What Does The Bible Say? | Evil & Suffering
Epicurus
“If God is Not Able to Prevent Evil, Then God Must Not Be All-Powerful”
“If God is Not Willing to Prevent Evil, Then God Must Not Be All Good”
“If God is Both Willing and Able to Prevent Evil, Then Why Does Evil Exist?
“Why Call Him God?”
“Stealing From God” by Frank Turek
“Suffering & The Sovereignty of God” by R.C. Sproul
Deuteronomy 29:29
29 “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.
Why is There Evil & Suffering?
What is The Purpose of Evil & Suffering?
John 16:33
33 I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”
Psalm 73:11-14
11 And they say, “How can God know?
Is there knowledge in the Most High?”
12 Behold, these are the wicked;
always at ease, they increase in riches.
13 All in vain have I kept my heart clean
and washed my hands in innocence.
14 For all the day long I have been stricken
and rebuked every morning.
Why is There Evil & Suffering?
What is The Purpose of Evil & Suffering?
It Is Because of Sin That There is Evil & Suffering In this World
And Because There is Evil & Suffering In This World There Can Also Be Love & Goodness In This World
1 John 4:19
19 We love because he first loved us.
Romans 3:23
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
Objective Evil Presupposes Objective Good, & Objective Good Requires God
John 1:4-5
4 In him was life,[a] and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
Why is There Evil & Suffering?
What is The Purpose of Evil & Suffering?
“Man’s Chief and Highest End is To Glorify God and Fully Enjoy Him Forever” - The Westminster Confession
John 17:3
3 And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.
What is The Purpose of Evil & Suffering?
a. To Know God
b. To Make God Known
“God Whispers to Us in Our Pleasures, Speaks in Our Conscience, But SHOUTS in Our Pains: It is His Megaphone to Rouse a Deaf World.” - C.S. Lewis
James 1:2-4
2 Count it all joy, my brothers,[a] when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
Romans 5:3-5
3 Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
1 Peter 1:6-7
6 In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
2 Corinthians 4:17-18
17 For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 18 as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.
What is The Purpose of Evil & Suffering?
a. To Know God
b. To Make God Known
Romans 8:28
28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good,[a] for those who are called according to his purpose.
Romans 8:28
28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good,[a] for those who are called according to his purpose.
Genesis 50:20
20 As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people[a] should be kept alive, as they are today.
Romans 5:17
17 For if, because of one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.
Psalm 73:14-17
14 For all the day long I have been stricken
and rebuked every morning.
15 If I had said, “I will speak thus,”
I would have betrayed the generation of your children.
16 But when I thought how to understand this,
it seemed to me a wearisome task,
17 until I went into the sanctuary of God;
then I discerned their end.
Psalm 73:22-26
22 I was brutish and ignorant;
I was like a beast toward you.
23 Nevertheless, I am continually with you;
you hold my right hand.
24 You guide me with your counsel,
and afterward you will receive me to glory.
25 Whom have I in heaven but you?
And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.
26 My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength[a] of my heart and my portion forever.