Why Does God Allow Suffering?

Why does a good God allow evil to exist? If He were good, wouldn’t he intervene?

These are some of the most frequent questions any Christian is bound to encounter (or even ask themselves) in their lives. These questions sting, not necessarily because they challenge the existence of God, but rather because they cast doubt on His character. Thus, for the purposes of this piece, it will be assumed that God does exist – it remains to be seen whether He is in fact as loving or good as the Bible claims given the equally fundamental existence of evil. Two steps must be taken in order to understand why suffering and a loving God can logically and morally coexist: evil must be defined and the reasons for its theoretical and practical existence be explained. The answers might be more surprising than one may initially expect.

To begin, one must address the significant, though often undetected, assumption that exists in the aforementioned questions – chiefly, that what is evil is objectively wrong. Objectivity, like universality, implies that something is absolute with respect to its descriptor. Subjectivity, by contrast, relies on the influence of personal or subjective inclinations. Thus, what is objective is fixed, whereas what is subjective is entirely malleable according to preferences of the arbiter.

Where is objectivity derived from? And what does it mean when one claims that evil is objective? Objectivity ultimately must originate in a source that is objective itself – a source that is not corruptible or vulnerable to personal prejudice. This is to say: anything that is objective or universal can only be imposed on an entity by another external source. Consider how this relates to the realm of morality and metaphysical entities like good and evil. As Christian apologist and philosopher William Lane Craig argues, if morality is defined by human beings – then it will cease to be universal and therefore will cease to be binding on all peoples.¹ Why? Well, who exactly would be able to say that one man’s conception of what is good would not conflict with another’s conception of what is evil? Who would decide? This is why an objective moral code that originates outside of humanity must exist in order for morality to as well. It is at this point then, that we must define what exactly we mean by evil and its antithesis, good.

Biblically speaking, evil is any choice, action, or consequence that defies the universal moral code externally imposed by God – which would imply that goodness is obedience to said divinely inspired moral code. But why is evil able to exist? This is like asking why darkness is able to exist. Darkness is relative to light; after all, it is, in essence, the absence of light. In the same way, evil is relative to goodness – it is the absence of what is good. Therefore, something can only be universally deemed evil if a standard of universal goodness precedes it. Recall the analogy; darkness can’t exist without the light. The only reason humans can perceive evil is because they recognize the universal moral standard that would condemn it. Evil ontologically can only exist if good does – and universal goodness can only exist if a universal being does.

This entirely changes things. Where, phrased in the assumptions of the questions this piece began with, God stood condemned for permitting immorality, it is now apparent that He is the only one capable of inspiring actual binding morality and embodying absolute goodness. In other words, without God, as Christian apologist Alex Mcfarland says, “[P]ain and suffering cease to be a moral problem.”² This leaves the skeptic at a crossroads: Either accept: 1) that there is no such thing as evil and therefore suffering is just another form of discomfort or 2) that something can only be evil because it is not good – because it has fallen short of an objective standard humanity innately recognizes. The former is true if God does not exist. The latter can only be true if an inherently good God does.

The previous lengthy context provides the theoretical explanation for why evil can exist – but there is a practical explanation as to why it actually does. After all, while it may now be understandable how a just God and evil coexist – a pesky question nevertheless remains: If God established a universal moral code He intended mankind to live by, then why does He allow men to break it?

Once again, the assumption behind this question must be analyzed: that it is somehow wrong of God to permit humans to sin – but what is the alternative? Operating under the implications of this assumption, the right thing for God to do would be to force humanity into compliance with His moral law. Can a choice made through obligatory compulsion really be considered a legitimate choice? Perhaps, on a related note, can love exist if the reciprocation of the beloved is not entirely voluntary? This ultimately constitutes why God has given men the permission to sin, odd as it may seem. In creating cognizant beings with independent wills of their own, He gave them the ability to choose or reject His sovereignty, His moral code – His very self. Rejection of God naturally results in rejection of his goodness – which amounts to acceptance of the antithesis of goodness, what is referred to as evil.

This is the true significance of the story of the fall of man.³ The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil did not have to be planted in the garden in the first place. Without it, Adam and Eve never would have even had the chance to sin. And yet, without it, they also would never have had a chance to genuinely choose God. In establishing a rule, God essentially provided the opportunity for it to be broken and more significantly, the opportunity to exercise the will freely. Thousands of years after Adam and Eve’s poor exercise of their free will, the principle still remains: God has largely given up the earth to the consequences of its inhabitants, respecting the dignity of their volition.

Njomëza Pema 2022

Sources and further reading:

Picture: “OT0103.Adam and Eve Leave the Garden” by pcstratman is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0

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