Why Does God Allow Evil?

The problem of evil is presented as follows:

An omnibenevolent God would want to eliminate evil.

An omnipotent God would be able to eliminate evil.

Yet evil still exists.

  1. God is willing to eliminate evil but not able. Therefore he is impotent.
  2. God is able but not willing. Therefore God is malevolent (lacking goodness).
  3. An omnibenevolent and omnipotent God must not exist.

Kenneth Samples in his book, Without a Doubt, provides 3 answers for how to respond to this objection to the existence of an all-powerful and all-good God:

1.  Free-will
2.  God would allow evil for a time if it would produce a greater good.
3.  For God to eliminate evil in a way that would produce a greater good, it might not be instantaneous or painless, even for Him.

The following video shares these arguments in much more detail:

After posting this video to Facebook, I received the following two comments:

1.  “Without faith it is impossible to please God. . .” Theology is wonderful, but too often many are left-out, because it is complex, controvertible, and can be confusing. The BEST answer is we can trust that God is good, because Jesus died on the Cross for us, took our sins and shared our sufferings: (1 Corinthians 2:2), was testified to by the prophets and fulfilled the prophecies: ( e.g. Psalms 22, Isaiah 53) .” – Dennis Tsiorbas

2.  “There’s a recently released book from CPH called “Making the Case for Christianity: Responding to Modern Objections,” where Dr. Angus Menuge’s chapter gives a wonderful response about how typical answers to that question (God has a plan, it’s for a greater good, good still outweighs evil, etc.) are all ultimately unsatisfactory, and the best answer to the question of what God is doing about evil is the cross of Jesus Christ. Highly recommend the entire book (save, perhaps, one chapter) to anyone interested in philosophy or dealing with typical “new atheist” objections.” – Joe Hanson

I agree with them and here is my reply:

I think explaining free-will and what life would be like if that were completely stripped away and explaining how God will allow evil for a time if it will produce a greater good are necessary to show how evil and the existence of an all-powerful and all-good God are not incompatible, but then closing with Christ as the ultimate example of this demonstration of God allowing evil to produce good is superb. Depending on the situation, I think this is a good baby-steps answer up to the cross of Christ. Just going straight to the cross of Christ is typically good, but for this objection I really do like to baby-step it, because through the process of the arguments it will dawn on the person for God to completely eradicate evil, God would have to remove all of us from this world, once that seeps in, and the person recognizes their sinfulness, the best answer of the cross is truly good news.

I like to ask people, “What’s the most evil act that has ever occurred in human history?” I offer that God dying in the person of Jesus by the hands of his own creation is the greatest act of evil ever to have occurred in history, and that from the worst evil, came the greatest good – salvation for mankind.

Andy Wrasman5 Comments

New Age and Gnostic Chatter – 2 Timothy 2:14-26

The following are my notes from reading 2 Timothy 2:14-26:

Vs. 14 – Keep reminding them of what is found in verses 11-13. The focus should always be on Christ dead, buried, and raised for the forgiveness of sins. Oh… and these things too. Don’t quarrel about the meaning of words. What’s he talking about there. Keep reading.

Vs. 15-18 – Godless chatter. Don’t indulge in it. The teaching will spread like gangrene. He names two of these Godless teachers – Hymenaeus and Philetus. In vs. 18 Paul shares that they have butchered the teaching of the resurrection of not only Christ but of the dead at the end of the age. Footnotes say that these two were Gnostics and that Gnostics taught that the resurrection to not be literal – just spiritual. Hymenaues is mentioned in Paul’s first letter to Timothy, along with Alexander.

Vs. 19 – Despite their false teaching God’s solid foundation stands firm. Two inscriptions. The footnote in NIV says that the first inscription is a quote of Numbers 16:5 in the Septuagint.   The first inscription pertains to the security of the church and the second to human responsibility in the church.

Vs. 20-21 – Noble and ignoble. Godly and ungodly items within the house. Physical and spiritual (porn mags, godless chatter). Harkens back to 2 Cor. 9:28, Ephesians 2:10, and forward to 2 Timothy 3:17.

Vs. 22 – Connected back to vs. 20-21.

Vs. 23-25 – Don’t argue over foolish and stupid arguments. Kind, gentle with those he instructs – not quarrelsome.

Vs. 26 – Come to their senses. The phrase is used with the Prodigal Son. He came to his senses. Apart from Christ we are deaf, dumb, and blind enemies of God. When we come to our senses, we can see, hear, and speak of God. We must view those opposed to God as trapped by the devil. This should help us to be gentle with them as we present the Gospel and lead them to the knowledge of the truth.

Andy Wrasman6 Comments

Who is your Paul? Who is your Timothy? 2 Timothy 2:1-13

Chapter 2:1-13

Vs. 1 – Be strong in the grace of Christ. That is where our strength ultimately lies.

Vs. 2 – Be strong in my witness! Again Timothy seems to be timid. Paul is saying, get encouragement from my boldness and example. I think we can not only look to Christ, but look to other believers for our support. And I love how Paul who is bold doesn’t forsake Timothy but works to build him up. Iron sharpens iron!

