through his free
choice. A stunningly beautiful and extremely powerful creature fell when he
made himself, rather than God, the object of his adoration.
- Ezek 28:13-17 - (speaking of the fall of the
prince of Tyre - no doubt inspired by the devil) You were in Eden, the garden
of God; every precious stone adorned you: carnelian, chrysolite and emerald,
topaz, onyx and jasper, lapis lazuli, turquoise and beryl. Your settings and
mountings were made of gold; on the day you were created they were prepared. 14
You were anointed as a guardian cherub, for so I ordained you. You were on the
holy mount of God; you walked among the fiery stones. 15 You were blameless in
your ways from the day you were created till wickedness was found in you. 16
Through your widespread trade you were filled with violence, and you sinned. So
I drove you in disgrace from the mount of God, and I expelled you, guardian
cherub, from among the fiery stones. 17 Your heart became proud on account of
your beauty, and you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor. So I threw
you to the earth; I made a spectacle of you before kings.
- Isaiah 14:12-14 - How you have fallen from
heaven, morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth,
you who once laid low the nations! 13 You said in your heart, I will
ascend to the heavens; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will
sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of Mount Zaphon.
14 I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most
High.
- God made evil possible by creating free
creatures. God does not cause sin or ever encourage others ever to sin
The Persistence of
Evil
- Surely - an all powerful God could stop
evil....
- The thinking goes like this:
- If God is all good - - he would destroy evil; If
God is all powerful - He could destroy evil - - but evil persists!
- God is all good:
- Lev 11:45 - I am the LORD, who brought you up
out of Egypt to be your God; therefore be holy, because I am holy.
- Isaiah 6:3 - And they were calling to one
another: Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full
of his glory.
- Malachi 3:6 - I the LORD do not change. So
you, the descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed.
- James 1:17 - Every good and perfect gift is from
above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change
like shifting shadows.
- Heb 1:10-12 - He also says, In the
beginning, Lord, you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the
work of your hands. 11 They will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out
like a garment. 12 You will roll them up like a robe; like a garment they will
be changed. But you remain the same, and your years will never end.
- Heb 6:18 - God did this so that, by two
unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled
to take hold of the hope set before us may be greatly encouraged.
- God is all powerful:
- Gen 17:1 - When Abram was ninety-nine years old,
the LORD appeared to him and said, I am God Almighty; walk before me
faithfully and be blameless.
- Job 5:17 - Blessed is the one whom God
corrects; so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty.
- Rev 19:6 - Then I heard what sounded like a
great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of
thunder, shouting: Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns.
- Luke 1:37 - For no word from God will ever
fail.
- Can God destroy evil
without destroying freedom? No. God cannot do anything - He cannot
lie..... God is omnipotent - meaning He can do everything that is possible to
do - - but not what is impossible or contradictory....
- Heb 6:18 - God did this so that, by two
unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled
to take hold of the hope set before us may be greatly encouraged.
- God cannot do everything - He cannot force us to
accept Him freely.
- Can God defeat evil
without destroying freedom?
- Yes - it goes like this:
- 1. If there is an all good God, He wants to
defeat evil
- 2. If there is an all powerful God, He can
defeat evil
- 3. But evils is not defeated
- 4. Therefore, evil will one day be
defeated.
The Purpose of
Evil
- There seems to be no apparent purpose for some
evil.
- Some, incorrectly, think this way:
- 1. An all good God must have a good purpose for
everything.
- 2. There is no good purpose for some
suffering.
- 3. There cannot be an all good God.
- Simply because we don't know a good purpose for
some evil does not mean there is no good purpose in it. We should not expect to
know the purpose of everything.
- Deut 29:29 - 29 The secret things belong to the
LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever,
that we may follow all the words of this law.
- Job 42:3 - 3 You asked, Who is this that
obscures my plans without knowledge? Surely I spoke of things I did not
understand, things too wonderful for me to know.
- Rom 11:33 - 33 Oh, the depth of the riches of
the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths
beyond tracing out!
