EVIL? NO PROBLEM FOR GOD! with defects, blind, deaf, etc.
with defects, blind, deaf, etc. Natural disasters plague the daughter of Ahab as a wife; and he did evil in the
CLIFFORD B. MCMANIS
BIBLICAL APOLOGETICS
INTRO
The problem of evil has been articulated in many ways
for thousands of years, from the days of the ancient
Greek deist, Epicurus (341-270 BC), to the
Enlightenment era, to today.
The problem of evil simply asks “If God is absolutely
good, then why is there evil?”
This is their logic:
1. If God were all-powerful, then He would prevent
evil.
2. If God were all-good, then He would desire to
prevent evil.
3. But there is evil.
4. Therefore, there is no all-powerful, all-good God.
THE EVIL DILLEMA
If God really exists, will only good and is powerful
enough to get everything He wills, then evil would not
exist. But evil does exist, therefore God is either
impotent, no good or does no exists at all.
THE CLASSIC APPROACHES
 Atheism: Evil is real but God isn’t.
 Panteism: God is real but not all-good.
 Naturalism, Open Theism, Liberation Theology: God
is not all-powerful.
When Bad Things Happen to Good People (Rabbi
Harold Kushner): There are some things God does
not control…can you learn to love and forgive Him
despite His limitation?
 Idealism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Christian Science,
New Age: evil is not real, but God is.
 Theism: God is all-powerful (1) and all-good (2) while
evil exists (3). All three realities are true and are not
mutually exclusive or contrary to each other.
OBS: The last option is what we shall learn from the
Bible and we shall try to defend.
THERE IS EVIL
The Bible is clear that evil exists. The world is rife with
pain, evil, and suffering. Hatred, prejudice, rape,
murder, theft, child abuse, and countless acts of
violence are universal. Diseases, cancer, and bodily
deformities are commonplace. Some babies are born
Num 16:31 He had hardly finished speaking the
the world, earthquakes, tsunamis, typhoons,
tornadoes, floods, fires, famine, etc.
On the other hand, the Bible is a book about pain and
suffering. It was recorded in the early chapters of
Genesis.
The Bible recorded horrific historical events:
1. The first murder (Gen 4:8)
2. Lamech, the first serial killer (Gen 4:23)
3. The universal flood (Gen 7:21)
4. Theft (Gen 14:11)
5. Kidnapping (Gen 14:12)
6. War (Gen 14:2)
7. Gang rape (Gen 19)
8. Prostitution (Gen 38)
9. Famine (Gen 41:53)
10. Slavery (Exo 1:11)
11. Infanticide (Exo 1:16)
And the list goes on and on.
LOGIC OF THE SKEPTICS
1. The atheist’s definition of “evil” is the correct one
and must be accepted.
2. The atheist’s definition of “good” is the correct one
and must be accepted.
3. The atheist’s definition of “God” is the correct one
and must be accepted.
4. Evil has always existed.
5. God cannot use evil for good purposes.
6. Evil will always exist.
7. The only attributes of God that are relevant are His
goodness and power.
NOTE: If you agree to every logic of the skeptics, you
will be trapped and will lose the argument.
OBS: To the skeptics and even to many so-called
Christians, there are but only two attributes of God:
love and powerful.
DEFINING EVIL
Note that to something evil is to make a moral
judgment and to make moral judgment, one must
have moral standard and that moral standard must ne
universal.
God defines evil and he alone should. Evil is what God
says it is.
2Ch 21:6 And he walked in the way of the kings of
Israel, just as the house of Ahab had done, for he had
sight of the LORD.
Evil is anything contrary to God’s nature, will, or Word.
Psa 119:9 How can a young person stay pure? By
obeying your word and following its rules.
1Jo 3:4 Those who sin are opposed to the law of God,
for all sin opposes the law of God.
CONC: Evil is what the Scripture says it is—not what
pundits say it is. We cannot win any argument with
skeptics if we will not set the definition of evil
according to the Scripture.
OBS: That is not going to be easy.
Your friend would say, killing is evil. So is flood and
wars. But is that what the Bible say? God killed the
whole world and spared eight people (Gen 7:23). God
sent ten plagues against wicked Egyptians including
death of firstborns (Psa 105:36).
 The LORD Jesus will return and kill His enemies
Rev 19:15 From his mouth came a sharp sword, and
with it he struck down the nations. He ruled them
with an iron rod, and he trod the winepress of the
fierce wrath of almighty God.
Rev 19:16 On his robe and thigh was written this
title: King of kings and Lord of lords.
