The Problem of Evil, Essay Example

Introduction

The presence of evil has always been a fascination and a challenge to humanity.  This is itself interesting; good is usually accepted as natural and right, but good is only a moral quality, and just as subject to investigation as evil.  Nonetheless, it is evil that is often focused upon, and because it is inexplicable to many, whereas goodness is felt to be the normal and natural force.  As God created the world and reality, and God is perceived as acting on behalf of mankind, evil then stands apart.  It does not, or should not, belong in God’s world.  This is an issue I have struggled with, as have many others.  Why, in plain terms, would God permit evil to exist, since He orders all things and evil cannot exist unless He wills it?  Philosophers and ordinary people alike have tried to answer this question, and their conclusions vary.  My own view is that evil exists because it is a necessary element of life, just as darkness is necessary in order to know and value light.  Moreover, I believe that God allows evil because only He is able to comprehend that it belongs to all existence, and creates means of developing goodness and character.  In the following, I examine and support that evil is a natural force enabled by God, one that actually creates opportunities for good, and one that is necessary for humans and animals to exercise their own instincts and wills as God wishes them to.

Discussion

To understand that there is a reason for evil, it is first necessary to know the identity of God, or come as close to this as is possible for human beings. Without question, this has engaged great minds since the beginning of human life and the belief in a single God.  He is made in the image of man, in the minds of many, and because this is the only way we can begin to understand a being beyond our scope.  Then, we turn to Scripture for a clear idea of who and what He is, but there remains the issue of Scripture as composed – and interpreted – by humans.  In plain terms, God tends to exist as individuals perceive Him, and this ranges from ideas of the all-powerful and vengeful God to the loving, caring deity.  All of this suggests a critical point, and one going to the meaning of evil; namely, that the mystery of God’s being is actually central to belief.  The less human beings can accurately know about God, in other words, the more there is a turning to genuine faith, or trust in God’s existence.  Many theists in fact argue that “hiding the Godself” is an act of God’s will (Keller 40).  It is not for human beings to “know” God beyond their faith in Him, and this is supported by the fact that God does not reveal Himself to people in ways going to a defined being.  This is in keeping with Hegel, who argues that there is a harmonious whole to reality in which all things have meaning and purpose, and a whole that human beings cannot comprehend (Rachels, Rachels 66). It must be enough that He is known to be God and that He orders the reality of all things.

As there is then no direct explanation for evil from God, it follows that human beings must consider the forms evil takes, which may offer evidence of its purpose.  Setting aside evil in human terms, the suffering of animals raises important questions.  Animals are creatures that act out of instinct, and have no agendas beyond satisfying their needs and/or pleasing the humans who sometimes care for them.  They are truly “innocent” in the sense that they are not motivated by the forces and desires driving human behavior.  If they attack, it is because they feel threatened.  If they eat other animals, it is because this is how they must live and they are acting out of natural impulses.  This being the reality, it must be wondered why animals should suffer needlessly.  They face evils both natural and gratuitous; they are often starved to death in the wild, and abused by cruel human beings who, behaving in an evil way, enjoy inflicting pain on them.  Human beings have wills and can create their realities, in terms of choices in behaviors.  Most animals have no such consciousness or choice, so their suffering seems pointless and like an act of cruelty on the part of God.

When this issue is examined more closely, however, the evils faced by animals take on a different meaning.  To begin with, most nonhuman animals have no continuing sense of self.  Their consciousness is restricted to the moment and they have no real memories of past pains or ideas of death, so their suffering is not the same as human suffering.  In fact, it is arguable that we attach human views of pain to animals when they do not apply.  Then, it is also argued that the evils faced by animals serve an important purpose.  The pain experienced by an animal in the wild, for example, will drive to animal to do what is necessary to end it and survive.  The animal having trouble in locating food suffers hunger, but is then more driven to locate food.  The creature who is pursued by other animals develops the skills to escape (Keller 26). These realities explain a purpose to natural evils, and because those evils are parts of existence in the wild.  This is the world as ordered by God, in that animals must engage in competition to survive, and is then not a true evil as such.

When the issue goes to gratuitous evil, however, more is required.  Animals suffer at the hands of humans – and occasionally other animals, as in killer whales – who inflict pain because they desire to do so, or are unconcerned with creating suffering.  This in turn connects to how human beings do the same to one another, as individuals or in group actions going to evil.  If we define evil as the intent and effort to cause pain and/or harm to others, it becomes clear that this has always been an enormous element in human history.  There is no need to list the many and vile forms such evil takes, from the atrocities of the Holocaust and Bataan Death March to how individuals torture and kill innocent children.  All that is important is recognizing that evil is a consistent and powerful force in human affairs.  This then demands an explanation, as God creates reality and consequently permits such evils.  What we are dealing with our two realities, God and evil, and they must be reconciled.

