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    If God, Why Evil?: A New Way to Think About the Question
    If God, Why Evil?: A New Way to Think About the Question
    If God, Why Evil?: A New Way to Think About the Question
    Ebook176 pages3 hours

    If God, Why Evil?: A New Way to Think About the Question

    By Norman L. Geisler

    3.5/5

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    About this ebook

    Bestselling author and apologist takes on one of the most difficult questions Christians face. How can an omnipotent, loving God preside over a world filled with evil and suffering? The author's approach is concise, systematic, and clearly communicated, just what Geisler fans have grown to expect. In addition to relying on time-tested solutions to the problem of evil, the author also presents a compelling new way to think about this puzzle.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBaker Publishing Group
    Release dateFeb 1, 2011
    ISBN9781441214652
    If God, Why Evil?: A New Way to Think About the Question
    Author

    Norman L. Geisler

    Norman L. Geisler (1932–2019) cofounded Southern Evangelical Seminary and wrote over one hundred books, including his four-volume Systematic Theology. He taught at the university and graduate levels for nearly forty years and spoke at conferences worldwide.

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    Reviews for If God, Why Evil?

    3.5/5

    32 ratings13 reviews

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    • 3/5
      Norman Geisler addresses the problem of evil in this work. He examines arguments made by some that claim that God and evil cannot co-exist and offers Biblical answers. His audience for the book seems to be more of a lay audience than an academic one, although he clearly knows where philosophers and popular Christian writers stand on the issue. One of the more appealing sections to the lay Christian audience may be his appendix addressing theological issues in the popular fiction book, The Shack. The subtitle may be misleading as there is little new ground covered by this book. This book is just a convenient and concise handbook of the reasons Christians have been advocating for centuries. His parables and true-life examples should appeal to lay readers.
    • 5/5
      Norman Geisler takes a very systematic approach to a very broad and generalized question by breaking down the topic of evil into all its facets, such as nature, origin, and purpose. He also works in related topics like miracles and expands on the topics in three appendices. He uses both the rules of logic and debate as well as Bible scripture to support his conclusions.I have read other books in the realm of Christian Apologetics, but nothing quite so detailed on a single topic as this book. While I was previously familiar with the arguments regarding the problem of evil, this book taught me why those arguments either work or don't work. Without getting into the specifics of what each argument entailed, I can safely say that Geisler did a thorough job of laying to rest the title question and addressing every possible side.This book would be an excellent addition to any theology book collection.
    • 4/5
      Norman Geisler offers a strong, logical examination of the questions so often proposed by atheists, agnostics, secular humanists, et al concerning God and the continuing existance of evil. Although much of the emphasis is on many of the arguments used to disprove the existance of God based upon the presence of evil, Geisler exposes the fallacies in those arguments while explaining in an understandable way the reasons for evil and why God does exist even though evil remains present on this earth. I recommend this book for my Christian brethren for I believe we all have encountered this sort of argumentation at one time or another.
    • 4/5
      The author presents a very modernist/philosophical/rational analysis and explanation of how a good God can allow evil to exist-- the challenge of theodicy.The author analyzes each particular challenge through rational argument-- the nature of evil, its origins, its persistence, its purpose, its avoidability, the difficulty of physical evil, miracles and evil, the issue of hell, and the fate of those who have not heard about Jesus. Appendices are provided on death before Adam, evidence for the existence of God, and theological problems with "The Shack."The presentation of the arguments is about the best that can be expected in a concise way in a relatively short book. I was a bit surprised in chapter 4 about the persistence of evil that the author claimed that evil has not been defeated when Paul and John make it cornerstones of their theology that God has already decisively defeated evil through Jesus' work on the cross (1 Corinthians 15, 2 Corinthians 4/5, Revelation). Even if evil still exists, it can be defeated and overcome through Jesus. The author often relies on references to C.S. Lewis. On the chapter on hell, Jonathan Edwards is liberally cited. The author advances the standard Protestant positions on original sin, total depravity, and faith only, unfortunately, buys into the Satan as Lucifer analogy, and the author's views on angels would be shattered if Jude and Peter really are affirming the legitimacy of the 1 Enoch presentation of the events of Genesis 6. Nevertheless, while I have few problems with the presentation of the arguments on account of the philosophical/rational basis of the discussion, I have to wonder if this is really the effective way of addressing the problem of evil. Since the stability of the rationalist worldview has been inexorably shattered over the past 75 years, and the problem of evil something more acutely felt than intellectually