- An infinitely good mind knows a
good purpose for everything. God is omniscient - and an all knowing mind knows
everything - and God is omni-benevolent, in that he has a good purpose for
everything. Therefore, we know for sure there is a good purpose for all
suffering.
- Geisler says it like this:
- 1. That we don't know a good purpose for evil
doesn't mean there is none
- 2. An all good God knows a good purpose for
everything (even evil)
- 3. There is a good purpose for all suffering,
even that which we cannot now explain.
- 4. We can trust in God who does know why certain
suffering took place - - even if we don't know why...
- Scientists believe there is an
explanation for everything in the natural world- even though they don't have
explanations today. Many evils in our lives that happened in the past and we
couldn't explain at the time, but later, we saw the hand of God in it
all.
- Genesis 50:20 - 20 You intended to harm me, but
God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of
many lives.
- Heb 12:10-11 - 10 They disciplined us for a
little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in
order that we may share in his holiness. 11 No discipline seems pleasant at the
time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness
and peace for those who have been trained by it.
- Pain
- Pain is designed to keep us from self
destruction. Medical science has discovered that the body's nervous system that
conveys pain to us is designed to save our lives.
- For example, a pain in the chest could be
signalling a future heart attack
- In order to save us from self destruction, the
pain has to be strong enough.
- Pain only works if it is out of our
control.
- Kushner conceded, "that I am a more
sensitive person, more effective pastor, a more sympathetic counselor (my
son's) Aaron's life and death than I would have ever been without it."
However, Kushner concludes "I would forego all the spiritual growth and
depth which has come my way" (if Aaron had not died).
- Most would agree with Kushner, and yet most
admit we are a better person for having gone through the
suffering."
- 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 - 3 Praise be to the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all
comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in
any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.
- Geisler buried his sister,
father and mother - but when his daughter committed suicide, he was
crushed..... Yet, so many people approached him who went thru a similar
situation - - and he could provide comfort and advice....
- God is more interested in our character over our
comfort; our holiness over our happiness and pain is such an effective means to
developing character.
- Romans 5:2-4 - 2 through whom we have gained
access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope
of the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings,
because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance,
character; and character, hope.
- James 1:2-3 - 2 Consider it pure joy, my
brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you
know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.
- 2 Corinthians 4:17 - 17 For our light and
momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs
them all.
- Geisler was just married and was in the hospital
dying of hepatitis when he received this card:
- Overheard in an Orchard -
Said the robin to the sparrow, "I should really like to know why these
anxious human beings rush about and worry so"; Said the sparrow to the
robin, "Friend, I think it must be that they have no Heavenly Father such
as cares for you and me." - Elizabeth Cheney
- Geisler concluded the subject of Pain, like
this:
- 1. An all knowing God knows the end of all
things
- 2. An all good God wants to bring all good
things to an end
- 3. And an all powerful God can bring all good
things to an end
- All things, including
suffering, will come to a good end; If not in this life, then in the
next.
The Avoidability of
Evil
- If God knew in advance all this evil would
happen, why did he create this world? Wouldn't nothing be better than
"something with evil"? Better yet, why didn't God just make a better
world?
- Consider what Jesus said of Judas (Matt 26:24)
:
- 24 The Son of Man will go just as it is written
about him. But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better
for him if he had not been born.
- And what Wilhelm Gottfried Leibniz said:
- If God is the best of all possible beings, then
He must create the best of all possible worlds. But this is not the best
possible of all worlds, so how can God be the best of all possible
beings?
- In answer to the questions above, no world is
not a morally better world..... Something and nothing don't have anything in
common. In addition, a non-free world is not a morally better world. Only moral
creatures with reason and free will are capable of sinning. A non-moral world
cannot be morally better than anything. And - a free world where no one can sin
is not a morally better world.
- Allowing the choice of good or
evil is necessary in achieving the highest good. One is not fit for the freedom
from sin (Heaven) unless he has exercised the freedom to sin (on earth), for
unless he has had the choice of good over evil, he is not ready for a place
where good dominates and evil is defeated.
