"The problem of evil" by a local psychologist

By Bailey Molineux - 09/25/2005
It is one of the most perplexing philosophical problems, a potential stumbling block to the belief in an all-powerful, all-loving God. I am referring to what is called the problem of evil, which says that there is a contradiction between undeserved suffering in the world and the belief that God is all-powerful and unconditionally loving.

The horrific tragedy in New Orleans brings this problem to the forefront once again. Succinctly put, the problem of evil assumes if God is all powerful, then he allows tragedies to occur such as the Holocaust, wars, earthquakes, hurricanes, famine and diseases. But if He loves us, why would he allow these horrors to occur? Why couldn't he have made a world in which there was less suffering?

When we consider the problem of evil, there are two types of evil — natural and human.

Human evil is easy to deal with. God wants us to love each other unconditionally but will not force us to do so for that would not be genuine love. Accordingly, he gives us free will so we can choose to love one another or slaughter one another.

The more difficult evil to explain is natural evil such as hurricanes, earthquakes, famines and debilitating diseases. Human choice is not involved in these phenomena.

There are many attempted answers to the problem of natural evil. Job's friends told him that God was punishing him or correcting him by giving him suffering. Job, however, protested rightly that he was a good man and did not need correction.

Another explanation for natural evil is that it is caused by Satan. However, if we posit the existence of Satan, we automatically put a limitation on God's power. Satan has much of the power on earth, although we are told that God will eventually triumph in the end over Satan.

The Buddhists tell us that suffering is the result of desire. If we eliminate our desires then we eliminate our suffering. Try providing comfort to a man who is starving or who just lost his family with this philosophy, however.

In effect, there is no fully satisfactory or comforting answer to the problem of natural evil. It is one of God's mysteries that we can never fully understand in this life.

The important question that we need to address, then, is not why is there undeserved suffering, which we will all experience at some time in our lives, but how will we to respond to it. Will we be angry at and reject God or will we come to depend more on Him because of our suffering? Will we be angry at people who are not suffering or will we develop more compassion for the suffering of others as a result of our own suffering? Will we grow or will we regress?

The choice is ours alone.

J. Bailey Molineux, is a psychologist with Adult and Child Counseling, and can be reached at 406-443-1990.


IN THE END AS ALWAYS, ITS ----GOD IS UNKNOWABLE, MYSTERIOUS .....JUST BELEIVE?!