bothersome, on what basis can we reasonably expect very many to change their mind about the problem of evil based upon rational argument alone? Even if one can be intellectually persuaded into accepting that we do live in the best of all possible universes, and that the problem of evil cannot be laid at God's feet, how does that really change the experience of pain and evil and how that experience impacts lives, attitudes, perspectives, and worldviews?If you're looking for the intellectual/rational/philosophical analysis of the problem of theodicy and a way through the issue, this is a good resource. I cannot quite agree with the "A New Way to Think About the Question" moniker, because nothing presented is really new and could not otherwise be gained from an analysis of the Christian philosophers/theologians who have come before the author. This is ground covered many times over the generations and especially so during and after the Enlightenment. Yet for the rest of humanity who is more interested in coming to grips with the actual problem of evil and the suffering and misery that goes along with it, it is better to go back to Scripture, to the Psalms, Job, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, and the prophets, all wrestling with the suffering and evil and pain of life while maintaining their belief in the Creator God, the God of Israel.*-- book received as part of early review program
    • 2/5
      The subtitle of this book is quite misleading. "If God, Why Evil?: A New Way to Think About the Question," provides almost nothing new to the theodicy question. As one would expect from Norman Geisler, this book is a concise overview of the Fundamentalist/neo-Calvinist Christian perspective on the relationship between God, the natural world, and evil. For those coming from a Fundamentalist Christian background or persuasion, this book may prove to be a useful tool. However, there is nothing new in the philosophical arguments put forth by Geisler in this volume. Those looking for a more nuanced, authentically Christian, and compassionate discussion of the problem of evil, suffering, and the human relationship to God should look elsewhere.
    • 3/5
      Nornam Geisler attempts to tackle one of the greatest challenges to the Christian faith. Anyone who believes God is (1) All powerful and (2) Loving has to account for why God allows evil to exist in this world. The argument goes that an all powerful God could get rid of the evil and a loving God would want to gid rid of it. If God, Why Evil attempts to deal with this issue by arguing that ALL evil in the world is accounted for by free will.If God, Why Evil, according to Norman Geisler is clear, concise, comprehernsive, and correct. He does do a great job of being concise. Anyone who can cover the ground he does in 120 pages is doing well.Some of the book is very helpful. Geisler's explanation of moral evil resulting from freewill is very persuasive. God using evil to accomplish higher purposes is also good and helpful. I think he is less persuasive on issues of evil coming from nature, the problem of hell, and how God reaches those who do not hear the gospel. I felt that his answers were rushed and lacked real depth. Overall, it was an OK read, especially the first half.
    • 4/5
      I was really looking forward to this book but ws a bit disappointed. I felt like he tried to cover too much in a small book. A lot of the argumnets could have been better fleshed out. Also, he added appendices that really had nothing to do with the main subject of the book.
    • 5/5
      One of the best books on the topic! I highly recommend this book.
    • 4/5
      I am amazed that this book isn't required reading for seminary students. I began to read it thinking I could just read it through. I was shocked when I had to pick up a Bible and brush up on my use of logic trees, that have a fancy name I can't remember just now, from Philosophy 101 to get through it. I did not really read this book but rather digested it. Geisler organizes thoughts clearly and logically then backs up the logic with scripture. This book is not light reading and I suggest reading it more than once. However, reading the book doesn’t require a degree in philosophy to understand. I gave the book 3 1/2 stars due to the complexity of the style. It takes some getting used to, but does not distract the reader from the point of the book. Geisler takes the complex and difficult topic of evil and uses basic Christian philosophy to explain it. Some of his theories and conclusions that he reaches are a bit far for the average Christian reader, but are plausible.
    • 4/5
      If you’re interested in the problem of evil, or curious about how an all-powerful, all-loving God could allow bad things to happen to good people – whether we’re talking personal troubles, natural disasters, or even illnesses – you’ll find something of value here.Geisler approaches the topic as a philosopher and a Christian, using philosophical paradigms that will be familiar to anyone who has taken even a basic philosophy class at any level. He looks at arguments for and against basic points, and uses both historical and scientific data to answer the common objections to issues such as the nature, origin, persistence, purpose, and avoidability of evil, while also addressing the problem of Hell (eternal evil).The appendices in Geisler’s book were actually the most intriguing part of the book for me personally, because he discusses the evidence for the existence of God using basic scientific principles and insights from prominent physicists and astronomers. He also gives several pages to a critique of the popular novel The Shack, looking at the theological issues surrounding Young’s portrayal of God and the nature of evil.I found Geisler’s book to be very well put together, very readable, and highly logical. Reading the book doesn’t require a background in philosophy, nor does it present convoluted concepts that might be above the average layman’s comprehension levels.Rather, if the problem of evil and why a loving God, if he existed, would allow so much suffering in the world is a question you have struggled with in the past (or perhaps are struggling with today), Geisler’s book offers some new, carefully presented, rational ways to think about the issue. And it’s a short read, to boot – a far cry from a textbook slog!