- God knew that a whole world where no one chose
to sin was conceivable, but it was never achievable, because some would chose
to sin. Are we sure this would be a better world? What about those who did sin,
but despite their sin, God brought about a greater good by allowing it and
providing satisfaction and forgiveness for it.
- Let's summarize
- 1. God is the best of all possible beings
- 2. If He decides to create, then He must create
the best of all possible worlds
- 3. The best possible world is one where the
higher virtues are attained and sin is defeated, for there is:
- No courage without danger
- No patience without tribulation
- No character without adversity
- No forgiveness without sin
- The highest virtues cannot be obtained without
sin
- A world where sin never occurs would not be the
best possible world
- Permitting sin to defeat sin and to achieve
greater virtues, is morally superior to a sinless free world where the greater
good is never accomplished.
- CS Lewis - The Great Divorce - "There are 2
kinds of people in the end: Those who say to God "Thy will be done"
and those God says to them "thy will be done"... All that are in Hell
chose it. Without that self choice there could be no Hell."
- God's will is for all to come to Christ, yet all
do not want to be saved.
- "God is willing to save all, but all are
not willing to be saved." CS Lewis, The Problem of Pain
- John 3:16 - 16 For God so loved the world that
he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but
have eternal life.
- 1 John 2:2 - 2 He is the atoning sacrifice for
our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.
- 1 Tim 2:3-4 - 3 This is good, and pleases God
our Savior, 4 who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of
the truth.
- 2 Peter 3:9- 9 The Lord is not slow in keeping
his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not
wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
- Bottom line - The nature of an all good God
assures us that this world, which He did create, is the best one
achievable without violating anyone's free will.
- Permitting this evil world is the best of all
possible ways to produce the best of all possible worlds. We permit cars, boats
and airplanes knowing there will be accidents and deaths. A good parent permits
a possible accident every time he permits his teenager to drive the family car
- but the parent is not promoting it...
- God allows evil to produce the greater
good!
The Problem of Physical
Evil
- Americans go to great pains to avoid
pain!
- The solution to the problem of moral evil
is based on free will. Consider - no natural disaster was created by our free
choice.
- A summary:
- 1. Moral evil is explained by free will.
- 2. Much of physical evil does not result from
our free will (floods, genetic abnormalities, death, cancer).
- 3. Free choice doesn't answer much of physical
evil.
- 4. God or nature (which God created) must be the
cause of the physical evil.
- 5. Both of these are trace-able to God and are
His responsibility.
- 6. Such evils are incompatible with an all
loving, all powerful God.
- 7. Some may then conclude that, therefore, a
theistic God does not exist- - but let's look at this....
- Analyzed:
- 1. Some physical evils are self inflicted
(smoking, alcohol, drugs, overeating, lack of exercise- can we blame God for
these?)
- 2. Some physical evil is an indirect
result of free choice (laziness leads to poverty, neglect of children
etc.)
- 3. Some physical evil is an direct result
of free choice (child abuse, spousal abuse, war, torture, cruelty, drunk
driving - can we blame God for these?)
- 4. Some physical evil is an indirect
result of others (greed causing the poverty of others)
- 5. Some physical evil is a by-product of a good
process (rains leading to floods, drowning, guns, winds leading
tornadoes)
- 6. Some physical evils is necessary for the
greater good (the early bird gets the worm-- but what about the worm?)
- 7. Some physical evil is needed for a greater
moral good (We learn more enduring lessons thru pain than pleasure)
- 8. Some physical evil may be inflicted by God's
justice in punishing evil actions
- Plagues - Exodus 7-11
- Famines - Isaiah 14:30
- Sickness - 2 Kings 20
- Death - Romans 5:12, 1 Cor 11:28-30
- 9. Some physical evil is a result of Adam's free
choice:
- Romans 8:20-22 - 20 For the creation was
subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who
subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be liberated from its
bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.
22 We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of
childbirth right up to the present time
- Romans 5:12 - 12 Therefore, just as sin entered
the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to
all people, because all sinned
- Genesis 3:16 - 16 To the woman he said, I
will make your pains in childbearing very severe; with painful labor you will
give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule
over you.