Vs. 3-4 – Solider – please your officer. Don’t be involved in civilian affairs. What does that mean?

Vs. 5 – Athlete. Play by the rules. Don’t cut corners; do all things as if working for the Lord. Good reminder for athletes. 1 Cor. 9:25 – Our crown will last forever. 1 Cor. 9:26 Don’t run aimlessly, don’t fight the air.

Vs. 6 – Farmer should be first to receive a share of the crops. Dedication is the key to these three illustrations – Solider, athlete, and farmer. The farmer works hard but receives the fruit of his labors in season. Our fruit will be fruit of seeing people blessed by the Lord.

Vs. 7-10 – Paul’s sharing his example of dedication. He might suspect Timothy will share a similar fate, and Paul is encouraging Timothy to not worry about it, because Christ was raised from the dead. It’s worth all suffering so that others might receive salvation.

Vs. 11-13 – Maybe an early hymn. We died with Christ in the past, when he died on the cross (so says the Greek). We therefore are also raised with Christ. Ephesians 2:6 – God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus. He is faithful even when we are not. That is where our salvation lies.

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2 Timothy 1 – Bible Study and Application

Vs. 1 Intro – Very brief. Humility…? Last of Paul’s letters. Shorter and shorter.

Vs. 4 – Acts 16:1-5 – Timothy’s mother was a Jewess and a believer. His father however was a Greek. Timothy was circumcised in Acts 16:3 to make the traveling easier. The faith is passed on in families. Sincere faith! The believers spoke well of Timothy 16:2, so that Paul wanted to take him along.

Vs. 6 – Timothy received a spiritual gift through prayer… 1 Timothy 4:14 – he received a gift through a prophetic message when the elders laid hands on him. I’d suspect this occurred before he went on the mission trip. 1 Timothy 1:18 refers to these prophetic messages too and encourages Timothy to stick to the path laid before him.

Vs. 7 – Spirit of power of love and of self-discipline. 1 Cor. 16:10 – See to it that Timothy has nothing to fear when he comes to you. Timothy shouldn’t be timid, but knowing that he is, the brothers and sisters need to not add to his timidity. Support each other in our weaknesses. 1 Tim 4:12 – Don’t let anyone look down on you since you are young.

Vs. 8 – Don’t be ashamed to testify about the Lord.

Vs. 9-10 – The grace of Christ has been given to us before the beginning of time, but now it has been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought immortality and light through the gospel. It’s always been his plan to save. Now it has been revealed. How do you know God is love – through Jesus!

Vs. 13 Keep the pattern of sound teaching with faith and love in Christ. Faith and love should accompany sound teaching.

Andy Wrasman3 Comments

Means of Grace Questions

Means of Grace – Ways in which God delivers grace to us.  Grace comes through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ (His blood shed on the cross).  But how does that blood come to us today?  Through the Gospel, through baptism, and through communion.

Sacrament – This Word is not in the Bible, so you can define it however you want or not use it at all.  Lutherans define it as a sacred act, instituted by God, that has the promise of forgiveness of sins attached to an external, visible element.  This means, from Scripture, that baptism and communion would be sacraments.  You would need to look at Scripture to see if these are just ordinary acts, or if they are sacred.  Were they instituted by God?  Do they have the forgiveness of sins attached to them?  Do they have a physical element within them?

Going through and answering these questions in class, everyone in my class seemed to be in agreement that baptism and communion met the criteria for being a sacrament under the Lutheran definition of sacrament.

Here were some questions that still lingered received in an online questionnaire:

1.  Why do Lutherans have a different definition of sacrament than other denominations? 
It’s not a Biblical word, so there is freedom to define it as you choose, or choose not to use it at all.  The important part is to focus on what Scripture teaches concerning baptism and communion.  Roman Catholics have more sacraments than Lutherans.  If they are using the same definition, then we should check to see if marriage ever has the promise of forgiveness of sins attached to it in Scripture, as well as their other sacraments.  We should see if they have external elements, etc.  We should check and see if the Roman Catholic definition of sacrament varies and if it does, we should check to see if what they label to be sacraments fit their definition in Scripture.

2. What do other religions believe to be the means of grace?
Other religions don’t have means of grace.  Their adherents must perform certain rituals or rites regularly and correctly as their means of attaining their religion’s highest goal.

3. Are the means of grace absolutely necessary to be saved or are they just helpful in that they help us remember that we are saved and welcomed into the kingdom of God?
Yes, and no.  From what God has revealed to us in his Word, hearing the Gospel is necessary for salvation!  Read Romans 10.  Could God save apart from the Gospel?  He is God and he is not limited by any means, but we should not speculate that he saves apart from the Good News of Christ’s saving work.  If a person has heard the Gospel, receives it in faith, they are saved.  If they are not baptized, they are saved.  If they never receive communion, they are saved.  Proof – the thief on the cross next to Jesus who was promised salvation for trusting that Jesus was the Messiah. The power for baptism and communion to save come from the Gospel!

Andy Wrasman2 Comments