"To the leader. A Psalm of David. How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I bear pain in my soul, and have sorrow in my heart all day long? How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?" (Psalm 13:1–2>
Evil is a problem, not in the sense of a problem to be solved like a math equation, but a problem that is ever before us and even within us. Thus, we are not trying to explain it away or solve the problem.
Deus non est genre (God cannot be placed in any category).
A word of warning: "They who take hold of these truths... and then claim to go further and give an explanation of evil, run into the rock of Divine Revelation, and so capsize" (Blocher, Evil and the Cross, 84).
Instead of treating evil like a problem to be solved, we are trying to create good, biblical, Jesus-centered, categories in our minds. That way, we can begin to understand the problem and what God has done, is doing, and will do in Jesus Christ to declare victory over evil and suffering.
The typical formulation of the problem goes like this:
So then one can draw the conclusion that a good, all powerful God would not allow evil and suffering in the world. Therefore, God must not be able to restrain evil (not powerful), not willing to (not good), or evil is an illusion in the first place (the world is not full of evil and suffering).
We — often wrongfully so — tend to believe in progress. We are surprised when a good kid gets cancer or a how someone could exploit Craigslist to become the Craigslist killer. Why? Because we put ourselves under hundreds of hours of advertisements that promise technology, education, and capitalism will finally get rid of the world's problems and our problems after all. If we just found the next miraculous medicine or a safer car, or if our political party finally gained the majority in the house, then we could keep evil at bay and minimize our own suffering.
We also tend to believe we are entitled. We presuppose that the world should revolve around us, everything should go our way, and all I do is win. So, we immediately ask "why me?" instead of "why not me?" We have filled our lives with padding, insurance, and rights, so we expect not to suffer. Then we convince ourselves that we don't deserve it. Evil is external, out there, and certain not within our own hearts. Then we perceive of God as our own personal cheerleader on the sidelines of our life rooting for us all the way. Then we don't have categories when our parents die or our friend takes her own life.
Creation: A strong view of creation leads us to say this is not way it is supposed to be. A good God created the world as a good place. The freeest of wills. This gives us faith.
Fall: A strong view of the fall leads us to say evil is real and powerful. Because people have eaten of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and have invoked God's curse upon our relationships with the natural world — cursing the ground — and our relationships with one another — cursing the relationship between the man and the woman — we must not minimize the reality of evil and the depth of suffering:
Gen. 6:5-6 The LORD saw that the wickedness of humankind was great in the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of their hearts was only evil continually. And the LORD was sorry that he had made humankind on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart.
If your doctrine of the fall and sin is weak, then you will observe unintelligible suffering and slowly grow bitter and disillusioned. You will start out like Pangloss in Candide, believing we live in the best of all possible worlds. But then you will end up like his companions, mocking Pangloss for his naiveté.
Aim: Interpret all that is wrong with the world — according to God's standards, not your own — as an effect (direct or indirect) of sin.
Redemption: While not identical, our position so far is similar to a general theism, that is, that God exists and has created the world. Jews and Muslims and general god-ists might follow us to this point. Jews hold out for a future hope of messiah and restoration. Islam says the hope for the world is when Islam spreads through conquest throughout the world. And god-ists say god may or may not be involved with the world, but he at least exists. As John Lennon put it, "God is the concept by which we measure our pain."
Yet, here is where the similarities end. We believe God is going to reverse the curse of the fall and restore the world to the way it ought to be, without evil, without suffering, without injustice. But where's the proof? Jesus came to secure the victory. So we can know that he will finish it. Only in Jesus does God step into an evil world, take the world's evil upon his shoulders, and suffer the ultimate injustice against himself so that in him, we can have good, health, and justice. This is the ancient doctrine of Christus Victor, Jesus has been and will be victorious. This gives us motivation to love.
Aim: See Jesus, the one who cared infinitely more than you do about evil and injustice as the only good and just one.
Restoration: Truth is, God is powerful enough to rid his good creation of the effects of sin and undo the curse of the law. But the issue is not if God will do it but when God will do it. Evil is a defeated foe. It is very real — as we know from a strong sense of the fall — but very defeated.This consolation is what gives us hope.
Aim: Get in rhythm with the coming kingdom. Anticipate the day that the Lord will fully triumph over evil by fighting evil and hating sin now.