    • 3/5
      Dr. Norman Geisler has written a new book, “If God, Why Evil?” and has ventured to explain one of the thorniest issues Christians face. If you are of a logical mind, you will find this book just for you. It is tightly written, tightly reasoned with many options explored and explained. I particularly like his treatment of God and free will and how this impacts the way things have played out in this world.Where Dr. Geisler gets off track, in my opinion, are his assumptions about hell. I think he would benefit by a good old-fashioned word study on the root words for hell and from that take his mind down the logical trail. The more he gets into the concept of hell and punishment, the harder it is to reconcile his view of God. Dr. Geisler is a big fan of Jonathan Edwards and quotes from him frequently. Maybe you are of a similar mind, and if so you will find Dr. Geisler’s reasoning to your satisfaction. What ever you do, read this book and decide for yourself.Dr. Geisler includes several appendixes that are interesting but not necessarily germane to the book. He talks about animal death before Adam without really giving you his opinion, giving you a range of options without saying where he comes down on the issue. He seems very willing to go into great depth about his concept of hell, but not if death occurred before Adam’s fall.The appendix on the evidence that God exists is good, but the critique of the book, The Shack, while correct, seems out of place. Maybe you would find all of these miscellaneous thoughts helpful, so please read and judge for yourself.
    • 4/5
      The problem of evil is one of the most pressing philosophical questions facing Christianity. The task of answering why evil exists if God is good has been the focus of many apologists. Unfortunately, much of the work on the problem of evil is just as difficult to read as the problem is to answer. The average reader may find himself drowning in a sea of philosophical argumentation into which even professional academics only carefully tread. By contrast, when someone attempts to develop a theodicy that is palatable for the average reader, it typically turns out to be less than satisfactory. For these reasons, the problem of evil remains an often unanswered question in the church pew or at the coffee shop. Norman Geisler has attempted to solve this conundrum in his book, If God, Why Evil?: A New Way to Think About the Question, by presenting a very readable, yet scholarly answer to the problem of evil. Geisler divides the book into the major questions about evil—nature, origin, persistence, purpose, and avoidability of evil. Then he addresses some of the practical applications of the problem of evil, including physical evil, miracles, hell, and exclusivism. At the foundation of the book is a free will defense of the problem of evil. If one has read much of Geisler’s other 70 books, then one is most likely not surprised that he approaches the problem in that way. Even though the chapters are not full of references to other scholarly works, it is clear that Geisler has condensed his own thoughts on the issue to make the book clear, concise, comprehensive, correct, and comforting (10).Each main chapter of the book begins with a syllogistic presentation of a problem related to evil. Geisler first addresses the nature of evil by posing the problem this way: 1.God created all things.2.Evil is something.3.Therefore, God created evil. (17–18)In keeping with an Augustinian approach to the nature of evil, Geisler then argues that the second premise is incorrect and that evil is actually “a real privation in good things” (25). This conclusion leads him to the origin of evil, which he argues is based in free will (28–30). Once Geisler establishes that evil originates in the free will with which God created humans and angels, he tackles the problem of the persistence of evil. Geisler believes that the argument against God from the persistence of evil “is one of the oldest and most difficult of all arguments” (36). At its heart, this argument asks why a good, omnipotent God has not destroyed evil. In answer to this question, Geisler proposes that “the only way God could literally destroy all evil is to destroy all freedom. However, to destroy all freedom is to destroy the possibility of all moral good. All moral choices are free choices” (38). Therefore, he believes that the question is posed in the wrong way. The way a Christian should look at this question is to ask whether or not evil is defeated, and Geisler’s answer is that evil has not yet been defeated, but it will be. In answer to the question of the purpose of evil, the author concludes that humans are unable to know all of God’s purposes, and that he has a good purpose in all things, even evil. Finally, he tackles the issue of the avoidability of evil. Geisler believes, “This present world is not the best of all possible worlds, but it is the best of all possible ways to the best of all achievable worlds” (68). In essence, a world without evil would be a world without free will, and Geisler believes that free will is a necessary element for a good world.The book then moves from the major categories of the problem of