Rev 19:17 Then I saw an angel standing in the sun,
shouting to the vultures flying high in the sky:
"Come! Gather together for the great banquet God
has prepared.
Rev 19:18 Come and eat the flesh of kings, captains,
and strong warriors; of horses and their riders; and
of all humanity, both free and slave, small and
great."
Rev 19:19 Then I saw the beast gathering the kings
of the earth and their armies in order to fight against
the one sitting on the horse and his army.
Rev 19:20 And the beast was captured, and with him
the false prophet who did mighty miracles on behalf
of the beast-miracles that deceived all who had
accepted the mark of the beast and who worshiped his
statue. Both the beast and his false prophet were
thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with
sulfur.
Rev 19:21 Their entire army was killed by the sharp
sword that came out of the mouth of the one riding
the white horse. And all the vultures of the sky gorged
themselves on the dead bodies.
OBS: That isn’t evil. IT is good, righteous, and
deserved.
 Earthquake isn’t evil. God shook the ground and
swallowed Korah and all his relatives
words when the ground suddenly split open beneath
them.
Num 16:32 The earth opened up and swallowed the
men, along with their households and the followers
who were standing with them, and everything they
owned.
Num 16:33 So they went down alive into the grave,
along with their belongings. The earth closed over
them, and they all vanished.
Num 16:34 All of the people of Israel fled as they
heard their screams, fearing that the earth would
swallow them, too.
OBS: We cannot resort to sheer human reason,
conscience, natural law, the laws of logic or common
sense to define evil, that is good, righteous.
If we let sinners to define what evil is, then the debate
is over.
 We cannot tell God that Abraham killing His son is
evil.
 Even God, in Isaiah 53:10 did not commit sin when
He predestined to crush His Son.
 The creation of hell as a place of torment for wicked
people is not evil but justice. Note that hell was
created by God (Mat 25:41), ruled by God (Mat
10:28). It is a judgment of fire (Mat 5:22), a place of
weeping and gnashing of teeth (Mat 25:30), And it is
eternal (Mat 25:46).
IF MAN DEFINES EVIL, THEN CHAOS
1. The Koran allows a man to marry up to four women
and condones beating them if deemed necessary.
2. Hindus say abstaining from intimacy with your wife
is best.
3. Catholic priests say not getting married is the highest
virtue.
4. Mormons say they’ll be married for eternity in
heaven.
5. In America and other countries, gay is okay.
Gen 2:18 And the LORD God said, "It is not good
for the man to be alone. I will make a companion who
will help him."
Gen 2:24 This explains why a man leaves his father
and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are
united into one.
Mat 22:29 Jesus replied, "Your problem is that you
don't know the Scriptures, and you don't know the
power of God.
Mat 22:30 For when the dead rise, they won't be
married. They will be like the angels in heaven.
DEFINING GOD
God is not just love and all-powerful. He has other
attributes which are mentioned in the Bible.
CONC: IT is not accurate to say that God is god of love
and God is all-powerful just as defined in the
Scriptures.
SAMPLE
Nah 1:2 The LORD is a jealous God, filled with
vengeance and wrath. He takes revenge on all who
oppose him and furiously destroys his enemies!
Nah 1:3 The LORD is slow to get angry, but his
power is great, and he never lets the guilty go
unpunished. He displays his power in the whirlwind
and the storm. The billowing clouds are the dust
beneath his feet.
Nah 1:4 At his command the oceans and rivers dry
up, the lush pastures of Bashan and Carmel fade, and
the green forests of Lebanon wilt.
Nah 1:5 In his presence the mountains quake, and
the hills melt away; the earth trembles, and its people
are destroyed.
Nah 1:6 Who can stand before his fierce anger? Who
can survive his burning fury? His rage blazes forth
like fire, and the mountains crumble to dust in his
presence.
Nah 1:7 The LORD is good. When trouble comes, he
is a strong refuge. And he knows everyone who trusts
in him.
 God is spirit (Joh 4:24)
 God is omniscient (Psa 139:1-6)
 God is omnipresent (Psa 139:7-12)
 God is holy (Isa 6:3)
 God is eternal (Isa 9:6)
 God is sovereign (Isa 46:10, Rom 8:28)
 Etc.
This is the God who is worthy of fear, reverence, love,
worship, and obedience.
CONC: This is something that skeptics should realize.
They don’t define God, it is God through His
Scriptures define Himself.
GOD USES EVIL
Q: If everything is perfect—no evil, how can we know if
God is forgiving, merciful, and abounding in grace?
Exo 34:5 Then the LORD came down in a pillar of
cloud and called out his own name, "the LORD," as
Moses stood there in his presence.