- Genesis 3:17-19 - 17 To Adam he said,
Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which
I commanded you, You must not eat from it, Cursed is the
ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the
days of your life. 18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will
eat the plants of the field. 19 By the sweat of your brow you will eat your
food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you
are and to dust you will return.
- 10. Some physical evil is a result of evil
spirit beings:
- Matt 9:32-33 - 32 While they were going out, a
man who was demon-possessed and could not talk was brought to Jesus. 33 And
when the demon was driven out, the man who had been mute spoke. The crowd was
amazed and said, Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel.
- Matt 8:16 - 16 When evening came, many who were
demon-possessed were brought to him, and he drove out the spirits with a word
and healed all the sick.
- Matt 15:22 - 22 A Canaanite woman from that
vicinity came to him, crying out, Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me!
My daughter is demon-possessed and suffering terribly.
- Job Chapter 1
- Albert Camus - a French Existentialist and
Atheist, argued, if physical evil is the result of God's judgment:
- 1. You either join the doctor and fight it or
join the priest and do not
- 2. To not fight the plague is anti-human
- 3. To fight the plague is to fight against God
who sent it
- 4. If humanitarianism is right; Theism is
wrong
- A Christian would argue that #3 is the result of
man's Fall - so, to fight the plague is to fight sin, and therefore be on God's
side. Fighting the Fall is what Christianity is all about. So, joining the
doctor is not humanitarianism, but Christian!
- The point of #1-#10 - All
Physical Evil can be related to free choice - either directly or
indirectly!
Miracles and
Evil
- Some think:
- 1. If God is all powerful, then He could
supernaturally intervene and stop all evil
- 2. If God is all good, He would do that..
- 3. There is alot of Physical Evil that God does
not intervene to stop.
- 4. Therefore, there is no all powerful, all
loving God
- On #1- even an omnipotent God cannot do all
things- - He cannot make it rain and not rain at the same time at the same
place in answer to different prayers.
- Also, sometimes the most loving thing God could
do is not step in and prevent all physical evil in our lives. All good parents
know that to give a child everything they want is not parenting and is not the
loving thing to do.
- In Mark 6:5, it says Jesus " He could not
do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal
them."
- In the story of a kid in a
wheelchair, one concluded "you do not have the faith to get out of that
wheelchair." The kid responded "and you don't have the faith to sit
in it." God delivers some people from their sickness and others through
their sickness - - the hand of God is in both!
- Why doesn't God intervene?
- 1. It's not possible to have a regular
miraculous interruption to the Natural Order because a miracle by definition is
an irregular event - - it is contradictory for God to do the irregular
regularly.
- 2. Constant miracles would disrupt the natural
order necessary for physical life.
- 3. Constant miracles would hinder the full
exercise of Moral Freedom
- 4. It would disrupt the Natural Order necessary
for making rational and moral choices. These type of choices are only possible
in a world of regular events - you know when you point a gun, pull the trigger,
the bullet flies.....
- 5. Constant miracles would defeat the conditions
for Moral Improvement and learning moral lessons. Physical reward and
punishment are necessary to learn which choices are good and not good.
- 6. Constant miracles would hinder one of God's
most effective ways of providing moral warnings. We learn more moral lessons
thru pain than pleasure.
- 7. Constant miracles would eliminate an
important precondition for achieving the best world possible.
- This is not the best world but it is the best
way to the best world available. By miraculously eliminating physical evils,
God would be eliminating the very means necessary for achieving the best world
possible.
- Some people that are suffering, get better, some
get worse - - to some, suffering is a stepping stone, to some a stumbling
block..... Some will choose the good, some will choose evil- but love never
forces itself on another's will - So, in a free universe, we will not end up
with the best world conceivable, but with the best world achievable, by God's
grace in coordination with our free will.
- Could God intervene more often or earlier and
still achieve the same outcome?
- Based on the fact that God is all good and all
knowing - - it won't be too long and it won't be too much- - and God is
victorious in the end!
- One way we could avoid physical pain/evils is if
we didn't have bodies and were only spirits.
- But God did create pure spirits - called angels
- but some sinned and do suffer pain...