evil to address the practical applications of evil, including physical evil, miracles, hell, and exclusivism. Geisler holds that physical evil, just like all other forms of evil, is the result of human free will and that God permits the existence of physical evil in part to accomplish his ultimate purposes. In response to physical evil, some have argued that God should miraculously intervene to prevent all physical evil. However, Geisler argues that “it is not possible to have a regular miraculous interruption of the natural order” (87). This would interfere with physical life, moral freedom, moral choices, moral improvement, moral warnings, and achieving the best world possible (87–91). The author then moves to address hell as an expression of God’s judgment. Some hold that the existence of an eternal hell denies the goodness of God, but Geisler argues that God’s justice, love, sovereignty, and human dignity demand an eternal hell (98–100). He also addresses several major objections to an eternal hell that have been offered throughout history. The main chapters of the book conclude with a discussion of exculsivism and universalism. He asks the question, “What about those who have never heard?” (115). In response, Geisler posits a very orthodox view on the exclusivity of Christ and rejects both universalism and inclusivism.After the main chapters, Geisler adds three appendices that serve as more academic supplements to the content of the book. The first appendix offers varying views of the topic of animal death before Adam. Geisler never offers his own conclusion but provides various alternatives with both their strengths and weaknesses. The second appendix is a development of some of the classical arguments for God’s existence, including the cosmological argument, the teleological argument, and the moral argument. The final appendix is an in-depth critique of William P. Young’s book, The Shack.Overall, Geisler superbly accomplishes his task of answering the problem of evil in a very readable fashion. Of course, there will be some who are not swayed by his free will defense, but his development of that particular defense for a general audience was excellent. The main drawback of the book comes only from the intended purpose of the book. Most works on the problem of evil provide ample documentation to historical and academic sources to build a case; however, Geisler provides only minimal references to other material. In fact, many of his references are to other books he has written. This is only a problem when this book is compared to other volumes on the problem of evil that are more academic in nature. Since Geisler was specifically trying to avoid an overly academic feel, the lack of outside references is understandable.While this book may never become the standard academic reference text on the free will defense for the problem of evil, Geisler certainly accomplished his purpose. This is an excellent resource for the average reader looking for an understandable and easy-to-read book that will assist them in tackling one of Christianity’s most difficult questions.
    • 4/5
      Dr. Norman L. Geisler’s new book If God, Why Evil?, asks the age old question that people have wrestled with for centuries. Geisler tackles the most challenging objections and questions related to suffering and the problem of evil. He offers up clear, concise,comprehensive, rational and biblical responses to the question of how to reconcile the existence of God with the existence of sin and suffering. I believe the author set out to provide these scholarly but digestible answers in order to help believers, skeptics, atheists and others that fall in line. With this book Geisler has done just that. Beginning with three views on evil, the author then explains topics such as ‘the nature of evil, the origin of evil, the purpose of evil, and miracles and evil.’Each chapter begins with a series of statements relevant to the particular topic then the points are laid out in such a manner that will make it easy for anyone to read and understand. Geisler uses a form of logical statements to state the argument then he proceeds to analyze the theory. For example the first statements he discusses are….1-God created all things.….2-Evil is something.….3-Therefore, God created evil.What he does then is break the logical argument individually to be critiqued in order to expose the fallacy in the logical concept. In conclusion Geisler indicates that evil is a necessary outcome of free will and that God uses it for good in our lives. In that belief then Geisler states we are in the best possible of worlds since we are free-thinking creatures with the possibility of choosing God or turning against Him.This solution that Geisler is proposing sounds a lot like a form of molinism to me. Molinism attempts to provide a solution to the classic philosophical problems associated with God’s providence, foreknowledge and the freedom of humanity. Specifically, it seeks to maintain a strong view of God’s sovereignty over creation while at the same time preserving the belief that human beings have self-determined freedom, or libertarian free will. Now I am not fully convinced of this philosophy but this is a good primer to go into further study into this theological arena.The book includes three delightful related appendices that were must reads: animal death before Adam, evidence for the existence for God, and a critique of The Shack. I would recommend this book wither you are a well-versed philosopher with the problem of evil or an interested reader who might not be too familiar with the issue. Dr. Norman Geisler’s book would a great addition to any library.Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Bethany House. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

