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This is an ancient question that predates the existence of Christ. The existence of evil has plagued humanity since the Garden of Eden.
The philosopher Plato has an argument called “Euthyphro.” It is a philosophical statement of the existence of evil. While this is not what is commonly talked about, it is a formalized statement.
It makes these three statements:
God is all-powerful.
God is good.
Evil exists in the world.
The Euthyphro Argument says only two of those can be true at the same time. If God is all-powerful and all-good, there should be no evil in the world. If God is all-powerful and evil exists in the world, God cannot be good. If God is good and there is evil, God is not all-powerful. A logically consistent universe demands only two of those three statements be true, making the third option false.
This is considered an attack against the existence of God.
When God does not intervene in difficult and evil circumstances, what is he doing? Does he even exist? Is it just, fair, and right? Why do evil people seem to prosper?
Deconstruct the Doubts
One of the best ways to begin approaching this topic is to deconstruct the preconceived notions about God and the existence of evil.
In response to Plato’s “Euthyphro,” the question should be asked: “Have you considered another possibility? Have you doubted that way of thinking and considered another perspective?”
There are four main ways to doubt these doubts in addressing the problem of evil:
We often expect things to go well for us. Suffering is part of life for everyone. It is not abnormal to the human experience.
We often approach God with a sense of entitlement to remove all potential suffering because of how “good” we are. We ought to be surprised that good things happen to us.
Suffering is useful for our growth as Christians. We often underestimate the usefulness of suffering in our lives. Suffering is purposeful.
Our suffering is not always about us.
“For as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer. Our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort.” – 2 Corinthians 1:5-7
Brittany Proffitt lives in Dallas and is a writer and content manager for So We Speak