- Once the angels sinned, they went to
Hell.
- Christ did not die for the angels
- Once angels sin, they are condemned - there is
no repentance
- Angels don't have children, they don't grow
old
- It is living in a body that
makes change possible! And redemption is a change! Angels cannot repent!
The Problem of Eternal
Evil (Hell)-
- 1. If God is all loving, then why punish people
at all? Why not just rehabilitate them?
- 2. If punishment is justified, why punish
forever?
- 3. Why not just annihilate these people? Why
have hell at all?
- 4. Why not save everyone?
- The existence of Hell
- First, Jesus affirmed hell as a
place of eternal conscious torment
- Matt 10:28 - Do not be afraid of those who kill
the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy
both soul and body in hell.
- Matt 13:40 - As the weeds are pulled up
and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age.
- Matt 25:41 - Then he will say to those on
his left, Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire
prepared for the devil and his angels.
- Mark 9:43 - If your hand causes you to stumble,
cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go
into hell, where the fire never goes out.
- Luke 16
- The bible confirms it
- Rev 20:11-15 - 11 Then I saw a great white
throne and him who was seated on it. The earth and the heavens fled from his
presence, and there was no place for them. 12 And I saw the dead, great and
small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was
opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they
had done as recorded in the books. 13 The sea gave up the dead that were in it,
and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was
judged according to what they had done. 14 Then death and Hades were thrown
into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. 15 Anyone whose
name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of
fire.
- Thes 1:7-9 - and give relief to you who are
troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed
from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. 8 He will punish those
who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9 They will
be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the
Lord and from the glory of his might
- Heb 9:27 - 27 Just as people are destined to die
once, and after that to face judgment,
- Justice demands hell
- Gen 18:25 - Far be it from you to do such a
thingto kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and
the wicked alike. Far be it from you! Will not the Judge of all the earth do
right?
- God's love demands a hell
- Human dignity deserves a
hell
- God's sovereignty demands a
hell
- Unless there's a hell, there's no final victory
over evil
- 1 Cor 15:24-28 - Then the end will come, when he
hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion,
authority and power. 25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies
under his feet. 26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death. 27 For he has
put everything under his feet. Now when it says that
everything has been put under him, it is clear that this does not
include God himself, who put everything under Christ. 28 When he has done this,
then the Son himself will be made subject to him who put everything under him,
so that God may be all in all.
- Rev 20 -22
- The cross
- Unless there's an eternal separation from God
which people need to be delivered from, the cross is emptied of its meaning.
- Why is hell rejected by so many?
- 1. We have a deficient concept of evil and its
deserved punishment
- 2. Denial of hell is an
indication of our human depravity
- The nature of hell
- Philippians 2:10 -10 that at the name of Jesus
every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth
- Matthew 8:12- 12 But the subjects of the kingdom
will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and
gnashing of teeth.
- Matthew 25:41- 41 Then he will say to
those on his left, Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal
fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
- 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9 -7 and give relief to you
who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is
revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. 8 He will punish
those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9 They
will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of
the Lord and from the glory of his might
- Mark 9:43-48- 43 If your hand causes you to
stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two
hands to go into hell, where the fire never goes out. [44] 45 And if your foot
causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled
than to have two feet and be thrown into hell. [46] 47 And if your eye causes
you to stumble, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God
with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell, 48 where
the worms that eat them do not die, and the fire is not
quenched.
- Luke 16:28 -28 for I have five brothers. Let him
warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.
- Luke 16:26 - 26 And besides all this, between us
and you a great chasm has been set in place, so that those who want to go from
here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.
- In Luke 16:24, it speaks of hell as a place of
torment....The torment is not a torture chamber by God. It is torment self
inflicted by one's own will. Torment of living with the consequences of our bad
decisions from a realization that we deserve the consequences.
- In Matthew 25:41 - it mentions a fire - - it's
not a physical fire because they will have imperishable bodies and you can't
have flames in outer darkness.
- Hell is everlasting.
- Luke 16:26 is clear - - that you cannot get out
of hell.