    Book preview

    If God, Why Evil? - Norman L. Geisler

    A New Way to Think About the Question

    If God,

    Why Evil?

    NORMAN L.

    GEISLER

    © 2011 by Norman L. Geisler

    Published by Bethany House Publishers

    a division of Baker Publishing Group

    P.O. Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287.

    E-book edition created 2010

    All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise—without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.

    ISBN 978-1-4412-1465-2

    Library of Congress Cataloging-In-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC.

    Unless otherwise identified, Scripture quotations are from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION.® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 Biblica. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

    Scripture quotations identified ESV are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version,® copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

    Scripture quotations identified NASB are taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE,® Copyright © The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org)

    Scripture quotations indentified NKJV are from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

    Scripture quotations identified KJV are from the King James Version of the Bible.

    Contents

    Introduction

    In my fifty years of studying difficult questions, none is asked more often than If God exists, then why is there so much evil in the world? This is near the top of virtually all lists of the most asked questions about the Christian faith. Despite this, I know of no short, simple, readable, and comprehensive book on the topic. If God, Why Evil? attempts to fill this gap.

    Judging by the popularity of books like The Shack (see appendix 3), people are hungering for a truly comforting answer when faced with suffering, tragedy, and death. I know this from personal experience. I have lost my father, my mother, my sister, and (hardest of all) my daughter. My heart goes out to anyone who has experienced any of these evils. They are real, and they really hurt.

    At the same time our heart needs comfort, our head needs answers. If there is an all-good and all-powerful God, then why does He not put a stop to all of these tragedies? Better yet, if He knew the sum total of human misery that has occurred would occur, then why did He create this world to begin with?

    From a purely apologetic perspective, more skepticism, agnosticism, and atheism have sprung from an inability to answer various aspects of the problem of evil than from any other single issue. What is more, when doubt begins in this area, it moves quickly to other areas. The problem of evil is a kingpin factor.

    Admittedly, many books have been written on various aspects of this problem. What’s different about this book? First, this work attempts to be clear about the various dilemmas and the proposed solutions. The problem is clearly stated first and then an answer is offered in basic terms.

    Second, this book is concise. The problems and responses are put in succinct logical form so that one can see plainly what is being said. Elaboration is kept to a minimum so that one does not get lost in the forest for the trees.

    Third, this book is comprehensive. Just a glance at the chapters reveals this, for the book treats evil’s nature, origin, persistence, purpose, and avoidability. It discusses evil’s metaphysical, moral, and physical problems. In addition, it speaks about why God does not perform more miracles to avert evil and why He, according to the Bible, allows some people to suffer forever (in hell).

    Fourth, this work attempts to be correct. We are not engaging in mere intellectual exercises; we are searching for truth. Since we believe that God is the source of all truth and that the Bible is an authoritative revelation from Him, we seek to be biblical.

    Finally, this book seeks to be comforting. We are not interested only in intellectual solutions but in practical ones as well. Hence real-life situations are scattered throughout the book, showing the personal value of the solutions to evil.

    It is my fervent hope and prayer that you will gain as much from reading If God, Why Evil? as I have after a half century of pondering these matters.

    Chapter 1

    Three Views on Evil

    I vividly remember my first debate with an atheist, at Lake County Community College, north of Chicago. He claimed the untold evil in the world demonstrates that there cannot possibly be a God. When I asked by what moral standard he was making this judgment, he immediately realized he was on the horns of a dilemma. If he admitted there is an ultimate moral law by which he knew the world to be evil, then this would lead to an ultimate Moral Lawgiver. If he denied an objective moral law, then this would seem to wipe away any solid grounds for his complaint against God.

    His answer was frank but shocking: I don’t have any ultimate moral law by which I am making my judgment that this world is evil. My conclusion is simply based on my own benign moral feeling. Of course, had I said my basis for believing in God was not based on any objective evidence – only my own benign moral feeling – I would have been laughed off the platform.

    Everyone experiences evil. It comes in many forms: pain, suffering, disease, disaster, death. Everyone seeks an answer to the questions: Is there any purpose to pain? Why did my loved one die? Why was our town bashed by the hurricane? Why did lightning strike our home? Why did the tornado rage through our neighborhood? Why do so many die of drought and starvation? A person would have to be totally insensitive not to wonder about the problem of evil.

    Three basic answers to the overall problem have been offered.

    Pantheism affirms God and denies evil.

    Atheism affirms evil and denies God.

    Theism affirms both God and evil.

    In general, pantheists believe God exists but deny the existence of evil. They believe God is good, God is All, and hence there is no evil. Mary Baker Eddy, founder of Christian Science, held this view, maintaining that evil is an error of [the] moral mind.