For evil to be explained, then, several approaches are necessary.  To begin with, an  important question must be addressed: are good and evil only concerns of mankind? (Rachels, Rachels 72).  Animals suffer pain, but it is unreasonable to assume that they perceive this as evil in any sense, and because the moral attachment is a strictly human device.  It may be argued that this is not true.  In Scripture, it is consistently clear that evil is the domain of Satan, and exists as opposed to the goodness of God.  At the same time, however, it must be remembered that humanity’s knowledge of God derives only from human accounts.  Considering the Bible further only adds to complicating the issue and reinforcing evil as a human concept alone.  In the old Testament, certainly, God demands actions from his children that may be seen as evil.  When defied or doubted, He exacts severe punishments.  It was God’s will, for example, that Sodom and Gomorrah be destroyed and the people die, because their sinfulness was an outrage to him.  Even the testing of Job may be viewed as a divine and evil act, as Job was devout and God allowed him to suffer greatly, to prove his faith. In plain terms, God acts in cruel ways very often, so the idea of evil itself more belongs to mankind.  This is not to say that God actually endorses evil; instead, the point is that God’s actions are removed from evil because, as God, He deems them necessary in ways human beings cannot understand.  This being the case, good and evil are moral concepts based solely on human thinking and belief.

This then changes the idea of how evil itself can exist in a world ordered by God.  In a sense, it exists in a way completely removed by God because it is a concept of humanity alone.  We decide what is evil, and this is often a subject of debate.  For example, there are people who torture and kill others, and who are identified as having extreme brain disorders.  The actions certainly conform to the most horrific ideas of evil, but it is questionable whether this applies, and because these people are under biological influences dictating the behavior.  Even so, many still insist that evil is present in such cases, the causes notwithstanding.  There can be no real justification for the suffering of such victims, but there is as well a purpose to be seen.  In plain terms, evil tends to create the need in others to address it and generate some form of good.  People will care for victims of evil as much as they can, and this brings out the better nature of human beings.  Then, the structures of cultures and societies very much go to laws and norms that express good and defy, and prevent, evil. People universally come together to address evil behaviors and make efforts to limit any opportunity for evil to exist, from laws exacting punishment for crimes to support organizations for many kinds of victims of injustice or cruelty.  Goodness is more than a concept; it is in fact a reaction very often, and a practical effort to redress evil. None of this would be in place without the driving force of evil, so it is arguable that evil is a “necessary evil.”  It is impossible to determine, but it must be wondered how good most people would be if there were not the threat of evil generating the reaction of good.  As noted, light can only be known because of darkness, and the same may be said of evil.  This view in place, there is no issue with reconciling a benevolent God with it. It is, as the phrase goes, part of the larger reality understood fully only by God.

There is also another consideration regarding the permitting of evil by an otherwise caring God.  This goes to the inability of human beings to actually understand the nature of God, and their usual way of attaching expectations to God that do not apply.  People historically and today ask the same question: why does God let evil happen, when He is all-powerful and can remove all evil forever?  One answer lies in the discussion above, in terms of evil as necessary to create goodness.  The other, however, is that God is not a divine power who directly intervenes in human affairs and behavior.  It seems that many perceive God as a kind of employer, and one who should involve himself in the concerns and matters of all human beings.  The reality of the world, nonetheless, offers no evidence of any such involvement, and simply because what humanity does occurs apart from God and divine influence.  Then, and importantly, it is an enormous element of Scripture that God does not directly act in human affairs, and the key to this is the affirming of human beings as exercising their own will.  Proverbs expresses this in the Bible: “That thou mayst be delivered from the evil way, and from the man that speaketh perverse things.”  The central point, reiterated through the Bible, is that mankind “mayest.” God has invested people with will and choice, and this is supported by the need for people to choose to have faith.  In plain terms, the fate of humanity is not on God’s agenda; He has made it clear that, given great powers of thought and feeling, people must make their own courses.  God does not permit evil, then. Rather, he permits mankind to do what it will, and suffer the consequences when it acts in evil ways.

Conclusion

Evil is a source of misery to many, as has been true since the earliest days of humanity.  As there is widespread belief in God, there then arises the long ongoing question of how evil can be in a world ordered by a benevolent God.  There is no one answer, but there are explanations.  With animals, the evil of pain prompts behaviors that go to survival.  Regarding gratuitous evil to animals and to people, more is necessary, and it is seen that good exists only because evil must be addressed.  Finally, and perhaps most importantly, God and evil are reconciled because evil itself is both a human concept and the force created by humans, acting with the wills given to them by God.  He permits evil, then, as He permits the universe itself to exist.  Ultimately, and in my estimation, evil is only a natural force among others enabled by God.  It is a force that actually creates opportunities for good, and a behavior that is necessary for humans and animals to exercise their own instincts and wills as God wishes them to.

Works Cited

Keller, James A.  Problems of Evil and the Power of God. Burlington: Ashgate Publishing, 2013. Print.

Rachels, James, & Rachels, Stuart.  Problems from Philosophy, 3^rd Ed.  New York: McGraw-Hill Humanities, 2011.  Print.