- Judgment begins immediately after death
- Heb 9:27 - 27 Just as people are destined to die
once, and after that to face judgment,
- You are conscious in Hell:
- 12 But the subjects of the kingdom will be
thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of
teeth.
- There are degrees of punishment in hell:
- Matthew 5:22-22 But I tell you that anyone who
is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone
who says to a brother or sister, Raca, is answerable to the court.
And anyone who says, You fool! will be in danger of the fire of
hell.
- Why punish people - why not
reform them?
- The time God uses for the time of reformation
is called life - - and then there is reckoning.
- 2 Peter 3:9- 9 The Lord is not slow in keeping
his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not
wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
- Hebrews 9:27-27 Just as people are destined to
die once, and after that to face judgment,
- Isn't eternal damnation for
temporal sins overkill?
- Only eternal punishment will suffice for sins
against an eternal God.
- Like a deadly plague, if not contained, evil
will contaminate and corrupt. If God did not eventually separate the tares from
the wheat, the tares would choke out the wheat. The only way to preserve an
eternal place of good is to eternally separate all evil from it.
- What about those that believe
hell has no redeeming value?
- Edwards said - - Just as a barren tree is useful
only for firewood, so disobedient people are only fuel for an eternal
fire.
- Those who give God no glory by choice during
this life will be forced to give Him glory in the afterlife.
- What about those that say Hell
is a ruse?
- How can we be happy in Heaven
knowing a loved one is in hell?
- God is perfectly happy in heaven and He sent
people to hell - - are we more merciful than God?
- Just like we can have healing of bad memories
here on earth, it can happen in Heaven. Our attitudes and feelings will be
transformed and correspond to God's. We will love only what God loves and hate
what He hates:
- Revelation 21:4 - 4 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.
- Why did God create people He
knew would go to hell?
- Would it have been better not to exist on earth
then to exist and spend eternity in hell? There is no way to compare being to
non-being - in order to compare 2 things they have to have something in
common....
- Parents have children even though they know it
might end up bad...
- From God's perspective, it is better to have
loved the whole world and lose a few then to not have loved them at all.
- Is it just to send people to
hell when they can't help being sinners?
- people go to hell because:
- 1. they are born with a bent to sin
- 2. they choose to sin
- 3. Each sin is avoidable by God's grace
What About Those Who Have
Never Heard?
- Multi-millions have not heard the Gospel of
Christ. Does God condemn those to eternal damnation those
who have never had a chance to be saved?
- John 14:6-6 Jesus answered, I am the way
and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
- John 8:24- 24 I told you that you would die in
your sins; if you do not believe that I am he, you will indeed die in your
sins.
- Acts 4:12- 12 Salvation is found in no one else,
for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be
saved.
- John 3:18- 18 Whoever believes in him is not
condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they
have not believed in the name of Gods one and only Son.
- 1 Timothy 2:5- 5 For there is one God and one
mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus,
- How can God be all loving if He
condemns people to Hell eternally who have not had a chance to hear the plan of
salvation?
- 1. Everyone has general
revelation in nature - Rom 1:19-20- 19 since what may be known about God
is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20 For since the
creation of the world Gods invisible qualitieshis eternal power and
divine naturehave been clearly seen, being understood from what has been
made, so that people are without excuse.
- 2. Everyone has general
revelation in their hearts - Rom 2:12-15 - 12 All who sin apart from the
law will also perish apart from the law, and all who sin under the law will be
judged by the law. 13 For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in
Gods sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared
righteous. 14 (Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature
things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do
not have the law. 15 They show that the requirements of the law are written on
their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts
sometimes accusing them and at other times even defending them.)
- 3. All have divine
light
- Psalm 19:1 -1 The heavens declare the glory of
God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
- Acts 14
- Acts 17
- Rom 1:19-23 - 19 since what may be known about
God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20 For since the
creation of the world Gods invisible qualitieshis eternal power and
divine naturehave been clearly seen, being understood from what has been
made, so that people are without excuse. 21 For although they knew God, they
neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became
futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Although they claimed to be
wise, they became fools 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for
images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and
reptiles.