    Most people, however, find it difficult to accept this answer. The old limerick summarizes their conundrum well:

    There was a Faith Healer of deal

    Who said "Although pain isn’t real,

    If I sit upon a pin,

    And it punctures my skin,

    I dislike what I fancy I feel!"

    In short, if evil is not real, then why does it hurt so badly? If pain, suffering, and death are not real, then how do we explain where the illusion came from? And why does everyone have it? Further, why is the illusion so persistent? Why can’t we make it go away? When we wonder whether we are dreaming or awake, we can pinch ourselves. We know we have been dreaming because we wake up. But we don’t wake up from suffering, which always surrounds us and often invades us. We can tell an illusion because there is always a backdrop of reality by which we know it is an illusion. But evil is part of the backdrop of life itself. How then can it be illusory?

    The atheist’s solution to evil is just the opposite. Atheists admit that evil is real, but do not believe God is. Sigmund Freud claimed that God is an illusion because belief in God is based on wish fulfillment. He said that while it would be nice if there were a God, it also would be nice if there were a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

    However, we can only know something is evil (not good) if we know what is good.

    We can’t know something is injust unless we know what is just. But if there is a moral law demanding that we ought always to be just, this leads us right back to a Moral Lawgiver. C. S. Lewis said, [When I was an atheist] my argument against God was that the universe seemed so cruel and unjust. But how had I got this idea of just and unjust? A man does not call a line crooked unless he has some idea of a straight line (Mere Christianity, 45).

    Further, Freud confused a wish and a need. That we wish something to exist does not mean it does. But it is reasonable to believe that if we truly need something, then it does exist. Scientist and head of the human genome project, Francis Collins, puts it this way:

    Why would such a universal and uniquely human hunger [for God] exist, if it were not connected to some opportunity for fulfillment? Creatures are not born with desires unless satisfaction for those desires exists. A baby feels hunger: well, there is such a thing as food. A duckling wants to swim: well, there is such a thing as water. (The Language of God, 38)

    Even atheists have demonstrated a need for God. Jean-Paul Sartre said, I needed God. . . . I reached out for religion, I longed for it, it was the remedy. Had it been denied me, I would have invented it myself (Words, 102, 197). Albert Camus added, Nothing can discourage the appetite for divinity in the heart of man (The Rebel, 147). As the scientist and mathematician Blaise Pascal noted, there is a God-sized vacuum in every heart that can be filled only by the One who made it:

    What else does this craving proclaim . . . but that there was once in man a true state of happiness, of which all that now remains is the empty print and trace? This he tries in vain to fill with everything around him . . . though none can help, since this infinite abyss can be filled only with an infinite and immutable object, in other words by God himself. (Pensees, #148)

    This leaves us with the remaining alternative that both God and evil are real. But this nonetheless is a real problem – at least for the Christian view of God. The God of the Bible is all-knowing, and He foresaw that evil would occur in His world. He also is all-good, and He desires to do away with evil. In addition, He is all-powerful and could accomplish this. Why then does evil exist? Are not good and evil opposites? How can the existence of evil be reconciled with the existence of an all-good, all-powerful God?

    Rabbi Harold Kushner offered a simple solution to this dilemma in his bestseller When Bad Things Happen to Good People: God is neither all-good nor all-powerful.

    If we can bring ourselves to acknowledge that there are some things God does not control, many good things become possible . . . (45). Are you capable of forgiving God even when you have found out that He is not perfect? (148)

    However, there are several serious issues with this view of God. First, as C. S. Lewis observed, how can we know something is not perfect unless we know what is perfect? So if there were a not-perfect being that permitted or inflicted evil on this world, then such a being would not be God but a devil. The imperfect implies a perfect standard (God) by which we measure the not perfect. Kushner’s imperfect god implies that there is a perfect God beyond this imperfect world.

    Second, Kushner’s god is not all-powerful, being finite and limited in power. However, everything that is limited is limited by something else, which eventually leads us to an Unlimited Limiter of every limited being. Thus Kushner’s god is a violation of the fundamental law of causality, i.e., that every limited being has a cause.

    A parable will illustrate this point. An atheist and a theist went for a walk in the woods and came upon a glass ball about eight feet in diameter. They both wondered where it came from and agreed that someone or something must have put it there. The theist then asked, If the ball were sixteen feet in diameter, would it still need a cause?

    Of course, replied the atheist. "If little spheres need causes, then so do larger

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