So, what is evil? Where did it come from? Did God allow evil to exists? Could He have stopped evil from existing? What makes rape wrong and telling the truth right?
I heard Ravi Zacharias on his radio broadcast define evil as the absence of good resulting in a violation of God's purpose. I rather like this definition. But, before we delve into the opening questions or define evil further, let's review syllogisms. I'm sure you heard this one:
P1) All men are mortal.
P2) Socrates is a man.
C) Socrates is mortal.
For a syllogism to be meaningful it has to fulfill two conditions. First it must be logically consistent. In other words, the conclusion must logically follow from the premises. Second, the premises must be true. If these two conditions are met, then we are forced to take the conclusion. Looking over the above syllogism, we note that it seems to both have logical consistency and true premises. Let's test this out by playing a little switch-a-roo:
P1) All men are mortal.
P2) Jesus is a man.
c) Jesus is mortal.
For Christians out there, this syllogism took a turn for the worse. So what's wrong? If we do not like the conclusion, we need to find a logical error in the argument or find that one or more of the premises are false. It turns out that P1 overstates its case. If we rewrite it to state "All non-divine men are mortal", then we've repaired the syllogism. Now, Jesus can no longer be inserted into P2 as He is not a non-divine man.
So about now, you're wondering whether this is a Philosophy 101 class or a blog about the problem of evil. Well, maybe it's both. There's another challenge against God that is in the form of a syllogism (hence the review) that I want you to be prepared for:
P1) God created all things.
P2) Evil is a thing.
C) God created evil.
Look it over. Remember, if you find that you cannot bear the conclusion, your job is to look for a logical error or a false premise (or two).
Give it a try.
Sure you've got your answer?
Okay, the error is in P2. Evil is not a "thing". Refer back to Ravi's definition. Evil is the absence of good; a violation of God's purpose. Think of it this way. Say you designed the roads for a new community. In order to help the traffic flow, you put in a few one-way streets. If someone drives the wrong way on this street, they have violated your purpose. If they are caught be a police officer, they will be punished. This is the same with evil. It is a violation of a standard or a design, not an actual thing.
Greg Koukl gives this illustration. Suppose a doughnut represents good. (I'm sure he had a "Hot-N-Now" from Krispy Kreme in mind because those are indeed pretty good.) The hole in that doughnut would be evil--or the absence of good.
If you've got those concepts down, then the answers to the opening questions should now be easy:
Q. What is evil?
A. The absence of good; a violation of God's purpose.
Q. Where did evil come from?
A. Evil came when free agents (a good thing) chose to violate God's purpose and/or standard (a bad thing).
Q. Did God allow evil to exist?
A. Yes. In order to achieve a greater good, namely free agents, God gave people (and angels in some way) free will.
Q. Could God have stopped evil from existing?
A. Yes, but He would have had to either remove 1) the standard by which to live or the purpose for which live or 2) free will. Since His standard and purposes are bound up in His very nature, I don't think 1) would be possible. So He would have had to opt for 2) in which none of His creatures would have free will.
Q. What makes rape wrong and telling the truth right?
A. Rape is a violation of purpose. Sex is designed to heighten pleasure, increase intimacy, and create children for a husband and wife. Rape does none of those. Instead it assaults a persons free will. Telling the truth reflects God's very nature as He is the truth.
No comments:
Post a Comment