- 4. No one can be saved apart
from the knowledge of Christ. It is not sufficient that Christ died for our
sins; we must also believe in the Lord Jesus Christ to be saved.
- Acts 16:31 - 31 They replied, Believe in
the Lord Jesus, and you will be savedyou and your household.
- Rom 10:14 - 14 How, then, can they call on the
one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they
have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?
- 5. Everyone who seeks God finds
God
- Acts 17:24-28 - 24 The God who made the
world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in
temples built by human hands. 25 And he is not served by human hands, as if he
needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and
everything else. 26 From one man he made all the nations, that they should
inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and
the boundaries of their lands. 27 God did this so that they would seek him and
perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of
us. 28 For in him we live and move and have our being. As some of
your own poets have said, We are his offspring
- Acts 10:35 - 35 but accepts from every nation
the one who fears him and does what is right.
- Heb 11:6 - 6 And without faith it is impossible
to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and
that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
- Jer 29:13 - 13 You will seek me and find me when
you seek me with all your heart.
- 6. God has many ways to get the
message to those who seek Him
- Preaching -
- Matt 28:18-20 - 18 Then Jesus came to them and
said, All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of
the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey
everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very
end of the age.
- Rom 10:14-17 - 14 How, then, can they call on
the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom
they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?
15 And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: How
beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news! 16 But not all the
Israelites accepted the good news. For Isaiah says, Lord, who has
believed our message? 17 Consequently, faith comes from hearing the
message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ.
- Bible -
- Psalm 119:130 - 130 The unfolding of your words
gives light; it gives understanding to the simple.
- Heb 4:12 - 12 For the word of God is alive and
active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing
soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the
heart.
- Angels -
- Rev 14:6 - 6 Then I saw another angel flying in
midair, and he had the eternal gospel to proclaim to those who live on the
earthto every nation, tribe, language and people.
- Visions -
- Daniel 4:5 - 5 I had a dream that made me
afraid. As I was lying in bed, the images and visions that passed through my
mind terrified me.
- Dreams -
- Speak -
- Speak to your inner heart
-
- Hosea 1:1 - 1 The word of the LORD that came to
Hosea son of Beeri during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah,
kings of Judah, and during the reign of Jeroboam son of Jehoash king of
Israel
- Appendix II - evidence for the
existence of God
- Atheists say the problem of evil is evidence God
does not exist. However, evil presupposes the existence of God, for there is no
way to know there is injustice in the world unless one has an objective
standard of justice beyond the world by which he knows the world is not just.
An ultimate moral law presupposes an ultimate moral law giver (God)
- The cosmological argument for
God's existence
- 1. Whatever had a beginning has a beginner (a
cause)
- 2. The universe had a beginning
- 3. Therefore, the universe had a beginner
- The facts are something must come from a cause.
In Stephen Hawking's book, the Grand Design, he claims the universe came into
existence spontaneously without a cause - this is absurd. Scientifically, the
second law of thermodynamics states that in a closed system (such as the
universe), the amount of usable energy is decreasing. The universe is not
eternal; it has a beginning; and everything that had a beginning had a
cause.
- The philosophical argument for
God's existence
- 1. Everything that had a beginning had a
cause.
- 2. The temporal universe had a beginning.
- 3. The temporal universe had a cause.
- time is not eternal; it must have had a
beginning
- No part of the universe is self sustaining - it
is dependent on something else for its existence - the universe had a cause and
there is no part composed of unlimited energy.
- Theological reason for God's
existence
- The universe was created for human life. Over
100 factors must be in perfect balance in order for human life to exist.
- 1. 21% oxygen in the air is just right for life
- more, and we burn up / less and we freeze...
- 2. suns's distance
- 3. earth's tilt
- 4. gravitational force
- 5. the position of Jupiter to protect the earth
from cosmic bodies destroying us
- 6. nuclear force is just right to hold atoms
together
- The moral argument for
God's existence
- 1. every moral law has a moral law giver
- 2. there is an objective moral law
- 3. therefore, there must be an objective moral
law giver
- if evil is real, then there must
be an objective standard by which we know that.
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