Exo 34:6 He passed in front of Moses and said, "I
am the LORD, I am the LORD, the merciful and
gracious God. I am slow to anger and rich in
unfailing love and faithfulness.
Exo 34:7 I show this unfailing love to many
thousands by forgiving every kind of sin and
rebellion. Even so I do not leave sin unpunished, but
I punish the children for the sins of their parents to
the third and fourth generations."
Exo 34:8 Moses immediately fell to the ground and
worshiped.
Q: How can God display salvation if evil isn’t a reality?
OBS: The rebel angels who were created by God didn’t
will never ever experience forgiveness and grace and
the will go straight to hell forever.
Mar 1:23 A man possessed by an evil spirit was in the
synagogue,
Mar 1:24 and he began shouting, "Why are you
bothering us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to
destroy us? I know who you are-the Holy One sent
from God!"
Mar 1:25 Jesus cut him short. "Be silent! Come out
of the man."
Mar 1:26 At that, the evil spirit screamed and threw
the man into a convulsion, but then he left him.
Mar 1:27 Amazement gripped the audience, and they
began to discuss what had happened. "What sort of
new teaching is this?" they asked excitedly. "It has
such authority! Even evil spirits obey his orders!"
Q: Why did God create a world with the potential for
sin and evil?
A: He did so to fully reveal His character and so that
we could come to know Him experientially as a loving,
powerful, merciful, and Holy God.
Rom 9:22 What if God, wanting to show His wrath
and to make His power known, endured with much
longsuffering the vessels of wrath prepared for
destruction,
Rom 9:23 and that He might make known the riches
of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had
prepared beforehand for glory,
Rom 9:24 even us whom He called, not of the Jews
only, but also of the Gentiles?
Remember, God is holy, it means he will display
righteousness and judgment to all who do evil. He
wanted to show that. Hence His holiness demands
that He should display wrath and punishment to Joh 9:1 Now as Jesus was passing by,1 he saw a man
those who do evil. who had been blind from birth.
Joh 9:2 His disciples asked him,2 "Rabbi, who
CONC: God created people and angels who have the committed the sin that caused him to be born blind,
capacity to choose evil. Evil people like the Pharaoh this man3 or his parents?"4
and Satan. They allow God to demonstrate His Joh 9:3 Jesus answered, "Neither this man5 nor his
power of justice. parents sinned, but he was born blind so that6 the
acts7 of God may be revealed8 through what happens
 At the same time God created people who has
to him.9
potential for evil in order to display His grace, mercy,
forgiveness, compassion, and power. He will save
IS EVIL A PROBLEM FOR GOD?
some and show His love to them.
Rev 21:1 Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth,
for the first heaven and the first earth had passed
OBS: We know that sin brings us to eternal hell and we away. Also there was no more sea.
deserve it because God is too holy to allow it. But Rev 21:2 Then I, John, saw the holy city, New
since His grace is all the more powerful than our Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God,
transgressions, He can and will forgive the sins of prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
those who are elect. Rev 21:3 And I heard a loud voice from heaven
saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men,
Rom 9:25 As He says also in Hosea: "I will call them and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His
My people, who were not My people, And her beloved, people. God Himself will be with them and be their
who was not beloved." God.
Rom 9:26 "And it shall come to pass in the place Rev 21:4 "And God will wipe away every tear from
where it was said to them, 'You are not My people,' their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow,
There they shall be called sons of the living God." nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the
Rom 9:27 Isaiah also cries out concerning Israel: former things have passed away."
"Though the number of the children of Israel be as Rev 21:5 Then He who sat on the throne said,
the sand of the sea, The remnant will be saved. "Behold, I make all things new." And He said to me,
"Write, for these words are true and faithful."
Rom 5:20 Now the law came in37 so that the
transgression38 may increase, but where sin
increased, grace multiplied all the more,
Rom 5:21 so that just as sin reigned in death, so also
grace will reign through righteousness to eternal life
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
GOD IS SOVEREIGN
This is one of the most important attributes of God
that humans have long forgotten. We have become
humanist for such a long time.
Rom 11:32 For God has consigned all people to
disobedience so that he may show mercy to them
all.24
Rom 11:33 Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom
and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his
judgments and how fathomless his ways!
Rom 11:34 For who has known the mind of the Lord,
or who has been his counselor?25
Rom 11:35 Or who has first given to God,26 that
God27 needs to repay him?28
Rom 11:36 For from him and through him and to
him are all things. To him be glory forever! Amen.
NOW, we have a better introduction to John 9.